Triantha By Any Other Name

Day 257: I don't know that there's an International Taxonomic Conspiracy, but if there is, I'm sure their motto is "A rose by any other name." I am finding it difficult to keep up with the changes being brought about by genetic research: new species names, moves of one species into a new genus. Aster species are now Oreostemma, Arabis has become Boechera, and beautiful, uncommon "Tofieldia glutinosa" has been completely recategorized as Triantha occidentalis. I'm sorry, guys...I can accept Tofieldia becoming Triantha, but "glutinosa" told me something about the plant that "occidentalis" fails to convey. In the field, I want to know that I'm looking for something sticky, not something which "occurs in the west."

Among my botanical colleagues, there are varying degrees of resistance to the changes in nomenclature. The largest camp voices complete rejection. Some of them have published field guides which will now need extensive revision before the next reprint. Others simply don't want to annotate the field guides already in their libraries. Some say, "Okay, you'll have to remind me of that the next time we see it," and a few are like me, trying hard to stay current with the science, even though the notes in our field-guide indices have demolished all hope of looking things up alphabetically. The hardest adjustment, however, is going back through our electronic records of the last decade or more to change the titles we've ascribed to our photos. It pains me to say it, but in my case, that's not going to get done.

Fortunately, we have ITIS (the Integrated Taxonomic Information System). If we remember to use it, we can save ourselves the embarrassment of correction when we present a plant publicly. That said, several of my recent photos of Triantha occidentalis were submitted to the WTU Herbarium under the title, "Tofieldia glutinosa." What you thought you knew on Tuesday may be different when you get up on Wednesday morning, and for that, you can thank a taxonomist.