Danish Husain

206) Proposal to add a new paragraph to Recommendation 9A

Type specimens are the most valuable asset in any herbarium and their value multiplies as years elapse. The importance of type specimens can be felt by their singularity and the need for taxonomists to return again and again to these definitive reference materials to address nomenclatural and classificatory questions. Since type specimens are irreplaceable, any annotations concerning latest identifications, taxonomic updates or categorisation of types (into syntype, isotype, lectotype, etc.) should neither be written directly on herbarium sheets nor on previous annotations or original labels. A serious and common issue in recent taxonomic studies all over the globe, especially concerning nomenclature and typification, where taxonomists are trying to connect a species name with a type specimen, is that the name of a person who annotated a type specimen and the date of the annotation is not indicated, thereby limiting the use of such annotations for addressing taxonomic issues. Despite standard procedures that exist for annotating herbarium specimens, taxonomists follow inconsistent practices. It is this concern that prompted the authors to propose an additional Recommendation to the Code:

Notes on the typification of four Himalayan aconites

SummaryIn the present study, four Aconitum taxa, namely, A. hookeri, A. heterophylloides var. leucanthum, A. nagarum and A. spicatum are lectotypified.