[Taxacom] Species names

[Thomas G. Lammers]

At 08:38 AM 2/18/2008, James L. Reveal wrote:
>However, be aware, that when dealing with suprageneric names which are
>mononomials they should be treated as plurals, e.g., The Campanulaceae are

Indeed.  I think the confusion comes in because we sometimes use the family 
name as a noun in apposition to its rank, which is then the actual subject 
of the sentence, e.g., "The family Campanulaceae is ..."   As a result, 
"Campanulaceae is" does not grate on our ears as it should.


Thomas G. Lammers, Ph.D.

Associate 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.uwosh.edu/departments/biology/herbarium/herbarium.html
http://www.ratemyprofessors.com/ShowRatings.jsp?tid=297234
http://www.kewbooks.com/asps/ShowDetails.asp?id=615
http://www.uwosh.edu/colleges/cols/StaffBooks/lammers.htm
http://www.geocities.com/TheTropics/Resort/7156/lammers.html
-----------------------------------------------------------
"Today's mighty oak is yesterday's nut that stood his ground."
                                                               -- Anonymous