According to a book which I'm currently reading, "when a variety or subspecies is attributed to a species, the typical form automatically receives a variety name -- the same name as the specific epithet." The example given is Magnolia macrophylla var. macrophylla in which where there are other varieties such as var. ashei and var. dealbata. 1. Is this the official ICBN convention? 2. Is it accepted practice to refer to the typical form using the original and shorter name as a shorthand? This appears to be the case. For instance. I've never seen Osmanthus fragrans written any other way and it has many varieties.
Yes, it is. Article 26.2 in the 1988 edition "The first valid publication of a name of an infraspecific taxon that does not include the type of the adopted, legitimate name of the species automatically establishes the corresponding autonym." Yes, this is accepted practice, at least in non-taxonomic publications. Be aware though, that if you are talking with a taxonomist, and you mention Magnolia macrophylla, you may be asked to clarify whether you mean Magnolia macrophylla var. macrophylla, or Magnolia macrophylla in the broad sense, i.e., including all of its varieties. By the way, a web search reveals one instance of Osmanthus fragrans var. fragrans (and once this thread is picked up by search engines, two instances!)
Thanks, Daniel. I'm glad there are experts like yourself who can answer these sorts of questions in this forum. As for the naming of plants, too bad one cannot be precise without being verbose.
Magnolia Macrophylla Hi Junglekeeper: Sorry for the intrusion but to add to the intrigue there may be a fourth variety of Macrophylla - Magnolia macrophylla var. tripetala. Years ago when some well known Magnolia enthusiasts were to visit the nursery Don made sure the Magnolias that we purchased at a Placerville nursery were marked "Macrophylla Tripetala" for all to see. In my discussions with Don about this Magnolia he said the flower was closer to being like a Macrophylla than a recognized Tripetala is on our way home with the plants. A few years later we saw one of those Macrophylla Tripetalas bloom and it indeed was much closer to being a Macrophylla in flower than a Tripetala is generally considered to be. Also, our forms of Macrophylla does not have the reddish purple markings in the interior of the tepals near the base of the flower as the flower is as depicted in this photo below. Color wise this one below reminds me more of Macrophylla var. ashei than the species form of Macrophylla that we have had in the past here (I have to qualify the word "here" as opposed to elsewhere). http://www.botanicalgarden.ubc.ca/forums/showthread.php?t=3299 Our Macrophylla Tripetala has more of a pink blush to the base but no visual markings at all in comparison to the one above. The number of tepals is right but the interior coloration is not the same as ours. The leaves are longer than a species form of Macrophylla is (Daniel, we did not separate Macrophylla and Macrophylla var. macrophylla at the nursery. This is all rather confusing as it is) but are not nearly as wide. The leaves are more rounded in shape and have a noticeable rolling curve (upside down "U" shape) whereby the edges of the leaves seems to want to curve under the leaf as opposed to our species Macrophyllas leaves that are much more flat in comparison. You bet, this is another gray area in Magnolias that needs to be further explored. I can only base things on what I've seen as opposed to what they should be or are supposed to be. I'll leave you alone. I caused enough trouble with the Michelias. By the way, sometime check out Pleioblastus, Sasa and Pseudosasa for your Bamboo you asked about. Bamboo is not a specialty area for me but I've seen your Bamboo before at Don's nursery. He grew it essentially indoors in a mini greenhouse. It will be difficult to pin down your Bamboo online as I gave it a shot a few weeks ago. Just too much stuff to sort through and then no pics of the one I thought yours might be. When I have more free time I'll try again if you would like me to after I return here in a few days. Jim
Magnolia macrophylla and M. tripetala are quite different, for one thing the latter has gradually tapering leaf bases while the former does not. That would be the first thing about the leaves of your plant to check. Writing the two species names together on the label implies someone in the sequence thought it was a hybrid, if it was such that could explain any intermediacy.
