Nomenclature Wars - NCL vs. TCF

Post by **daiv** » Thu May 13, 2010 11:10 pm

OK, it isn't a war, but I thought it made a good title.

I finally forced myself to apply the nomenclature for both The Cactus Family and The New Cactus Lexicon to the site. So now any time you are looking at a record on the guide, you can click the "To view a chart comparing alternate taxonomy Click Here" link and get actual data. Some of you know that link has been there for a long time now, but the data was not updated so it always said "No Changes" - not any more!

I will put together some comparison pages tomorrow that will show exactly what they are in summary, but in the meantime here are some numbers:

Total distinct taxa by default: 2340

Number of records changed or removed from default:

TCF = 241
NCL = 819

Variance:

TCF = 10.2%
NCL = 35%

So while the site is still 90% similar to Anderson, it isn't Anderson exactly. The NCL is more than a third different with huge differences in Opuntia and Rebutia. There are more than 100 differences just in Opuntia alone.

Stay tuned for more specifics tomorrow.

Daiv

peterb · Post by **peterb** » Fri May 14, 2010 6:16 am

wow, great Daiv, this will be a great feature. Thanks for all the amazing work you put into this site.

peterb

Peterthecactusguy · Post by **Peterthecactusguy** » Fri May 14, 2010 6:38 am

Daiv,
I am starting to care more. Now that I am starting to learn what plants are called.

Now I just need to learn how to ID the baby seedlings. heh

Arjen · Post by **Arjen** » Fri May 14, 2010 7:18 am

great job! names are just a necessary evil imo, I always try to get the name right compared to this site so I'm able to communicate what I have and want. aside from that, I think proper nomenclature is the basis of the understanding of differences and common trades of plants. I'm trying to learn and understand more of it and have recently found out I'm even developing an opinion on what I think is proper cacti nomenclature.
you're an inspiration!

Post by **daiv** » Fri May 14, 2010 12:30 pm

Thanks guys. Sorry about that "few will care" line. I didn't mean to sound cynical. I guess my point was to say it is more academic than practical for getting an ID.

Post by **daiv** » Fri May 14, 2010 5:17 pm

OK, here is the comparison table:

http://www.cactiguide.com/compare_publications/

Note: There are infra species taxa that are not missing so these numbers will change some below the species level.