Journal archives for September 2023

11 September, 2023

Cerastium fontanum vs. Cerastium holosteoides

Due to a taxon change, the very common subspecies Cerastium fontanum subsp. vulgare was elevated to species status and given the name Cerastium holosteoides.

Previously, many observations of this subspecies were only made on species status (Cerastium fontanum). This was also correct until then.

With the taxon change, the observations identified up to the subspecies Cerastium fontanum vulgare were automatically given the name Cerastium holosteoides.

However, Cerastium fontanum only identified to the species level is still called Cerastium fontanum and is now automatically incorrect in most cases, as Cerastium fontanum s.str. is an alpine species that does not occur in many countries.

An additional problem is that in many countries the old nomenclature still prevails in the identification books and indexes. As a result, the name C. fontanum is still frequently used incorrectly for the common species.

The challenge now is to re-identify as many Cerastium fontanum as possible. This is quite difficult because in many areas there are other similar species. (e.g. Cerastium lucorum; Cerastium semidecandrum, Cerastium dubium u.a.).
As a result, the identifier may only be able to confirm the genus Cerastium or the Komplex Cerastium fontanum, causing the observation to revert to genus or Complex level. If you think it is the common Cerastium species you should correct the name to Cerastium holosteoides.

It would be nice if someone could be found in the individual countries where this problem exists to help re-identify the observations of Cerastium fontanum.

If Cerastium fontanum disappears as a species name from many areas, it will no longer be suggested by the AI and Cerastium holosteoides will be suggested instead. It would also be important to update the common names of C. fontanum and C. holosteoides to prevent mis-selection.

Example of Cerastium fontanum s.str.
https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/229754168

Posted on 11 September, 2023 15:50 by epsilon epsilon | 9 comments | Leave a comment