[OGD] Taxonomy

The problem, I think, with taxonomy is that it is a very limited way to
describe the world.  Indeed, without a working definition of species, it
will always be so, especially in a world of evolutionary change.  I think
Darwin would certainly have seen this; indeed it's the very basis of the
origin of species through means of national selection and adaptation.  At
what point does a developing species become a species?  And so good old
Linne had value, and yet as science finds more and different ways to look at
plants, the taxonomy will not only change but will be subjective as well.
Perhaps an art as much as a science.
In the research I did on Darwin's work with orchids for the keynote address
at the recent meeting of the AOS at the Huntington Library, I came across an
interesting tale of the single plant which had, at various times based on
its blooming, not only been described as three different species (which
puzzled and alarmed the taxonomists at the time), but in three different
genera.  Darwin came along and announced that they were simply male, female,
and hermaphroditic flowers on the same plant.  Dimorphism was a concept just
developing at that time (based partly on his own work with primulas, and
about which he later wrote a book).

For those who are interested, here's a link to the Powerpoint presentation:

http://www.slideshare.net/Sky7Bear/orchids-darwins-first-case-study-on-the-origin-of-species-by-means-of-natural-selection



Harvey
Claremont, California
Harvey.Brenneise@xxxxxxxxx

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