GardenBanter.co.uk - View Single Post

Nick Maclaren · 31-03-2007, 08:41 AM posted to uk.rec.gardening,rec.gardens

In article ,
Sacha writes:
| On 30/3/07 22:08, in article ,
| "Jangchub" wrote:
|
| I suggest you contact your local botanical gardens. They are pretty
| clear on identification. You can't tell me the taxonomy is so
| involved in this species that botanists won't know the clear nature of
| these seeds.
|
| Some of those who sell them admit they can't be clear on what they've got.
| I don't know *why*, however.

A combination of honesty and legal reasons. Classifying the species I
am referring to is tough even for specialists!

Unfortunately, both Cambridge and Kew have been inflicted with modern,
efficient, targetted management, and have closed their front doors to
amateurs. I got a complete brush-off from the former, which did not
impress me, as all I asked for was a pointer to references if anyone
knew of any offhand. I don't know the people personally, or would
bypass the bureaucracy.

In both cases, amateur botanists have to make do with the schoolchild-
oriented pap that they provide as public information or find a way
around the mechanism :-( And, increasingly, non-trivial information
is being excluded even to academics of other disciplines, though it
is only people like me who bemoan the fact. I can see the harm that
it does to the specialities, but the specialists can't see widely
enough to realise that.

Regards,
Nick Maclaren.