Talk:Trillium sulcatum

Year described

From a technical point of view, Barksdale's description of Trillium erectum var. sulcatum in 1938 was invalid, but it was a perfectly good botanical description of the taxon. Patrick agreed, which why he retained the epithet sulcatum in his description of the same taxon in 1984. Given that, was Trillium sulcatum described by Patrick in 1984 (Category:Plants described in 1984) or by Barksdale in 1938 (Category:Plants described in 1938)? TIA Tom Scavo (talk) 14:33, 20 March 2023 (UTC)[reply]

@Peter coxhead: can you answer this question? TIA Tom Scavo (talk) 20:41, 20 March 2023 (UTC)[reply]

@Trscavo: Although the categories are called "Plants described in ...", the guidance at Wikipedia:WikiProject Plants/Description in year categories says that it means the year in which the taxon was first formally and validly described according to the rules of the ICNafp. So, although pre-Linnaean authors clearly described taxa before 1753, this is the earliest year that we use. (It might have been better to call the categories something like "Plants formally named in ...".)

Hence my answer is that Trillium sulcatum should be categorized under "Plants described in 1984". Peter coxhead (talk) 21:30, 20 March 2023 (UTC)[reply]

@Peter coxhead: Thank you, that helps! Tom Scavo (talk) 21:46, 20 March 2023 (UTC)[reply]