Flag for Taxon: Northern bog sedge (Carex gynocrates)
| Flagger | Content Author | Content | Reason | Flag Created | Resolved by | Resolution |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| rynxs | loarie | Northern bog sedge (Carex gynocrates) |
synonym of C. nardina in POWO, an error? |
Mar. 24, 2023 07:30:06 +0000 | rynxs |
swapped |
Comments
I have contacted the general POWO with the question. Certainly seems to be an error to me as the species are so different.
That's a mistake. There is some controversy over C. nardina vs. C. hepburnii and over C. gynocrates vs. C. dioica (unless I've remembered that wrong and it's anothername), but certainly C. nardina and C. gynocrate are different. Not synonyms at all.
I got a response from Rafael Govaerts who said it is not a mistake and cited several of his publications stating these are synonyms.
https://powo.science.kew.org/taxon/urn:lsid:ipni.org:names:77238250-1#publications
But I concur that these are not synonyms. They are in different section, and I tested the genetics ITS2 and rbcL and they are completely different. I sent a note back and ccd Michael Oldham, Tony Reznicek, Bruce Ford, and Kristine Westergaard so hopefully we can get this sorted out.
Rafael clarified that the species are homotypic synonyms:
https://powo.science.kew.org/taxon/urn:lsid:ipni.org:names:301143-1
http://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/2284093#page/446/mode/1up
nardina and gynocrates are homotypic so they MUST be the same by definition.
He therefore suggests the name C. gynocrates has been misapplied and the correct name of the plant you call gynocrates is C. alascana.
So it's Carex alascana now, is it? Well, Sheep!
Thanks @brucebennett! I'm leaving C. gynocrates as a synonym of C. alascana, despite not being explicitly synonymous. This will hopefully lessen some of the confusion.
Would someone be able to reach out to POWO if this is an error?
@sedge @sedgequeen @wdvanhem @michael_oldham @brucebennett