"Uncle Derek Says"

Notes on the Checklists of Mexican Bromeliaceae 1994 and 2004

"When I was very young and adults said A = B and when I asked, "Why?" told me the answer I was satisfied. But when the answer was "Because I say so!" I was not convinced. With this philosophy in mind, read on! If a person prepares a thesis for a Doctorate this is not considered 'valid' unless it is published BUT the very nature of the thesis is that suggested changes are given explanations. In any published paper it can be stated that A=B without giving reasons. It is however, open to peer review where there is no time limit. It is said that a published Flora of a Country has more weight than those with a more limited scope. In 1994 'The Monocotyledons of Mexico' was published of which the section on Bromeliaceae was done by Adolfo Espejo Serna and Ana Rosa Lopez Ferrari. There were several proposed changes to and from synonomy but few actually appeared in the Binomial lists. However, 10 years later a new list has appeared only this time as part of Selbyana and we know that Selby Gardens plays a vital role in the production of the Binomial lists. And that's not all. The co-authors in addition to the ones in 1994 are now listed as Ivon Ramirez-Morillo, Bruce K Holst, Harry E Luther, and Walter Till. Now this did make me sit up and think! On enquiry I found out that although they are co-authors they do not necessarily agree with the contents of the list! I have ascertained that a FEW of these changes will be accepted and will appear in the Binomial listings at some time in the future but again without any reason given. This is the science of taxonomy which can be compared to playing poker. To save you the bother of reading the Checklist the changes that could have eventuated are shown below. Some seem to make sense but others do not and when you see a collection cited differently to other publications you wonder how accurate are the linking of species names to plants actually found in the wild. Am I glad I am only a quasi-taxonomist not a proper one?. Perhaps a motto could be 'Always use original names and ignore any suggestions of synonymy!' Amendments in Checklist of Mexican Bromeliaceae by Espejo et al, in Selbyana 25(1): 33-86. 2004 Genus Viridantha This new genus was proposed in Acta Botanica Mexicana 60: 25-35. 2002 to cover the small green-flowered Mexican Tillandsia around T. plumosa. This action was not accepted by any taxonomist outside Mexico as far as I am aware. T. plumosa came into being in 1888 and Baker considered it to connect sections Anoplophytum and Pityrophyllum. At no time in the intervening years has it been suggested it was sufficiently different from the genus Tillandsia to warrant any change. It has been happily residing in sub-genus Allardtia for many years. Aechmea bracteata var. pacifica now bracteata Aechmea galeottii now lueddemanniana Aechmea magdalenae var. quadricolor now magdalenae Aechmea tricolor Silveira now nudicaulis this was not investigated in S&D but is a Brazilian taxon so why in Mexican Bromeliaceae!! Catopsis nutans var. robustior now nutans Greigia oaxacana now juareziana Guzmania lingulata var. minor now lingulata Hechtia desmetiana now rosea Hechtia liebmanii resurrected from podantha sensu S&D Hechtia lindmanioides now purpusii Hechtia macdougallii now rosea Hechtia macrophylla resurrected from schottii sensu S&D Hechtia meziana now rosea Hechtia myriantha resurrected from schottii sensu S&D Hechtia pringlei resurrected from stenopetala sensu S&D Hechtia purpusii resurrected from tillandsioides Hechtia zacatecae now elliptica Pitcairnia jaliscana resurrected from karwinskyana sensu S&D Pitcairnia macrochlamys now recurvata Pitcairnia militaris now sordida Pitcairnia undulato-sepala resurrected from breedlovei sensu Utley Tillandsia arroyensis now species by Espejo & Lopez Ferrari Tillandsia botteri resurrected from tricolor sensu S&D Tillandsia butzii var. roseiflora now butzii Tillandsia drepanoclada now limbata Tillandsia erubescens var. patentibracteata now erubescens Tillandsia fasciculata var. densispica now fasciculata Tillandsia flabellata var. viridfolia now flabellata Tillandsia flavo-bracteata resurrected from compressa sensu Gardner but see also DeRebus I under compressa which leaves this taxon in limbo Tillandsia fuchsii forma gracilis now fuchsii Tillandsia fuchsii var. stephanii now fuchsii Tillandsia hromradnikiana now prodigiosa Tillandsia intumescens resurrected from langlasseana sensu Gardner Tillandsia ionantha var. stricta forma fastigiata now ionantha Tillandsia ionantha var. maxima now ionantha Tillandsia ionantha var. stricta now ionantha Tillandsia ionantha var. van-hyningii now ionantha Tillandsia maritima resurrected from roland-gosselinii sensu Gardner Tillandsia mitlaensis var. tulensis now mitlaensis Tillandsia palmosolana resurrected from concolor sensu Ehlers Tillandsia pringlei was utriculata ssp. pringlei Tillandsia pseudobaileyi ssp. yucatanensis in checklist but also in synonym list as a synonym of pseudobaileyi!!! Tillandsia pueblensis var. glabrior now glabrior Tillandsia schiedeana ssp. glabrior now glabrior Tillandsia sierra-juarezensis now violacea Tillandsia supermexicana var. pendula now supermexicana Tillandsia supermexicana var. saxicola now supermexicana Tillandsia tortilis ssp. curvifolia now tortilis Tillandsia vicentina var. glabra now vicentina Vriesea malzinei var. disticha now malzinei Werauhia nocturna resurrected from hygrometrica sensu Grant Synonym list errors Werauhia burgeri still burgeri Werauhia macrantha still macrantha Werauhia macrochlamys still macrochlamys Werauhia rugosa still rugosa "