Talk:Lamium galeobdolon

Synonyms

Does this plant have any synonyms? Punkmorten (talk) 09:24, 25 June 2008 (UTC)

A few points

As a major author @Trscavo: can you check out these points, please?

• The cited reference for the cultivar 'Herman's Pride' does not allocate it to any subspecies; a reference for its allocation to subsp. flavidum is needed. I couldn't find any in a (fairly brief) search; if there really is none, the subspecific allocation should be removed.
• The paragraph starting "Most North American authorities accept a single taxon ..." I've commented out in <!-- --> tags, as it looks of minimal relevance: what is special about North American authorities to deserve this special mention?? It reeks of Americocentric exceptionalism, in respect of a European species with minimal relevance to North America. Where relevant, it should be merged with the positions of other authorities without any special distinction, and anything not of relevance removed.
• Clearly, as you already added, POWO's subspecific mapping of invasive populations is incomplete and sometimes wrong (likely influenced by Mennema's outdated 1989 work). I've added some notes from iNaturalist's mapping of their records, which show subsp. argentatum overwhelmingly dominant in the non-native distribution (as well as the subspecifically allocated observations, look through the unallocated photos!), but it could probably do with better presentation. It's difficult to know how much and what can be said without potentially breaching the 'no original research' rule.
• I removed the pronunciation guide from the start; it was (to my eyes) grotesquely bad. There is no accepted correct pronunciation for scientific names, except for William T. Stearn's notable advice (Botanical Latin 3rd ed. revised, p.53) to follow classical Latin pronunciation.
• Finally, the engvar usage on the page was a bit mixed, with both UK English and American; I've changed to UK English throughout, given the species' native status and thus MOS:TIES to Britain & Ireland, which it does not have to North America.

Hope this helps! - MPF (talk) 21:12, 22 July 2024 (UTC)

@MPF: thank you for your edits and feedback. I've numbered your talking points for convenience.

1. I have yet to find a reliable source for 'Herman's Pride' but I think it is rather important and should be retained with "citation needed". As a cultivar of subspecies flavidum it is not invasive, yet it tends to get lumped in with its invasive siblings. This leads to confusion.
2. The mention of "North American authorities" was intended to be a call-to-arms of sorts. Much of the info published by non-European authors is lacking or misleading and in some cases incorrect. Numerous synonyms are in use worldwide, which has hampered a proper response to a significant invasive threat.
3. I have yet to review the content based on iNaturalist but I agree (in principle) that something along these lines is sorely needed.
4. I find the pronunciation guide to be helpful, and I suspect others will as well, but I don’t feel strongly about it.
5. Lamium galeobdolon sensu lato has strong ties to several English-speaking nations but the specific choice is less important (to me) than consistency of presentation.