On 8/26/12 8:12 AM, David E. Ross wrote:
On 8/25/12 9:56 PM, wrote:
There is a beautiful shy Australian called ‘Sturt Desert Pea’. I just
included it in my ebook, and I try to be accurate when adding
botanical names. Strangely, this one is ‘Clianthus formosus’ in some
books, but ‘Swainsona formosa’ in others. I chose the latter because
it seems a more recent naming. I found that in 1999 yet another
classification was suggested but “…rejected by the scientific
community…”
Question: who exactly determines a plant’s classification?
Thanks for replies – Klaus
www.greetings122.com


For a long time, flowering plants were classified mostly by the forms of
their flowers, including microscopic examinations. Other
characteristics were also used, but flower form was the primary
characteristic.

In recent years, however, the advent of DNA sequencing has led to using
that as the primary (almost sole) basis for classification. Two
different plants with very similar DNA are now classed as closely
related and might thus be separate species in the same genus or even
separate varieties of the sam species. This has led to (1) a major
reclassification of plants and (2) the creation of new genera and species.

[snipping part of my own prior reply]

The ultimate arbitrator of botanical names is the International
Association for Plant Taxonomy.

--
David E. Ross
Climate: California Mediterranean, see
http://www.rossde.com/garden/climate.html
Gardening diary at http://www.rossde.com/garden/diary