Flag for Taxon: northern lady fern (Athyrium angustum)
| Flagger | Content Author | Content | Reason | Flag Created | Resolved by | Resolution |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| seanblaney | northern lady fern (Athyrium angustum) |
it is a duplicate taxon for Athyrium filix-femina ssp. angustum, also available in the iNaturalist taxonomy. The two should be lumped under one name or the other. |
Jan. 12, 2022 00:07:55 +0000 | choess |
swapped into Athyrium angustum; Athyrium filix-femina split |
Comments
@matthew_connors - A. angustum is the more current name, and A. asplenoides is the more current name for A. filix-femina var. asplenioides. [For ranges, see: http://bonap.net/Napa/TaxonMaps/Genus/County/Athyrium and VASCAN for Canada]. It would be simplest to dump North American Athyrium filix-femina records with var. unspecified into a new taxon: "North American Lady Fern complex - Athyrium filix-femina var. angustum / asplenioides / cyclosorum", except for the following states and provinces: NF, LB, NB, PE, NS, ME, NH, VT, MI, WI, MN, ND, IO (all A. angustum); AK, YK, NT, BC, AB, WA, OR, CA, ID, MT, WY, NV, UT, NM, AZ (all A. filix-femina var. cyclosorum); TX, OK, KS, AR, LA, MS, AL, FL, GA, SC, TN, NC, VA (all A. asplenioides). There are also a few records or reports of A. angustum in TN, NC and KY in high mountain areas, but I think it would be reasonable to transfer all unspecified records in those states to A. asplenioides. This kind of complication is probably why it hasn't been fixed to this point! I'd like to learn how to make these changes, but haven't gotten around to doing that yet. Thanks for any help you can provide.
As far as I can tell in some quick searching, the relevant reference is:
Carol Lynn Kelloff, Judith Skog, Laura Adamkewicz, and Charles R. Werth "Differentiation of Eastern North American Athyrium filix-femina Taxa: Evidence From Allozymes and Spores," American Fern Journal 92(3), 185-213, (1 July 2002). https://doi.org/10.1640/0002-8444(2002)092[0185:DOENAA]2.0.CO;2
Hahah okay I think that might be a little above my expertise, sorry! I reckon make a flag on the genus and hopefully someone with more experience can divide it up based on state. I'm still happy to change this name though if you want, or you can wait for someone on the genus flag to do it if it will be better to make all of the changes at once. Actually there's probably no need to make a genus flag, just tag some US plant people with curator power here
@matthew_connors - I've probably made this more complicated than is strictly necessary. A large proportion of the problem would be fixed simply by lumping Athyrium filix-femina var. angustum into Athyrium angustum and if you were able to do that, it would be great.
As for the remainder of separating out the Athyrium filix-femina...
@kitty12 - not sure if this is something you are interested in taking on, but I see you've done an incredible amount of curating. I've never attempted curating directly so am hesitant to get into it with a relatively complex example.
Thanks and best regards,
Sean Blaney
In fact it seems there is already a taxon swap drafted here. Maybe comment on that and tell them that you agree with it etc. and one of the people involved there can commit it
@seanblaney I do a lot of the basic curating, but doing splits, which I think may be required here (as is suggested in your first comment), is something I don't do. I agree that a large proportion of the observations could probably be fixed with just a swap, but I don't like to leave things only 3/4 fixed, either. And if you want any tips on the mechanics of curating, feel free to drop me a DM.
Sorry, I can get this back on my list. That said, we may just have to split off angustum and asplenioides for now. Ruprecht did some stupid things with nomenclature ("first-order" and "second-order" species) and I'm going to have to correspond with IPNI for a while to figure out if Athyrium cyclosorum is a legitimate name.
Which is the preferred name?