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Term Definition
Lumper A person (usually a plant taxonomist) that recognizes species of plants with considerable morphological variation included in their concept of species. This often results in placing other names, which may even represent valid species in themselves, in synonymy of the name used by the author for the species being described, this is called lumping species. Lumper vs. splitter. Cartoon by M. N. Sashital.
Magnoliophyta The scientific name of the phylum of vascular plants that bear flowers. Lumper vs. splitter. Cartoon by M. N. Sashital.
Magnoliopsida The scientific name of the paraphyletic class of vascular plants that produce flowers and seeds usually with two cotyledons, also known as the dicotyledons. Lumper vs. splitter. Cartoon by M. N. Sashital.
Monocotyledon (monocot) One of the two classes of angiosperms usually characterized by having one cotyledon, parallel-veined leaves, and flower parts most often in threes. In the classification of Cronquist (1981), this class is called Liliopsida. In the APG classification it is not a monophyletic group. Palms and grasses are examples of economically important monnocots. Embryos. Drawing by M. Sashital.
Monogeneric Referring to a plant family with a single genus. Embryos. Drawing by M. Sashital.
Monograph A scientific publication that includes all information known about a group of plants throughout its geographic range; e.g., Flora Neotropica Monographs. A monograph of neotropical Lecythidaceae. Photo by S. A. Mori.
Monophyletic A group derived from the same ancestral taxon. A partial phylogeny of neotropical Lecythidaceae.
Monospecific Referring to a higher taxonomic unit, such as a genus or family, composed of a single species. A partial phylogeny of neotropical Lecythidaceae.
Morph A phenotypic or genetic variant. A partial phylogeny of neotropical Lecythidaceae.
New combination (= combination novum.) A named formed from a previous name. Usually a new combination involves moving a species epithet from one genus to another genus. For example, the species Cariniana decandra Ducke was considered to be a species of Allantoma by Huang et al. ((2008) so they coined the new combination Allantoma decandra (Ducke) Huang et al.. Note that the name of the author of the original name is retained in parentheses as part of the new name. New combination for Chytroma ibiriba.
Nomenclature Activities associated with naming plants, e.g., for example describing new species and determining synonymy. New combination for Chytroma ibiriba.
Ontogenetic Referring to ontogeny. New combination for Chytroma ibiriba.
Ontogeny The course of growth and development of a living organism from inception to maturity. The famous saying, "ontogeny recapitulates phylogeny" means that the development of the species can be seen in the development of an individual of the species. New combination for Chytroma ibiriba.
Order Referring to a level of taxonomic classification between family and division, i.e., an order is made up of families. The names of orders end in -ales, e.g., Caryophyllales and Lecythidales. New combination for Chytroma ibiriba.
Paleoherbs A hypothesized clade of flowering plants including the Aristolochiales, monocots, Nymphaeales, and Piperales. New combination for Chytroma ibiriba.
Paraphyletic A taxonomic group encompassing some but not all of the descendants of its most recent common ancestor. A partial cladogram of neotropical Lecythidaceae. Figure by Ya-Yi Huang.
Phanerogam A plant that produces seed; the gymnosperms and angiosperms are phanerogams. Compare with cryptogam. A partial cladogram of neotropical Lecythidaceae. Figure by Ya-Yi Huang.
Phenotype The sum total of the observable structures and functional characteristics of a living organism. A partial cladogram of neotropical Lecythidaceae. Figure by Ya-Yi Huang.
Phenotypic plasticity The capacity for marked variation in the phenotype; i.e., variation in character states. A partial cladogram of neotropical Lecythidaceae. Figure by Ya-Yi Huang.
Phylogenetic Referring to a classification based on the evolutionary relationships of the organisms involved. A partial cladogram of neotropical Lecythidaceae. Figure by Ya-Yi Huang.
Phylogeny A hypothesis about the evolutionary the relationships within groups of organisms. Phylogenies are based on a series of three taxon statements that address the question "Are taxa A and B more closely related than either is to taxon C. A partial cladogram of neotropical Lecythidaceae. Figure by Ya-Yi Huang.
Phylum (plural = phyla) A unit of classification. The plant kingdom is divided into divisions but some authors use phyla, the animal kingdom is more commonly classified into phyla. A partial cladogram of neotropical Lecythidaceae. Figure by Ya-Yi Huang.
Pleisiomorphic Referring to a feature of a plant that is an ancestral character state; i.e., an evolutionarily primitive character state that does not help define taxonomic groups. A partial cladogram of neotropical Lecythidaceae. Figure by Ya-Yi Huang.
Polyphyletic The inclusion of more than one evolutionary line in a taxonomic group. The polyphyletic Lecythis chartacea clade. Figure by Y.-Y. Huang.
Priority A rule stipulated in the International Code of Botanical Nomenclature that states, all other things being equal, that a name published before another name for the same species is the correct name, i.e., it is the valid name. The polyphyletic Lecythis chartacea clade. Figure by Y.-Y. Huang.
Pro parte A Latin word meaning in part, usually referring to a situation in which only part of a taxon possesses a given feature; often abbreviated as p.p. The polyphyletic Lecythis chartacea clade. Figure by Y.-Y. Huang.
Protologue A scientic publication in which a new species is described or a scientific publication in which more than one new species are described, in the latter case each of the descriptions is the protologue of the new species.
Scientific name A two word name for living or fossil orgamisms. The first is the name of the genus and the second is the specific epithet. The name of the author is usually abbreviated and placed at the end of the name. For example, L. Note that the scientific name is written in italics and the author is written without italics.
Sensu lato A Latin term meaning in the broad sense; e.g., the legumes when considered as a single family rather than three separate families or a species with considerable variation indicating that more than one species might be included in the species concept.
Sensu stricto A Latin term meaning in the narrow sense; e.g., the genus Cassia when Chamaecrista and Senna (Fabaceae) are excluded.
sp. (plural = spp.) Abbreviation for a species (abbreviation for more than one species = spp.).
Species (both singular and plural) A population of plants that freely interbreed with one another and can be diagnosed by similar morphological features and molecular sequences; the basic unit of classification which can be further divided into subspecies, varieties, and forms; a plant's name consists of a generic name and a species epithet which, together, form the species' name.
Species epithet The second word in a scientific name; e.g., in the scientific name is the species epithet.
Species Plantarum A 1753 publication by Linnaeus which established the beginning of Binomial Nomenclature.
Splitter A person (usually a plant taxonomist) that recognizes species of plants with narrow morphological variation included in their concept of species. This often results in the recognition of species based on features that would be considered intraspecific variation by lumpers. This narrow concept of species is called splitting of species. Lumper vs. splitter. Cartoon by M. N. Sashital.
ssp. An abbreviation for subspecies. Same as subsp. Lumper vs. splitter. Cartoon by M. N. Sashital.
Subclass A unit of classification, a subdivision of a class; e.g., the Magnoliidae and Asteridae are two of the six subclasses of the class Magnoliopsida, according to the system of Cronquist (1981). Lumper vs. splitter. Cartoon by M. N. Sashital.
Subspecies (abbreviated subsp. or ssp.) A taxonomic rank just below species and above variety; e.g., Heliconia acuminata subsp. acuminate (Heliconiaceae). Same as ssp. Lumper vs. splitter. Cartoon by M. N. Sashital.
Synapomorphic Referring to a derived feature shared by two or more taxa which is evidence of common ancestry. Lumper vs. splitter. Cartoon by M. N. Sashital.
Synonym (adj. = synonymous) A plant name that represents the same species of another name that is valid, e.g., Jacq. was published in 1763 and subsequently Kunth was published in 1825. By the law of priority, is a synonym of . Accepted name and synonyms of Lecythidaceae. Scan by S. A. Mori.