The Code Decoded A user’s guide to the International Code of Nomenclature for algae, fungi, and plants In memory of my mother, Eileen Turland, née Simms (1938–2014) The Code Decoded A user’s guide to the International Code of Nomenclature for algae, fungi, and plants Second edition Nicholas Turland Nicholas Turland Botanischer Garten und Botanisches Museum Berlin, Freie Universität Berlin, Königin-Luise Str. 6–8, 14195 Berlin, Germany; [email protected] The Code Decoded A user’s guide to the International Code of Nomenclature for algae, fungi, and plants Second edition Author: Nicholas Turland Cover image: Kautsar Aritona ISBN 978-954-642-963-6 (Paperback) ISBN 978-954-642-964-3 (E-book) Sofia, 2019 Pensoft Publishers 12, Prof. Georgi Zlatarski Str. 1111 Sofia, Bulgaria e-mail: [email protected] www.pensoft.net CONTENTS PREFACE 7 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS 9 CHAPTER 1 10 Introduction CHAPTER 2 15 Basic concepts and terms CHAPTER 3 23 Structure and organization of the Code CHAPTER 4 25 Media for publication CHAPTER 5 30 How to publish a new name CHAPTER 6 55 How to find the correct name for a taxon CHAPTER 7 65 How to designate a type CHAPTER 8 84 Conservation, protection, rejection, suppressed works, and binding decisions CHAPTER 9 95 How to cite authors of names CHAPTER 10 100 How to spell names CHAPTER 11 112 Names of algae, fungi, fossils, and hybrids, and of groups not covered by the Code CHAPTER 12 130 Important dates in the Code CHAPTER 13 137 How to change the Code CHAPTER 14 146 A very brief history of the Code CHAPTER 15 150 Resources for biological nomenclature REFERENCES 156 ABBREVIATIONS, ACRONYMS, SYMBOLS, AND LATIN WORDS 166 INDEX TO SUBJECTS 174 PREFACE The purpose of this second edition of The Code Decoded is to serve as a user’s guide to the International Code of Nomenclature for algae, fungi, and plants (“Code”), specifically the Shenzhen Code (Turland & al., 2018). My objective, as for the first edition (Turland, 2013), has been to create a text that is reasonably clear and simple, which inevitably means it will fail to cover every rule and explain every circumstance that you, the user, will encounter. A very simple guide would be forced to gloss over so many important details that I fear it would be of limited use, whereas a truly comprehensive guide would be even more complex and intimidating than the Code itself. These two hypothetical guides would seem to defeat the objective, so instead I offer what I hope is a middle path, neither oversimplified nor unnecessarily complicated. While I realize the futility of trying to satisfy all potential users, I hope that this guide will be useful to those who are new to the Code as well as to veterans who nevertheless are not familiar with every arcane detail. The chapters are arranged so that the guide may be used for quick reference, e.g. important dates for certain rules, how to publish a new name, how to find the correct name for a taxon, how to designate a type, or even how to try to change the Code itself. Again with quick reference in mind I have employed subheadings, boxes, bulleted lists, tables, and key words in boldface. I have tried to explain the text of the Code in plain language, although it is necessary to know some technical terms in order to follow this guide (and for those, see Chapter 2). In preparing this second edition, my aims were as follows: (1) update the guide according to the Shenzhen Code; (2) correct any errors discovered in the first edition; (3) delete any obsolete content in the first edition; (4) add new content that would improve the guide; and (5) try to improve clarity and precision without adding too much complexity. Some readers will be aware of other guides to biological nomenclature, in various lan- guages. I do not attempt to list them all here, but will mention three English-language examples. Biological nomenclature (Jeffrey, 1989), in its third edition, is quite broad in its scope, dealing with issues of biological nomenclature in general and discussing the contemporary botanical, zoological, and bacteriological codes. Plant names: A guide to botanical nomenclature (Spencer & al., 2007), in its third edition, deals with botanical nomenclature (i.e. plants, not algae or fungi) and cultivated plant nomenclature. The names of plants (Gledhill, 2008), in its fourth edition, deals with the nomenclature of algae, fungi, and plants and includes an extensive (381-page) glossary of generic names, epithets, and word particles together with their meanings. You may be curious as to how I became involved with biological nomenclature, in which case the short autobiographical sketch that follows may be of interest. In 1993 I was working on floristic projects in the Department of Botany at the Natural History Mu- seum, London, mostly as a volunteer. Then a position became available working on the CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION 7 Linnaean Plant Name Typification Project, headed by Charlie Jarvis. I applied for the job and was granted an interview, where I managed to convince the panel that I had grasped the rudiments of nomenclature and was familiar with databases, such that I was offered the job. I happily accepted and spent the next few days reading the Code, then the Berlin Code, from cover to cover (details of all editions of the Code, and of the International Botanical Congresses referred to in this guide, can be found in Chapter 14). This proved to be a good move, because the baptism of fire that followed immersed me in Linnaeus’s 18th-century world, or rather a late 20th-century interpretation of it. Original material, Linnaean annotation, lectotypes, neotypes, epitypes, current usage, effective typification, conservation, and rejection all became everyday words. But alas all good things must come to an end, and my fixed-term contract terminated in 1997, when I moved to a new position working on the Flora of China at the Missouri Botanical Garden, Saint Louis. In 1999, Saint Louis was the venue for the XVI International Botanical Congress. I at- tended the Nomenclature Section there with keen interest, and was delighted to be invited by the then Rapporteur-général, Werner Greuter, to serve on the Editorial Committee for the Saint Louis Code. There followed much work verifying proposed corrections to Appen- dix IIB (of conserved family names) for the Saint Louis Code, and then further work on the Special Committee on Suprageneric Names, which reported to the Vienna Congress of 2005. In 2003, the Rapporteur-général for the Vienna Congress, John McNeill, proposed that I be Vice-rapporteur. This entailed my working closely with him to co-edit the Pro- posals to Amend the Code column in Taxon, prepare the synopsis of proposals prior to the Vienna Congress of 2005, assist at the Nomenclature Section in Vienna, and serve again on the Editorial Committee to produce the Vienna Code. In the years leading up to the Melbourne Congress, I participated in the Special Committee for Electronic Publication, which developed the rules that now permit electronic material to be effectively published, and was I served again as Vice-rapporteur at the Melbourne Congress of 2011 and on the Editorial Committee for the Melbourne Code. At the Melbourne Congress, John McNeill had decided not to seek re-election as Rapporteur-général for the Shenzhen Congress of 2017, and I was nominated, and elected, as his successor. While the Melbourne Code was in production, I worked on the user’s guide to the Code that was the first edition of The Code Decoded, published in 2013, when I also moved from Saint Louis to Berlin to start a new position as head of publishing at the Botanischer Garten und Botanisches Museum Berlin. In the years leading up to the Shenzhen Congress, I worked with the new Vice-rap- porteur, John Wiersema, to edit the 397 proposals to amend the Code and publish the synopsis of proposals. I also served on the Special Committee on By-laws for the Nomen- clature Section and the Special Subcommittee on Governance of the Code with respect to Fungi. These committees wrote the rules that became Division III (Provisions for gov- ernance of the Code), and the latter committee was instrumental in establishing Chapter F (Names of organisms treated as fungi). At the Shenzhen Congress, I was re-elected as Rapporteur-général for the Rio de Janeiro Congress of 2023. The Shenzhen Code was pub- lished in June 2018 only 11 months after the Congress, thanks to the efficient work of an excellent Editorial Committee. Serving as Rapporteur has been immensely satisfying, and I look forward to continuing to serve during the coming years. THE CODE DECODED: 8 A USER’S GUIDE TO THE INTERNATIONAL CODE OF NOMENCLATURE FOR ALGAE, FUNGI, AND PLANTS ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I thank everyone who has contributed, directly or indirectly, to both editions of this guide. I am deeply indebted to Charlie Jarvis (Natural History Museum, London), who patiently helped me develop a thorough basic knowledge of the nomenclature of algae, fungi, and plants during my time on the Linnaean Plant Name Typification Project (1994–1997), and John McNeill (Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh), who took that initial training to a higher level, continuously sharing his profound knowledge and decades of experience during the time I assisted him as Vice-rapporteur (2003–2012), and who also reviewed an earlier draft of this book. I also warmly thank Sandy Knapp (Natural History Museum, London) and John Wiersema (United States Department of Agriculture) for their hard work, good humour, and support as President of the Nomenclature Section and Vice-rapporteur, respectively, for the Shenzhen Congress of 2017; and it was Sandy Knapp who convinced me to write this second edition.