Talk:Aristida dichotoma

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Vernacular names

@Hyperik:, Nowick doesn't give "fork-tip three-awn" as a name for this species. "Forked aristida" is listed for A. dichotoma. Nowick does list "Forktip threeawn grass" for A. dichotoma var. curtissii, but that has also been treated as A. basiramea var. curtissii, and Nowick has a bunch of variants of forktip threeawn listed for A. basiramea. I think forktip may best apply to A. basiramea, but has been associated with A. dichotoma due to uncertainties about the placement of var. curtisii (on the other hand, is "dichotoma" maybe referring to a forked tip?).

If you're using Nowick as a source (and it is an excellent reference work), I'm curious how you're deciding which vernacular names to include of those listed there. Plantdrew (talk) 22:36, 8 January 2019 (UTC)[reply]

It was another FB plant nerds addition (never did think I would search FB for "pigbutt"...). So, I was searching Google for a source for "fork-tip three-awn" rather than searching Nowick for mentions of A. dichotoma, if that makes sense. I see now there's a few other names in Nowick for it, and had just missed seeing the "var. curtissi" on the end of the entry for fork-tip three-awn. (Looks like POWO currently has that variety as Aristida curtisii.[1])

Weakley's 2015 and 2018 drafts go:

A. dichotoma – fork-tip three-awn
A. basiramea – forktip three-awn
A. curtisii – Curtiss's three-awn

So, as far as where fork-tip three-awn and its numerous variants should point...hard to say. Looking quickly at Google hits, yeah, seems like there are more for A. basiramea, but still quite a few for A. dichotoma too. —Hyperik ⌜talk⌟ 23:02, 8 January 2019 (UTC)[reply]

I have a hard time believing Weakley intentionally used a hyphen to make a "different" vernacular name (skimming the 2015 flora, it doesn't look like he's real big on hyphens in general). He might change it if it was pointed out. To me, A. basiramea seems dominant enough that fork-tip three-awn could point there (and I still suspect some "contamination" via var. curtisii for A. dichotoma), but a set index for both species would be perfectly fine as well. Plantdrew (talk) 20:46, 10 January 2019 (UTC)[reply]