Xantusia egg on my face...!

[Timothy S. Ross]

Spanning the globe to bring you the constant variety of misinformation--
        The thrill of incoherent babbling;
        The agony of coming to consciousness...

This is a belated apology for the results of my brain hemorrhage in regard
to Xantusia; I only just came to consciousness today.  To set the record
straight once and for all:  Xantusia is indeed A LIZARD, and Xantus'
hummingbird is indeed HYLOCHARIS XANTUSII.  I've seen them both in the
field and I know better, but somehow when I sent in that last message I had
just blown through 164 e-mail messages and I guess that my brain
disengaged.  My thanks to Richard Rosenblatt, Robin Panza, Rob Colwell, and
others who tried to un-do my massive boo-boo.  I often tell people that my
brain works with plant names, but has no retention for animal names.  [My
signature by-line, below, is especially apt today.]
        I shall definitely stick to botany.

        But seriously folks... I recently read an article -- I think it was
in the Journal of Astrology and Cosmetology -- that a new asteroid had been
discovered and was being named Xantiusia.  So far as I know, the formation
of that name does not conflict seriously with the International Code of
Botanical Nomenclature.  Correct me if I'm wrong.  Any astrologers out
there?

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TIMOTHY S. ROSS
Sr. Curatorial Asst.
RSA-POM Herbarium
Rancho Santa Ana Botanic Garden
1500 North College Avenue
Claremont, CA 91711, U.S.A.
(909) 625-8767 ext. 233
FAX (909) 626-7670
rosst at cgs.edu

"At the end of a fortnight, I fired myself for willful incompetence."
              -- Donald Culross Peattie (The Road of a Naturalist, 1941)
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