An Introduction to the Botanical Type Specimen Register

16 SXITHSOSIAN CONTRIBUTIONS TO BOTANY
The Internotional Code of Botanical Nomencla-
tu)e is, of course, the final authority on all matters
of typification and nomenclature. (The 1966 edi-
tion, prepared under the chief editorship of Lan-
jouw and Stafleu, has been used thus far, but the
rietver 1972 edition of Stafleu et al. is now availa-
ble.) Of the essential desk-top references, the one
most frequently consulted, perhaps, is the seventh
edition of JVillis’ Dictionary. Also invaluable as
general reference works are Stearn’s Botanical Latin
(1966) and Stafleu’s Taxonomic Literature (1967).
Though hardly desk-top references, Index Kewensis
and the G?ay He) bai ium Index are indispensable,
and the Type Register editorial staff is fortunate
in haking available to it an integrated version of
the lormer and both the card and book forms of
the latter. Insofar as possible, the same procedures
and standards are being applied in both the Type
Register project ant1 the Flora North America pro-
gram, so that the data bases will be compatible.
.luthority files developed especially for the one
project are being used also for the other as ap-
propriate.
The main editorial procedures that have been
adopted to verify and standardize the ingoing data
are summarized below field by field. Collaborators
can do much to increase the reliability and stand-
ardization of their own data by using these same
procedures in the process of compilation. The
editorial burden is eased greatly when the editor
knows in advance that the essential standards have
been upheld consistently by the contributor,
Level 1-Taxon Data
The following fields of data are recorded only
once each for every species or infraspecific taxon
registered in the machine file because these data
are unique for each taxon. Furthermore, the taxon
is the unit record, and every taxon is entered into
the file only once.
FA%fItu.-The latest edition of Engler’s Syllabus
der Pflanzenfonizlien (vol. 1 : Melchior and Werder-
mann, 1954; vol. 2: Melchior, 1964) is the authority
for the system of families with the exception that
the accepted family name with a regular ending
is used in all cases, including the eight cases where
the Syllabws, following the traditional practice sanc-
tioned by the ICBA‘ (see list of h’omina Familia-
rum Coriservandn), uses irregular names. These
irregular names with their adopted regular equivalents
are: Compositae/ASTERACEAE, Cruciferae/
BRASSICACEAE, Graminae/POACEAE, Guttiferae/CLUSIACEXE,
Labiatae/LAMIACEAE, Leguminosae/FABACEAE,
Palmae/ARECACEAE, Umbelliferae/APIACEAE.
The use of regular family
names conforms with practice in the FNA program.
IVillis’ Dictionary is used in conjunction with the
Syi;obus to determine the family to which a genus
belongs.
GEXS AND GENUS SYsoNuhr.-Index Nominum
Gcne,’icorum, insofar as it is completed, is the final
authority for generic names, to determine their accepted
spelling and whether they are validly published.
IVillis’ Dictionary, which in any case is an
indispensable authoritative handbook on these
matters, is consulted for genera not yet covered by
I*YG. Il’henever the data are being compiled directiy
from the primary sources, the generic name
is entered on the data form exactly as it was spelled
in the original description of the particular species
or other taxon in queution. If for some reason this
spelling is a variant of the currently accepted orthography
of the name, then both spellings are entered
into the machine file, the accepted spelling
in the “Genus” field and the orthographic variant
in the “Genus Synonym” field. In no case is more
than one spelling permitted in the “Genus” field
for the species and infraspecific taxa of any particular
genus of plants.
SPECIES.-Attempt is made to record the specific
epithet exactly as it was spelled originally, except
where a minor change is required by the provisions
of the ICBhT governing orthography. (A two-word
epithet, for example, is hyphenated to form a single
word.) To verify the spelling given on the data
form, the editor relies upon the Gray Heybarium
Index and/or Index Kewensis insofar as possible,
because to check the primary publications in all
cases is impractical at this stage. These two indices,
which overlap considerably in coverage, frequently
provide a check on each other. Unless the taxon in
question is by definition outside the limits of one
of the two indices, the second index is checked
routinely whenever the first does not confirm the
spelling given on the data form. TVith respect to
species regarded as being of hybrid origin, the
standard practice of placing an “X” followed by a
blank space before the epithet is followed.