On Calamagrostis Adans. and the threat of Arundo L. in Adanson’s Familles des Plantes (1763)

Abstract

The treatment of Calamagrostis (as “Kalamagrostis”) and Arundo in Familles des Plantes (1763) by Michel Adanson is evaluated under Art. 52 of the International Code of Nomenclature (Madrid Code). Although Arundo L. is listed under Kalamagrostis in the index to Adanson’s work, the author does not provide anywhere in the text any Linnaean binomial of Arundo associated with Calamagrostis. By contrast, Adanson’s citation of an illustration by Morison under Arundo establishes an explicit connection with a particular Linnaean name, demonstrating that not all elements of Arundo were subsumed under Calamagrostis. This evidence indicates that Calamagrostis Adans. was not nomenclaturally superfluous at the time of publication and should therefore be treated as a legitimate name