New Release of Indices Nominum Supragenericorum Plantarum Vascularium

[jr19]

New Release of Indices Nominum Supragenericorum Plantarum Vascularium now at
http://www.inform.umd.edu:8080/EdRes/Colleges/LFSC/life_sciences/.plant_biolog
y/.WWW/supragen.html (MARY, with introductory comments) or through NAL at
http://matrix.nal.usda.gov:8080/star/supragenericname.html

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With the cooperation of the National Agricultural Library (NAL), Indices
Nominum Supragenericorum Plantarum Vascularium  (INSPV Project) is made
available publically via the Internet. The project is a joint effort between
the International Association for Plant Taxonomy (IAPT) and the Norton-Brown
Herbarium (MARY) at the University of Maryland. Its purpose is to capture all
valid and legitimate extant vascular plant names proposed above the rank of
genus. These data are dynamic and constantly being updated. At this time, the
listing of a name means only that it is the earliest, valid place of
publication found so far. Except for family and ordinal names, only the
literature published before 1850 (with some exceptions) has been reviewed and
that essentially limited to what is available at NAL and MARY.

The initial release, on 15 September 1995, was a single database with limited
search capability devoted to all suprageneric genus. Data could be accessed by
searching on one or more generic names, each separated by a semicolon (e.g.,
Aster ; Astragalus ; Cassia ; Melica). Some 4300 names are now available in
this database.

The second release, on 8 December 1995, contains two additional databases,
each devoted to vascular plant family nomenclature. This is an extention of
the work begun by the late Ruurd D. Hoogland and myself which resulted in the
1993 NCU treatment of these names. Some 1515 family names are now available,
complete with full citation.

The first of these new databases provides the user with a concordance of the
treatment of names similar too, and greatly expanded from that presented in
the first volume of Flora North America. By entering one or more generic,
family or author names, or year of publication (or a combination) one can
select names to see how each has been treated by ten different authors.

The concordance deals with phylogenetic treatments of Cronquist, Dahlgren,
myself (as used in the databases), Takhtajan and Thorne, and the alphabetical
listings of Brummitt, Greuter et al., Gunn et al., Watson & Dallwitz and
Wielgorskaya. At present, Takhtajan's view of the flowering plants is not
included tending publication of his new book. Also, the phylogenetic treatment
used in the herbaria at The Natural History Museum (BM) and Royal Botanic
Garden (K), as given by Brummitt, is included in the concordance.

The second of the new databases allows a user to search and evaluate the above
authors' systems of classification. One can enter a name, or names, or
truncate to a one or more initial letters to obtain information. For example,
by entering Liliaceae under Cronquist, 82 names will be obtained -- Liliaceae
and the 81 family synonyms he treated under that single name. Enter Liliaceae
under Wielgorskaya, and five names are obtained -- Liliaceae and four synonyms.

By changing formats from one author to another, one can discover how each name
is treated both as to which are accepted and where the synonymy is disposed.
You can also examine the complete system of classification by each author
simply by asking for all names! Change author formats, and each full system is
presented.

Links are provided through the third database to Watson & Dallwitz's DELTA
descriptions of families and to the listings of generic names accepted by the
U.S. Department of Agriculture (GRIN, Plant Taxonomy), the latter compiled by
John Wiersema.

Comments and questions can be sent to me at jr19 at umail.umd.edu