Everywhere im looking i see that there are some letters and numbers (e.g. G130, HS188, HS189, HS189a,
HS191, HS191a...) next to the cacti's name, and some have the name of a location and altitude(?). I figured the location and altitude signify place of collection maybe but what are the codes (not store or stock numbers!)?
Cactus name codes
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ElieEstephane
- Posts: 2909
- Joined: Tue Dec 13, 2016 12:10 am
- Location: Lebanon (zone 11a)
Cactus name codes
There are more cacti in heaven and earth, Horatio, than are dreamt of in your philosophy.
One of the few cactus lovers in Lebanon (zone 11a)
One of the few cactus lovers in Lebanon (zone 11a)
Re: Cactus name codes
The numbers usually refer to locality data, the place where the plant or seeds originate. Although I will not excluse personal database references of the grower of the plant. I also have a number on my labels refering to a database. But you can count on them being locality data.
You can look them up in Field databases of succulents, like http://www.cl-cactus.com/default.asp or http://www.fieldnos.bcss.org.uk/locality.html. Not all data are there (there are probably so many which still need to be added by someone who likes to type a lot...).
HS 189a for instance refers to the place: Kami, Callasingro, Ayopayo, Cochabamba, in Bolivia, for a Tephrocactus species. Names can be towns, or the name of a mountain or valley the plant / seeds originate, or the name of a nearby farm on which it grows. The Tephrocactus apparantly grows here: https://www.google.nl/maps/place/Kami,+ ... 8601?hl=nl
You can look them up in Field databases of succulents, like http://www.cl-cactus.com/default.asp or http://www.fieldnos.bcss.org.uk/locality.html. Not all data are there (there are probably so many which still need to be added by someone who likes to type a lot...).
HS 189a for instance refers to the place: Kami, Callasingro, Ayopayo, Cochabamba, in Bolivia, for a Tephrocactus species. Names can be towns, or the name of a mountain or valley the plant / seeds originate, or the name of a nearby farm on which it grows. The Tephrocactus apparantly grows here: https://www.google.nl/maps/place/Kami,+ ... 8601?hl=nl
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ElieEstephane
- Posts: 2909
- Joined: Tue Dec 13, 2016 12:10 am
- Location: Lebanon (zone 11a)
Re: Cactus name codes
Thanks! That really explains a lot. It was always confusing seeing seeds of the same species with different codes and wondering which ones to pick.Aiko wrote:The numbers usually refer to locality data, the place where the plant or seeds originate. Although I will not excluse personal database references of the grower of the plant. I also have a number on my labels refering to a database. But you can count on them being locality data.
You can look them up in Field databases of succulents, like http://www.cl-cactus.com/default.asp or http://www.fieldnos.bcss.org.uk/locality.html. Not all data are there (there are probably so many which still need to be added by someone who likes to type a lot...).
HS 189a for instance refers to the place: Kami, Callasingro, Ayopayo, Cochabamba, in Bolivia, for a Tephrocactus species. Names can be towns, or the name of a mountain or valley the plant / seeds originate, or the name of a nearby farm on which it grows. The Tephrocactus apparantly grows here: https://www.google.nl/maps/place/Kami,+ ... 8601?hl=nl
The codes i used here are in reference to some sulcorebutia species.
There are more cacti in heaven and earth, Horatio, than are dreamt of in your philosophy.
One of the few cactus lovers in Lebanon (zone 11a)
One of the few cactus lovers in Lebanon (zone 11a)
Re: Cactus name codes
The numbers HS etc usually refer to the original collector of either the seed of the plants. The most famous example in recent decades being Friedrich Ritter's FR numbers. However according to the "Rules" a collection number should only refer to plants from one locality on one occasion. If a collector revisits the habitat another year and collects again he should give it a new number, but many do not. The aim is to pinpoint any plant to it's locality and the date collected since a later collection may collect fruits from other species by mistake when plants look similar out of flower and it is handy to know on which date the collection it occurred.
People like Ritter however did not use proper collection numbers, but what are called Taxon Numbers. His numbers therefore do not relate to a single collection made at a single date at a single location, but as many as 10 or more different gatherings from different localities are covered by the same number. (reference Englera 16). In other words he often gave the same number to everything he considered the same species from wherever it came from and collected on different occasions.
As Aiko points out, along with collection numbers you often get acquisition numbers, where botanical institutions and collectors will give the plant their own number in their database and these often get distributed with plants as though they were genuine collection numbers.
It is important to keep the "collection number" along with the plant as it often helps with identification later and where it came from. In fact the number is often more important than the name since you can often find the name and locality from the number, but not the locality it was collected from just using the name and also whether any alteration to the original identity of the species has been made subsequently.
However most plants with numbers are no longer original collections of either the plants or seed, but third, fourth, or even more generations on and that raises the problem of if people are too free with the pollination brush and fail to isolate the plants intended to be pollinated before they flower and before they set fruit. If other related species are nearby we can eventually finish up with a load of hybrids under collection numbers masquerading as the original species.
You can find most collectors names from their field numbers in Ralph Martins collectors acronyms list:-
http://ralph.cs.cf.ac.uk/cacti/collector.html
HS is usually Hans (or Heinz) Swoboda, a well knows Sulcorebutia collector in the field.
http://www.english.sulcopassion.be/fieldnumbers.html
http://www.kkplzen.eu/index.php/forum?v ... t&start=80
People like Ritter however did not use proper collection numbers, but what are called Taxon Numbers. His numbers therefore do not relate to a single collection made at a single date at a single location, but as many as 10 or more different gatherings from different localities are covered by the same number. (reference Englera 16). In other words he often gave the same number to everything he considered the same species from wherever it came from and collected on different occasions.
As Aiko points out, along with collection numbers you often get acquisition numbers, where botanical institutions and collectors will give the plant their own number in their database and these often get distributed with plants as though they were genuine collection numbers.
It is important to keep the "collection number" along with the plant as it often helps with identification later and where it came from. In fact the number is often more important than the name since you can often find the name and locality from the number, but not the locality it was collected from just using the name and also whether any alteration to the original identity of the species has been made subsequently.
However most plants with numbers are no longer original collections of either the plants or seed, but third, fourth, or even more generations on and that raises the problem of if people are too free with the pollination brush and fail to isolate the plants intended to be pollinated before they flower and before they set fruit. If other related species are nearby we can eventually finish up with a load of hybrids under collection numbers masquerading as the original species.
You can find most collectors names from their field numbers in Ralph Martins collectors acronyms list:-
http://ralph.cs.cf.ac.uk/cacti/collector.html
HS is usually Hans (or Heinz) Swoboda, a well knows Sulcorebutia collector in the field.
http://www.english.sulcopassion.be/fieldnumbers.html
http://www.kkplzen.eu/index.php/forum?v ... t&start=80