G.F. Smith

Aspects of the taxonomy of Aloe arborescens Mill. (Asphodelaceae : Alooideae)

Summary: Taxonomic concepts in the morphologically variable Aloe arborescens Mill. are discussed. Previous approaches to the taxonomy of this species varied from describing aberrant material as new entities, using formal taxonomic categories, to selecting forms with horticulturally desirable characters and naming these as cultivare. We propose that in the case of this species, the preferred approach to recognise variation among entities in horticulture should be at the level of cultivars, rather than formal taxonomic entities at infraspecific ranks. It is only after extensive fieldwork throughout the complete distribution range of this species and intensive research, including all possible forms of data (morphological, anatomical, chemical, molecular, etc.), that any formal distinctions at infraspecific level can be made.

Type specimens online : what is available, what is not, and how to proceed ; reflections based on an analysis of the images of type specimens of southern African Polygala (Polygalaceae) accessible on the worldwide web

The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation is thanked for financial support for the Global Plants Initiative, and its forerunners, the African Plants Initiative and the Latin American Plants Initiative.

Proposal to conserve the family name Asphodelaceae (Spermatophyta : Magnoliidae : Asparagales)

1 Biosystematics Research & Biodiversity Collections Division, South African National Biodiversity Institute, Private Bag X101, 0001 Pretoria, South Africa / Department of Plant Science, University of Pretoria, 0002 Pretoria, South Africa 2 Office of the Chief Director: Biosystematics Research & Biodiversity Collections, South African National Biodiversity Institute, Private Bag X101, 0001 Pretoria, South Africa / Acocks Chair, H.G.W.J. Schweickerdt Herbarium, Department of Plant Science, University of Pretoria, 0002 Pretoria, South Africa / Centre for Functional Ecology, Departamento de Ciências da Vida, Universidade de Coimbra, 3001-455 Coimbra, Portugal 3 H.G.W.J. Schweickerdt Herbarium, Department of Plant Science, University of Pretoria, 0002 Pretoria, South Africa Author for correspondence: Ronell R. Klopper, R.Klopper@sanbi.org.za

Typification of two Linnaean names in Polygala (Polygalaceae) : P. bracteolata and P. myrtifolia

Two Linnaean names of Polygala, P. bracteolata and P. myrtifolia, are lectotypified.