Abstract Detail

Floristics & Taxonomy

Wright, Alexander [1], Roalson, Eric [2].

Haenke, Lewis, and their befuddling Berberis.

Berberis pinnata Lag. and B. repens Lindl. (Berberidaceae) are names broadly applied to wild plants of North America, but both were described from cultivated material of uncertain provenance grown in Europe. The founding seed of what would eventually be named as B. pinnata was collected by Tadeáš Haenke, but two possible locations are indicated which straddle the boundary of current circumscriptions. B. repens was founded on material descended from the collections of Meriwether Lewis, but the seed is nowhere mentioned in his notes. To complicate matters further, the two are part of a taxonomically difficult species complex which has been historically divided in drastically different ways, and many wild plants today may be descended from highly admixed cultivated material. The original material of both these names passed through the hands of many major botanists, but just as many have been confounded attempting to solidify their application.

1 - Washington State University, Marion Ownbey Herbarium, Pullman, WA, 99164, USA
2 - Washington State University, School Of Biological Sciences, Abelson Hall 339, Pullman, WA, 99164, United States

Keywords:
Berberis
Mahonia
Berberidaceae
Taxonomy 
History.

Presentation Type: Oral Paper
Number: F&T II007
Abstract ID:997
Candidate for Awards:None