Re: On Cultivars (and Taxa)

From: ricell@juno.com
Date: Tue Feb 24 1998 - 16:10:14 PST


Date: Tue, 24 Feb 1998 17:10:14 -0700
From: ricell@juno.com
To: cp@opus.hpl.hp.com
Message-Id: <aabcdefg740$foo@default>
Subject: Re: On Cultivars (and Taxa)

Dear Jan,

Thank you for taking the time to answer questions from a non-botanist who
sometimes finds the world of taxonomy bewildering. I think this will be
my last question/clarification before I let this thread die. However I
want to make sure I understand the concept of a taxon as it applies to
man made hybrids.

> >> Example of (S. x mitchelliana) x (S. x formosa)
> >
> >You do not talk about cultivars in this case. Both hybrids are taxa,
> >and at least theoretically, the complex hybrid is again a taxon. This
> >latter taxon will include all intermediates between the species
> >involved (_S.leucophylla, minor, psittacina, purpurea_).

If we were to give a name to the taxon formed by (S. x mitchelliana) x
(S. x formosa), would a plant with the parentage of ((S. leucophylla x S.
minor) x (S. psittacina x S. purpurea))
be a member? It seems to me the offspring would be indistinguishable.
What about
(((S. x mitchelliana ) x S. minor) x S. psittacina) which would also be
intermediate between the 4 species but probably show more S. psittacina
characteristics?

Thanks for your patience.

Richard Ellis "ricell@juno.com"
Boulder, CO



This archive was generated by hypermail 2b30 : Tue Jan 02 2001 - 17:31:29 PST