Is there such an abbreviation??

[Thomas Lammers]

At 08:34 AM 9/29/00 -0600, you wrote:

>sp. denotes species.
>spp. is all inclusive (Past, Present, Future) species

sp. is singular,  spp. is merely plural.

As to the rest of your qwuestion: whether a given species is included
within one genus or another is not so much a matter of past vs. current
practice as it is of differences of opinion among taxonomists.  Some think
the commercial apple belongs to the same genus as the commercial pear
(Pyrus communis) and call it Pyrus malus.  Others think apples deserve
their own genus and call the commercial apple Malus pumila.  One cannot say
that one or the other classification is correct, or that one is the "past"
classification, the other the "present" classification; there are data to
support both points of view.

Or have I misunderstood the question?
Thomas G. Lammers, Ph.D.

Assistant Professor and Curator of the Herbarium (OSH)
Department of Biology and Microbiology
University of Wisconsin Oshkosh
Oshkosh, Wisconsin 54901-8640 USA

e-mail:       lammers at uwosh.edu
phone:      920-424-7085
fax:           920-424-1101

Plant systematics; classification, nomenclature, evolution, and
biogeography of the Campanulaceae s. lat.
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"Today's mighty oak is yesterday's nut that stood his ground."
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