Christian Kull

A guest blog by my colleague Priya Rangan on the acacia name issue.  Taxonomists be warned, you’ll either laugh or cry at this engaged, humorous, but deadly serious satire of the history of botanical nomenclature, the science of taxonomy, and the current wattle wars.  The solutions Priya proposes are important and novel.

Priya writes:  “The views, discussions, and comments regarding the Acacia name are fascinating.  I am glad to see that finally the cards are on the table: the name change issue has little to do with so-called scientific objectivity and rules of nomenclature, and everything to do with the feelings and tastes of concerned taxonomists.  Although I’m mangling the quote here, “Oh, what a tangled web we weave,” when we use science to deceptively conceal our personal likes and dislikes.

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The upcoming confrontation about the scientific name Acacia continues to inspire frustration, passion, and grumbling on all sides.  It is rarely about the science behind it (which is pretty widely accepted), but about institutional rules, about perceived injustices, about egos, and, of course (where my interest comes in), about symbolism, sentiment, national rivalry, and geopolitics.

Here I post some email correspondence, from two key participants in the debates, to which I was party in offline conversations after my initial posting on the topic.  Dick Brummitt defends his compromise proposal, despite voicing agreement with the original ‘keep Acacia for Australia’ decision.  Bruce Maslin encourages anybody who is interested and affected by the decision to attend the Melbourne meeting (paying one day’s IBC registration suffices for the right to vote at the Nomenclature sessions).  He obviously hopes for votes in favour of the original decision, and not having to use Racosperma as the moniker for Australia’s wattles.  I also present a chart that summarizes some of the different options on the table.

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Botanists from around the world are sharpening their battle axes for another fight over the Latin name of the group of yellow-flowered, pod producing plants known as wattles, mimosas, thorn trees, and acacias.  Australians and their friends want to keep the name Acacia for their most common plant genus, and not to have to rename their wattles Racosperma.  Others (particularly South Africans – who for example constitute 13 of 69 authors on a recent position paper) want to keep the name Acacia for the fever trees, umbrella thorns, and other emblematic trees of the savanna (as opposed to calling them Vachellia and Senegalia).  Battle is expected in late July at the International Botanical Congress in Melbourne, and given the emotions involved, the atmosphere could be as charged as when the Wallabies and Springboks meet on the rugby pitch.

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