Help Orchid Naming Family etc.

[kg5]

It has been a while since I use some horticulture terms and need some help please.

To name a plant it goes?

Family. Genus. Species. Common name.

Can anybody tell me how you get a new Genus in the orchid world?

I can see species happening but Genus is.....

[hbozeman]

Taxonomy is the least scientific of all the sciences. People decide upon which characteristics should be used to segregate organisms into groups. They sometimes change names, which characteristics are 'worthy' of new groups. There is a constant battle between 'Lumpers and Splitters', those that would rather have fewer groups with greater diversity, and those who wish to have more groups with fewer organisms in each group.

[King_of_orchid_growing:)]

Actually, it is becoming more and more scientific. That's why it has been changing more and more rapidly. Classification is also now based on DNA sequencing.

New natural genera will depend on whether or not the orchid that is already known to science really does have DNA that is different enough from the other orchids in a particular genus that it was once clumped under to warrant a change from the old genus name to a new one. Or if the orchid was a new discovery, and it doesn't fit in any of the known genera that is currently formally recognized and accepted, it should eventually receive a new genus name.

New genera of plants that are not found naturally as a species or a natural hybrid are subject to the whims of those who created the artificial hybrid.

[PaphMadMan]

I would add...

While DNA analysis is making it much easier to determine the true relationships between the living species we see (sort of a family tree), rather than the previous possibly arbitrary choice of physical characteristics, there will continue to be a certain flexibility in where the lines get drawn between taxa*. Lumper vs. splitter differences will still apply - one large genus can often be split into 2 or more smaller genera without any difference in the assessment of the relationships, or do we consider something one species with 3 varieties or 3 separate species.

Also - "family, genus, species" is only part of the formal list of taxonomic divisions that are recognized. Family, subfamily, tribe, subtribe**, genus, subgenus, species, subspecies, variety, form are all possible. In the family tree analogy, each of those is a potential branching point in the tree. Whether we consider a branch point to mark a genus vs. a subgenus, a species vs. a subspecies, is where the lumper/splitter difference can always come in, even if we agree 100% on the branches of the tree.

So a "new" genus can happen anytime the understanding of the relationships changes (the shape of the tree) based on new evidence, or anytime a different branch point on the tree is considered important. Saying that isn't scientific shows a lack of understanding of the process of science.

*[Taxa (singular: taxon) is a term for a taxonomic division at any level. Species, genus and family are all examples of taxa.]

**[Alliance is an informal term that is often parallel to subtribe or part of a subtribe.]

[kg5]

Thank You all for your answers!

Well DNA is after my time. The complication are mind boggling to me!

The tree example:

eucaliptus territaconornus or blue gum comes in four species the coastal, hinterland, mountain and the western plains. All have very different colour wood.

Their flowers come in White To Yellow but we found a red flowering coastal species. 1st one ever found but I am sure it was only a species find. Maybe I have it all very wrong.