[Taxacom] Melilotus albus and officinalis

[Kirkbride, Joseph]

For plants with agricultural or economic importance, you should go first
to the USDA, Agricultural Research Service, Germplasm Information
Network (GRIN) web site for taxonomy
(http://www.ars-grin.gov/cgi-bin/npgs/html/index.pl?language=en).  On
the species listing for the genus Melilotus, M. albus Medik. and M.
officinalis (L.) Lam. are given as good species.  Under M. albus, M.
officinalis subsp. albus (Medik.) H. Ohashi & Tateishi is given as a
synonym of M. albus.  Since Ohashi and Tateishi treated M. albus as a
subspecies of M. officinalis, you should look in the Japanese literature
for a treatment of M. albus as a synonym of M. officinalis.

Joe K

Joseph H. Kirkbride, Jr.
USDA-ARS, U.S. National Arboretum
Floral & Nursery Plants Research Unit
3501 New York Avenue NE
Washington, DC 20002-1958 USA
Tel.: 202-245-4534
FAX: 202-245-4579
E-mail: joseph.kirkbride at ars.usda.gov

-----Original Message-----
From: taxacom-bounces at mailman.nhm.ku.edu
[mailto:taxacom-bounces at mailman.nhm.ku.edu] On Behalf Of Adolf & Oluna
Ceska
Sent: Tuesday, June 16, 2009 6:24 AM
To: 'Alec McClay'; taxacom at mailman.nhm.ku.edu
Subject: Re: [Taxacom] Melilotus albus and officinalis

Edward G. Voss in his Michigan Flora, Vol. II, p. 450 gives quite a few
characters on how to distinguish Melilotus officinalis (L.) Lam. from M.
albus Medik. None of those characters is very reliable, but if taken
together they suggest that it is not only the flower colour that would
distinguish those two species. 

Adolf Ceska, Victoria, British Columbia, Canada

-----Original Message-----
From: taxacom-bounces at mailman.nhm.ku.edu
[mailto:taxacom-bounces at mailman.nhm.ku.edu] On Behalf Of Alec McClay
Sent: June-15-09 2:54 PM
To: taxacom at mailman.nhm.ku.edu
Subject: [Taxacom] Melilotus albus and officinalis

Melilotus albus Medik. is listed as a synonym of Melilotus 
officinalis (L.) Lam. in the USDA Plants database, but most other 
listings that I can find (e.g. ILDIS and the Flora Europaea) maintain 
them as separate species. I can't find any publication that 
officially synonymized these species. Does anyone know why PLANTS 
would have synonymized them, or if there is any biological 
justification for doing so?

Alec McClay, Ph.D.

McClay Ecoscience
15 Greenbriar Crescent
Sherwood Park, Alberta
Canada T8H 1H8

Phone (780) 464-4962
Mobile (780) 953-4077
Fax       (780) 410-0496
Skype alec.mcclay
Email <mailto:alec.mcclay at shaw.ca>alec.mcclay at shaw.ca or 
<mailto:biocontrol at mcclay-ecoscience.com>biocontrol at mcclay-ecoscience.co
m

www.mcclay-ecoscience.com
Biological control, invasive species, insect-plant ecology  
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