DualWieldRake Posted January 13, 2018 (edited) So i've been trying to organize some cacti and I stumbled on some things.. "The rules for naming a new animal taxon are governed by the ICZN, while the International Association for Plant Taxonomy (IAPT) governs plants" Visiting their site i found out they don't even list the data? All i see is a link where i can pay for a subscription...makes me think, are these guys even real or just your average fraudulent asshole Got the quote from this page https://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/the-big-ugly-problem-heart-of-taxonomy-180964629/ Talking about how taxonomy doesn't use scientific method, instead any asshole can just jot some random name down Am i missing something here? Or is plant taxonomy really just a hobby thing currently. Edited January 14, 2018 by DualWieldRake Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
trucha Posted January 13, 2018 Taxonomy has always been more of a political endeavor than a scientific one. It is not actually about the plants but rather is about what names people want to apply to them and how they want to rank them with regards to their perceived relationships to each other. Even when based on molecular data there is still plenty of room for individual opinions to be expressed. It is true that anyone can name a plant but getting a proposed name accepted is not so easy. The International Code of Botanical Nomenclature is available (both online and in print) should you want the details about naming plants. The Melbourne version is the most recent one. 2 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
