From: ExoticRainforest <Steve at exoticrainforest.com> on 2009.01.27 at 16:50:00(18996)
Good idea Julius.
Here is a list ofsome of the sources I use almost daily. Some will only confirm or denythe validity of a scientific name while others will give more detailedinformation. Everyone should be aware that not every plant name willalways show up on some of these lists since those names are eitherrecently published or works in progress which have not been publishedat all. And much worse, MANY of the names used on internet plantdiscussion groups and sources such as Wiki are totally "made-up" (that's Dr. Croat's term!). One of our youngest members Taylor Holzer(14) who is quickly becoming a whiz at aroids found one last nightcalled "Philodendron Katak" on a website that is a completely bogusname! The plant they were showing is Philodendron martianumEngler. He also found a plant on one site which was using the name ofa Philodendron species and the plant was obviously an Anthurium! Taylor immediately knew they had the wrong genus name! You see, Taylorloves to read about aroids and keeps me on my toes all the time! Butwhat we all have to deal with as a result of the internet is you canrarely trust ANY name of a plant discussion group! I've actually foundpeople putting their own last name with "ii" at the end!
One major point of interest if you are trying to learn about an aroidspecies! Dr. Croat frequently publishes his field notes on TROPICOS,you just need to know how to find them! Follow this procedure: 1) Goto the TROPICOS site and type in the scientific name you are seekinginformation regarding. If the name you typed does not pop up you needto check to see if you misspelled the name. The TROPICOS system willoften try to correct your spelling or suggest proper spellings as youwork. But if all else fails then type in only the genus name (i.e.Philodendron). A complete list of species will pop up but you shouldbe aware this list will also include all valid names plus any synonymnames. You need to go to that page and look at the headers to see ifthe name is a synonym for another plant! Click on "synonyms" and thesite will tell you if it is valid or a synonym of another species. Then, after you have located a valid name click on "specimens". A listof the collected specimens will pop up. You can see to the left of thepage where the specimen was collected and to the right you'll see alist of collection numbers including the author. If you find any withDr. Croat's name on them as the collector click on the number. Thenyou will be able to read his field notes about that particularcollection. READ THEM ALL! You will often find additional info inother collection data. I often go through the entire list to findinformation on the color or details of an inflorescence,characteristics of the petiole, stem, blade, cataphyll and otherimportant facts you can use to determine the characteristics of aspecies.
TROPICOS which is a service of the Missouri Botanical Garden
http://www.tropicos.org/
The International Aroid Society. You'll find tons of good info here!
http://www.aroid.org/
The Aroid l Index. To use this try typing in the name of the plant andthen click on all the years. The system will search for anydiscussions of that species from the beginning of Aroid l
C:\Documents and Settings\Owner\Desktop\Aroid l achieves search.mht
The International Plant Names Index which is a service of the RoyalBotanic Garden Kew in London. This is considered the ultimate sourceby many but rarely lists details and only confirms the validity ofnames.
http://www.ipni.org/index.html
Kew Monocot Checklist. This site sometimes contains good info aboutwhy a plant is a synonym instead of the currently accepted name.
C:\Documents and Settings\Owner\Desktop\Kew World Monocots ChecklistSeries.mht
The Kew World Checklist of Selected Plant Families
http://apps.kew.org/wcsp/prepareChecklist.do;jsessionidÔE7F43755D6B641D
Cate Araceae
http://www.cate-araceae.org/index.do;jsessionid–982249A0181F1EB1E74E6CEB9841D4
In addition, look up any of the major botanical garden websites. Sometimes you will find the information you need.
Of course, you should add all of Dr. Croat's journals on Philodendron,Anthurium and other genera you are interested in learning about toyou library. Be certain you own a copy of Deni Bown's book Aroids,Plants of the Arum Family. One of the ultimate scientific sourcebooks is The Genera of Araceae by Mayo, Bogner and Boyce. Manyof you often read Pete Boyce's material right here! Julius and I bothdepend on that text heavily since you can learn very detailed info thatis rarely available in other sources. You can order just about all of these from the IAS.
By the way, have you paid your 2009 International Aroid Societyrenewal? If you're not a member go to this link and join RIGHT NOW: http://www.aroid.org/ The info you'll receive in the mail is wellworth the small cost!
Steve Lucas
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