Rankless English orthography

[MAGarland at AOL.COM]

Philip D. Cantino writes:

> The clade Rosaceae is....

That sounds better than "the Rosaceae is," which I guess is the preference of
Tom DiBenedetto and others, but maybe I just know too much Latin.

Here's a thought--if folks are really going to buy into this "historical
individual" business, why not make all taxon names singular?  Names up to
genus are already singular, then there's a shift to plural as you go up the
current hierarchy.  You could have the Rosacea, the Angiosperma, the Planta,
the Insectum, the Mammale, the Animale, and so on.  Emphasize the
individuality of these things!

I just noticed that Rosacea looks like a disease name ("had a touch of
Rosacea, but feel much better now.").  Oh, well--no progress without problems.

Mark A. Garland
Florida Department of Environmental Protection
2600 Blair Stone Road, Mail Station 2500
Tallahassee, Florida 32399
U.S.A.
mark.garland at dep.state.fl.us
magarland at aol.com