Taxonomic Swap 43073 (Committed on 2018-12-18)

All species drafted for 1 month prior to Taxon swap. No objections to the name change.

Taxon change to conform with Plants Of The World Online
http://plantsoftheworldonline.org/taxon/urn:lsid:ipni.org:names:27451-1

Also see ‘Transition to Plants of the World Online as a taxonomic reference’
https://www.inaturalist.org/projects/inaturalist-vascular-plant-working-group/journal/18353

Plants of the World Online (Citation)
Added by w_martin on November 20, 2018 12:08 AM | Committed by w_martin on December 18, 2018
replaced with

Comments

Please discuss any objections here.

Posted by w_martin over 5 years ago

The change was made some time ago. Time iNaturalist caught up with the times.
Two species are affected - the rest are minor and should just be committed.
Callistemon citrinus - is a big swap: 1269 observations will change names, versus 1 currently in Melaleuca. It is obviously a popular cultivated plant, but it is causing havoc. A sizeable number of observations are now at family level because the old and the new names are being used concurrently and the Community Consensus between disagreed genera is family level. Time to get a move on before the situtation becomes more chaotic!
Callistemon viminalis - is another big swap: 262 observations (versus 14). Also worldwide, but in South Africa Melaleuca is being used predominantly.

((in South Africa of 39 instances of family level community ID 30 involve the Callistemon-Melaleuca problem. - some 8 observations are still Callistemon, some 49 are Melaleuca, so 30 out of 87 = 34% of observations are hung because this change has not been committed!))

No objections in a month: COMMIT!

Posted by tonyrebelo over 5 years ago

There’s been a few errors with some of the names relating to Plants Of The World Online – some of them are unplaced names Callistemon × hybridus etc. While some infraspecifics cause confusion Metrosideros angustifolia then ‘Myrtus angustifolia’ (This is an unplaced name). I’ve asked Kew science for clarity, they tend to ignore my emails.

Also, this is a big shift in Australia with most people here disagreeing with the move (Although no comments on iNat) people are extremely upset of the name change. Some of which are strongly opposed. The names change is not accepted in Australia on Australian Plant Census (biodiversity.org.au) nor is it accepted on hundreds of our plant databases. as it has been rejected I’m going to allow an additional week for the draft before committing, this will give time to express the concerns.
Please be patient, this is emotionally disturbing for many in Australia & I’ve seen some nasty emails relating to these species.

The Family level ID’s will most probably automatically be converted to the genus Melaleuca in a weeks time, for the time being I suggest using the current name ‘Callistemon’ In which case it’ll automatically be converted to Melaleuca once the draft is committed.

Posted by w_martin over 5 years ago

If you want emotions to run really high, try stealing Acacia from the Africans!

From a few people I have spoken to, it is not just that Callistemon belongs in Melaleuca, but that Callistemon is not even monophyletic in Melaleuca. On what grounds are people opposing it? Is the DNA work inadequate?

PS: I think all our IDs are to species. The family-level IDs are from community consensus from conflicting IDs in the two genera and not actual IDs.

Posted by tonyrebelo over 5 years ago

Just political to my knowledge, not so much systematics. I haven’t seven seen the work myself, so I shouldn’t comment.
I think this is a situation where science conflicts with culture. In Australia some communities treat Callistemon as national floral icon. Paintings, Postage stamps & cultural related activities. So there will be attempts to revive the genus Callistemon & label the systematic studies as rubbish.
I planned for 1 month of Draft before committing the Taxon swap because of these issues. Everything is ready to go, I understand your eagerness for the Taxon swap, same here.

I’m willing to commit South African species, if you provide me a list of the species you want to go through. Australian species will be done next week (after 1 month of draft)

Posted by w_martin over 5 years ago

It can wait till Xmas thanks. The South African species will of course be the "planted" ones. We do have a few species running wild though.
I am only here because our local taxonomist in charge of aliens went out to check up on some iNaturalist observations in the field and complained about the duplication of names here - and specifically that the identification he had made had vanished (it became community consensus "Myrtaceae") and he could not find it. Thought to sneak in a few swaps but then discovered "the minefield" ...

Posted by tonyrebelo over 5 years ago

Good-Bye Callistemon.

Posted by w_martin over 5 years ago

Many thanks. And Merry Xmas!

Posted by tonyrebelo over 5 years ago

Thanks, Merry X-mas to you too.

Posted by w_martin over 5 years ago

What are the GBIF Melaleuca records in the Pacific? (see map layers)

Posted by tonyrebelo over 5 years ago

Not sure. I’ll wait until the server’s finish updating.
It’s 12:33am here, I’ll check back after I get some sleep.

Posted by w_martin over 5 years ago

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