DANGER: PhyloCode

[Thomas Lammers]

At 08:41 AM 3/6/02 -0800, Curtis Clark wrote:

>If clade-naming is outlawed, only outlaws will name clades.
>(With apologies to the National Rifle Association.)

Cute.
But seriously, naming clades is NOT outlawed.  You just have to PLAY BY THE
RULES, rules forged by hundreds of botanists around the world over the past
century or more.  If you find some of the ramifications of the rules
tiresome, for godssakes don't throw a hissy-fit and toss the whole thing
out the window and introduce some half-baked new set of rules.  Work
through the system to change the rules.  That's what irks me most: this
end-run around a system that has been tuned and tempered through
generations of use.  WE DO NOT NEED TWO SYSTEMS.  That will only confuse
things.




Thomas G. Lammers, Ph.D.

Assistant Professor and Curator of the Herbarium (OSH)
Department of Biology and Microbiology
University of Wisconsin Oshkosh
Oshkosh, Wisconsin 54901-8640 USA

e-mail:       lammers at uwosh.edu
phone:      920-424-1002
fax:           920-424-1101

Plant systematics; classification, nomenclature, evolution, and
biogeography of the Campanulaceae s. lat.

Webpages:
http://www.uwosh.edu/departments/biology/Lammers.htm
http://www.geocities.com/TheTropics/Resort/7156/lammers.html
http://www.uwosh.edu/departments/biology/herbarium/herbarium.html
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"Today's mighty oak is yesterday's nut that stood his ground."
                                                 -- Anonymous