Phylogeny, Taxonomy, and Name Changes in the California Flora

The names of plants have been in flux for centuries, but in recent years, name changes have occurred at an accelerated pace, due largely to advances in our understanding of evolutionary relationships based on analyses of molecular data using modern phylogenetic methods. The results are sometimes striking. For example, in the forthcoming Jepson Manual, some botanists may be surprised to find Mimulus listed under Phrymaceae and Collinsia and Penstemon under Plantaginaceae, rather than the familiar classification of all three genera in Scrophulariaceae. A major goal of this workshop will be to demonstrate that, while such changes may seem inconvenient in the short term, they serve everyone's best interests in the long term. We'll start by reviewing basic concepts and methods of phylogenetic systematics and principles of taxonomy. We'll then explore how new insights into phylogenetic relationships lead to changes in taxonomy.

The second half of the workshop will involve presentation and discussion of specific examples of such changes from the California flora, primarily at the family and genus levels, that are being incorporated in The Jepson Manual.

Speaker: Dan Potter, U.C. Davis