changing of the names

[nivi tha]

Dear all,

Can anybody tell what is the actual reason for changing the species and genus name after it was named even they had named correctly earlier.

For eg: Tamilnadia uliginosa (Correct name) Syn. Gardenia uliginosa , Randia uliginosa. etc., here what is the reason for changing he genus name from Gardenia to Tamilnadia. Please give reasons for my doubt.

--


Selvalakshmi S.
Doctoral Scholar,
Bhjarathiar Universtiy,
Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu.

[Dinesh Valke]

... whoever ... in howsoever mildest form (attempts to) ask such question ... can be visualized pulling his / her hair off the head !!!

Dear Selvalakshmi ji ... me too am with you for seeking the answer.
Just yesterday, have posted similar query regarding Arivela and Tarenaya.

Regards.

[L. Rasingam]

Dear All,

I am herewith attached the  abstract of a paper entitled "Why are Plant Names Changing so Much? by Alan S Weakley.

I think this will solve your doubts.

Regards

L.Rasingam

Abstract:

The scientific names of planes continue to change, seemingly at a faster rate than ever, which challenges the broad and diverse group of users of those names. Why do names change? Some changes are nomenclatural. while the majority result from new research and judgments about the taxonomy of plants. A variety of factors contribute to the level of changes. Traditional plant taxonomists continue to discover plants and reclassify those already known. New molecular phylogenetic techniques provide new data that clarifies taxonomy, especially at the level of the genus and above, resulting in changes in the circumscription of genera. A more worldwide community of plant taxonomy has emerged, fostered by the Internet, and taxonomic studies have broader geographic perspectives, resulting in changed opinions about relationships and more rapid communication of those changes. In the art of plant taxonomy, the “splitters” have largely regained influence, after a period of several decades in which “lumpers” were generally in the ascendancy, at least in North America. The result is a large number of name changes in plants, challenging many users, particularly those who are not professional taxonomists—land managers, ecologists, gardeners, and conservationists. A greater effort by authors of floras and other products designed for use by the broad botanical community should make the effort to communicate the changes and reasons behind them.

Native Plants Journal
Spring 2005, Vol. 6, No. 1 : Pages 53-58

Why are Plant Names Changing so Much?

Alan S Weakley

(doi: 10.2979/NPJ.2005.6.1.53)

[Muthu Karthick]

Dear all,

The most important thing for nomenclatural changes is the review and revision of more and more texts and literatures.

More researches are being underway for finding out the earlier described names (but after Linnaeus, 1753). Because they might be in different language published earlier somewhere and we need to dig out them. This happened when European colonisation in Asian countries flourished; they collected plants from here and described there and those literatures might be hiding somewhere in an antique.

Your questions are better answered by Experts here Nivithaji.

--
Muthu Karthick, N
Junior Research Fellow
Care Earth Trust
Chennai - 61
www.careearthtrust.org

[Muthu Karthick]

A reply from Dr. Siddhuji,

I saw your post regarding Tamilnadia vs Gardenia. As Muthu said, the main problem is the literature access. Many people, except those advanced countries like Europe, USA, Canada and Australia, don't have access to all published works. So when newer researchers look for older unpopular literatures during their revision, they name them based on nomenclatural priority. 

Another reason is due to modern molecular data, many genera/families and even orders previously placed in different places should be placed on different taxa based evolutionary concept. Eg: Asclepiadaceae is no more a family but a subfamily under Apocynaceae. Carica was earlier thought to have several species is now monotypic and the other species have been transferred to different genera (Vasconcellea,Jacaratia and Jarilla). 

Anyway I don't know the case of Tamilnadia, pls post the history of taxonomical revisions of Tamilnadia/Gardenia if you happen to investigate it.

sid.

[Pankaj Oudhia]

Oh!!!!

Thanks to God that the names used by the Traditional Healing experts are one and the same from generations. Instead of wasting the energy in changing names they are focusing on developing new uses of  herbs and in this way contributing a lot to the Global knowledge.

regards

Pankaj Oudhia