Boehmeria macrophylla: the problem of not citing author names

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Gurcharan Singh

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Oct 12, 2011, 6:17:50 AM10/12/11
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I have often been (and more so Pankaj ji) emphasizing the need for citing the author names, otherwise it can lead to lot of confusion
I have often pointed out the case of Phyllanthus niruri, which is a Linnean species and cited as synonym of both P. fraternus and P. amarus on Flowers of India, although it a totally distinct plant.  Agreed that we should keep our websites as simple as possible, but at least they should have information which should not confuse readers/visitors to the website.

Today I discovered another. Two species of Boehmeria are described (besides others) in Flora of British India:

 B. macrophylla  D. Don, with shrubby habit, stout branches, opposite leaves, lanceolate, 15-30 cm long, with bullate (puckered or blistered) upper surface, under surface with deep hollows between nerves, shorter petiole (1-2.5 cm); flowers in globose 4-6 mm clusters, in interrupted leafless spikes shorter than or equalling leaves.   

B. platyphylla D. Don: shrubby with soft branches, leaves 7-20 cm long, thinner, appearing like Urtica leaf, sparsely hispid; petiole 3-12 cm long; male spike 7-15 cm long, female 15-30 cm long, slender, longer than leaves with smaller distant clusters.

B. macrophylla D. Don is now considered as illegitimate name and is correctly known as Boehmeria penduliflora Weddell ex D. G. Long, Notes Roy. Bot. Gard. Edinburgh. 40: 130. 1982. 






B. platyphylla D. Don, is now considered as synonym of . Boehmeria macrophylla Hornemann, Hort. Bot. Hafn. 2: 890. 1815., which was uploaded few days back by me on September 26

Boehmeria macrophylla from Dakpathjar validate





A look at Flowers of India Website suggests that the two species (and all the three names) are same (synonyms, as no Authors are cited) but in reality they are two distinct:

--
Dr. Gurcharan Singh
Retired  Associate Professor
SGTB Khalsa College, University of Delhi, Delhi-110007
Res: 932 Anand Kunj, Vikas Puri, New Delhi-110018.
Phone: 011-25518297  Mob: 9810359089
http://people.du.ac.in/~singhg45/

Tabish

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Oct 12, 2011, 2:45:28 PM10/12/11
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Dear Gurcharan ji,
The names at flowersofindia.in are in the process of being
cleaned up. However, doing it for 3,500 species will take some time.
Meanwhile you will notice that in the newer additions, the flower-
slide has an "info" icon next to the botanical name - hovering the
mouse over the icon will reveal the full botanical name with the
author citation, for the more botanical minded users. Lay users need
not be bothered with it - so, by default the botanical name without
the author citation is displayed. Eventually, this will be done for
all the species on the site.
I have done it now for the Boehmeria species and for
Phyllanthus amarus.
Best wishes
- Tabish
----------------------------------------------------
http://www.flowersofindia.in
The Waterhole of Flower Lovers

On Oct 12, 3:17 pm, Gurcharan Singh <singh...@gmail.com> wrote:
> I have often been (and more so Pankaj ji) emphasizing the need for citing
> the author names, otherwise it can lead to lot of confusion
> I have often pointed out the case of Phyllanthus niruri, which is a Linnean
> species and cited as synonym of both P. fraternus and P. amarus on Flowers
> of India, although it a totally distinct plant.  Agreed that we should keep
> our websites as simple as possible, but at least they should have
> information which should not confuse readers/visitors to the website.
>
> Today I discovered another. Two species of Boehmeria are described (besides
> others) in Flora of British India:
>
>  B. macrophylla  D. Don, with shrubby habit, stout branches, opposite
> leaves, lanceolate, 15-30 cm long, with bullate (puckered or blistered)
> upper surface, under surface with deep hollows between nerves, shorter
> petiole (1-2.5 cm); flowers in globose 4-6 mm clusters, in interrupted
> leafless spikes shorter than or equalling leaves.
>
> B. platyphylla D. Don: shrubby with soft branches, leaves 7-20 cm long,
> thinner, appearing like Urtica leaf, sparsely hispid; petiole 3-12 cm long;
> male spike 7-15 cm long, female 15-30 cm long, slender, longer than leaves
> with smaller distant clusters.
>
> B. macrophylla D. Don is now considered as illegitimate name and is
> correctly known as *Boehmeria penduliflora* Weddell ex D. G. Long, Notes
> Roy. Bot. Gard. Edinburgh. 40: 130. 1982.
>
> http://www.theplantlist.org/tpl/record/kew-2678390
>
> http://www.efloras.org/florataxon.aspx?flora_id=2&taxon_id=242308736
>
> http://www.visoflora.com/photos-nature/boehmeria-penduliflora.html?xt...
>
> http://www.farelli.info/pages_books/butterflies/nymphalidae/acraea-is...
>
> B. platyphylla D. Don, is now considered as synonym of . *Boehmeria
> macrophylla* Hornemann, Hort. Bot. Hafn. 2: 890. 1815., which was uploaded
> few days back by me on September 26
>  Boehmeria macrophylla from Dakpathjar validatehttps://groups.google.com/forum/#!searchin/indiantreepix/Boehmeria$20...

Gurcharan Singh

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Oct 12, 2011, 10:18:06 PM10/12/11
to Tabish, efloraofindia
Thanks a lot Tabish ji. It is really a great effort on your part. I know this website is becoming very popular for plant lovers, and many people rely on this for their identifications. Sorry for my frequent interruptions, my only concern is that no doubts should remain in the minds of people visiting the website.

-- 
Dr. Gurcharan Singh
Retired  Associate Professor
SGTB Khalsa College, University of Delhi, Delhi-110007
Res: 932 Anand Kunj, Vikas Puri, New Delhi-110018.
Phone: 011-25518297  Mob: 9810359089
http://people.du.ac.in/~singhg45/ 

Gurcharan Singh

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Oct 12, 2011, 10:20:30 PM10/12/11
to Tabish, efloraofindia
And yes, thanks Tabish ji for making Lavatera kashmiriana as flower of the month.

-- 
Dr. Gurcharan Singh
Retired  Associate Professor
SGTB Khalsa College, University of Delhi, Delhi-110007
Res: 932 Anand Kunj, Vikas Puri, New Delhi-110018.
Phone: 011-25518297  Mob: 9810359089
http://people.du.ac.in/~singhg45/ 

Tabish

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Oct 12, 2011, 11:37:54 PM10/12/11
to efloraofindia
Gurcharan ji,
I am thankful to you for your frequent "interruptions". Experts
like you and many others keeping a watch on the site is what helps in
keeping the information up to date and correcting the mistakes.
Without such inputs, the quality of the site would suffer. Please keep
your comments coming.
Best wishes
- Tabish
----------------------------------------------------
http://www.flowersofindia.in
The Waterhole of Flower Lovers

On Oct 13, 7:18 am, Gurcharan Singh <singh...@gmail.com> wrote:
> Thanks a lot Tabish ji. It is really a great effort on your part. I know
> this website is becoming very popular for plant lovers, and many people rely
> on this for their identifications. Sorry for my frequent interruptions, my
> only concern is that no doubts should remain in the minds of people visiting
> the website.
>
> --
> Dr. Gurcharan Singh
> Retired  Associate Professor
> SGTB Khalsa College, University of Delhi, Delhi-110007
> Res: 932 Anand Kunj, Vikas Puri, New Delhi-110018.
> Phone: 011-25518297  Mob: 9810359089http://people.du.ac.in/~singhg45/
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