Taxonomic rules for varietal names?

[Fairorchids]

@ PaphMadMan,

That is clear and concise, but it also reveals that there is no easy way to decide whether a varietal name is valid, and whether it should be written one way or the other.

I tried to look up Paphiopedilum insigne in Orchids Plus, since this species is reported to have more than 100 varieties.

Under species name, I got a listing of 72 publications, but no indication of what varities (if any) are mentioned in each.

When I tried to add some known varieties (sanderae & sanderianum), I got no results. When I tried to add a clonal name (Harefield Hall), I got no results.

When I went back to the Awards search function, I got results for Harefield Hall, but not for the varietal names, unless spelled exactly as entered into the data base. Some are v., others var. and still others hort. var.

[PaphMadMan]

A source like: Home — The Plant List or https://wcsp.science.kew.org/ will let you enter a genus and species like Paphiopedilum insigne, and bring up a list that includes essentially all of the validly published varieties and forms except the very recent, with publication details available if you click each link. They are listed as synonyms, but that doesn't mean they aren't accepted, just confirms that they are considered to be that species. You can see by publication date which are more recent, but it says nothing about how accepted each publication was. They are good examples of correct format and spelling though.

Originally Posted by Fairorchids

@ PaphMadMan,

That is clear and concise, but it also reveals that there is no easy way to decide whether a varietal name is valid, and whether it should be written one way or the other.

I tried to look up Paphiopedilum insigne in Orchids Plus, since this species is reported to have more than 100 varieties.

Under species name, I got a listing of 72 publications, but no indication of what varities (if any) are mentioned in each.

When I tried to add some known varieties (sanderae & sanderianum), I got no results. When I tried to add a clonal name (Harefield Hall), I got no results.

When I went back to the Awards search function, I got results for Harefield Hall, but not for the varietal names, unless spelled exactly as entered into the data base. Some are v., others var. and still others hort. var.