Suksdorfia Explained

Suksdorfia is a genus in the family Saxifragaceae. It has only two accepted species, Suksdorfia alchemilloides and Suksdorfia violacea, native to central South America and northwestern North America, respectively. Asa Gray named the genus Suksdorfia after Wilhelm Nikolaus Suksdorf, a mostly self-taught German botanist who came to the United States at age eight and found the species S. violacea in the northwestern United States. S. violacea is the type species for this genus.[1]

Since the International Rules of Botanical Nomenclature of 1906, the genus name Suksdorfia Gray, published in 1879, has been conserved against the earlier name Hemieva Raf., which had been published in 1837 with the type species Hemieva ranunculifolia (Hook.) Raf. (based on Saxifraga ranunculifolia Hook., published in 1832).[2] [3]

Notes and References

  1. Love. Rhoda M.. Wilhelm Nikolaus Suksdorf (1850-1932) Pioneer Botanist of the Pacific Northwest . Pacific Northwest Quarterly. Fall 1998. 173.
  2. Web site: Proposals and Disposals: An Accounting of Algal, Fungal, and Plant Nomenclature Proposals . Dan Nicolson and John Wiersema . Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History . 21 January 2015.
  3. Web site: Tropicos.org, entry for Saxifraga ranunculifolia . 21 January 2015.