Cyclamen 2014

[Anthony Darby]

This came as Cyclamen peloponnesiacum rhodense from the seed exchange. Sown Feb 2012. Is it now Cyclamen rhodium peloponnesiacum?

[David Nicholson]

That's as I understand it Anthony.

[cycnich]

Cyclamen Rhodium ssp peloponnesiacum. The ssp is important as this is now a recognised sub species

[David Nicholson]

Does the fact that The Cyclamen Society Web Site appears to list it as "repandum ssp pelopponnesiacum" and appears not to list any "rhodium" species that there is some dissention in the ranks (as it were) about naming?

[johnralphcarpenter]

According to The Plant List,


 "Cyclamen rhodium subsp. peloponnesiacum (Grey-Wilson) J.Compton & Culham is a synonym of Cyclamen repandum subsp. peloponnesiacum Grey-Wilson This name is a synonym of Cyclamen repandum subsp. peloponnesiacum Grey-Wilson.

The record derives from WCSP (in review) (data supplied on 2012-03-23) which reports it as a synonym with original publication details: J. Cyclamen Soc. 27: 72 2003.

Full publication details for this name can be found in IPNI."

[cycnich]

Does the fact that The Cyclamen Society Web Site appears to list it as "repandum ssp pelopponnesiacum" and appears not to list any "rhodium" species that there is some dissention in the ranks (as it were) about naming?

Unfortunately the Cyclamen society website is badly in need of updating. Rest assured it is on the agenda but may take some time.

[David Nicholson]

Thanks Pat.

[Anthony Darby]

The fact that it has a trinomial would make "ssp." redundant.

[cycnich]

Sorry Anthony I thought you just wanted to write a plant label.

[David Nicholson]

The fact that it has a trinomial would make "ssp." redundant.

Eh!

[Matt T]

The fact that it has a trinomial would make "ssp." redundant.

Whilst true in zoological nomenclature (where there are only subspecies, no varieties of forms) in botany, names below the rank of species must include a qualifer to indicate the rank, i.e. subsp., var., f., etc: http://www.iapt-taxon.org/nomen/main.php?page=art24

In the example given, Saxifraga aizoon var. aizoon subvar. brevifolia f. multicaulis subf. surculosa may also be referred using the trinomial Saxifraga aizoon subf. surculosa. Without the connecting term "subf." in the trinomial, it wouldn't be possible to know what rank the name has.

[Anthony Darby]

They have "var" and "form loc" in animals (particularly butterflies) too, but Genus species subspecies seems pretty standard.

[Matt T]

They have "var" and "form loc" in animals (particularly butterflies) too, but Genus species subspecies seems pretty standard.

Of course. In most cases it is safe to assume that a trinomial for an animal will be referring to a subspecies, but taxonomic levels below subspecies aren't generally covered by the code for zoological nomenclature.

In plants, where varieties and forms occur with much greater frequency the code for nomenclature does apply. If I receive a plant labelled "Narcissus bulbocodium nivalis" or "Crocus kotschyanus leucopharynx", it's not clear from the trinomial that "nivalis" and "leucopharynx" are varieties rather than subspecies, which is why the code advises the use of a connecting term. This doesn't matter so much to gardeners, but is more important to botanists, especially if your working with these plants in the field.

Of course, sooner or later one of those botanists will take a break from their fieldwork to review their taxonomic status and upgrade/demote them to another rank, so it's probably easier to ignore the connecting terms to save us rewriting labels 

[udo]

A part of my Cyclamen purpurascens has funghi on the leaves. Can somebody say me what this could be and how can one fight against it? Many Thanks

[johnstephen29]

Here are some more cyclamen that i have in flower, the first is Cyclamen hederifolium var. hederifolium f. albiflorum 'Perlenteppich', grown from cyclamen seed about four years ago and spreading nicely, next is Cyclamen hederifolium var. hederifolium, lovely pink flowers, next is cyclamen hederifolium Red Sky with dark pink flowers, next i have found this cyclamen flowering in my greenhouse with no label to identify it, i think it may be cyclamen intaminatum, if someone can confirm this i would be grateful, it has small light pink flowers with a darker nose. Lastly i noticed Cyclamen coum subsp. caucasicum has already started into new growth in the greenhouse.

image by johnstephen29, on Flickr
image by johnstephen29, on Flickr
image by johnstephen29, on Flickr
image by johnstephen29, on Flickr
image by johnstephen29, on Flickr

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