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Title: Species delimitations in plants: lessons learned from potato taxonomy by a practicing taxonomist

Author
item Spooner, David

Submitted to: Journal of Systematics and Evolution
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 4/15/2016
Publication Date: 5/4/2016
Citation: Spooner, D.M. 2016. Species delimitations in plants: lessons learned from potato taxonomy by a practicing taxonomist. Journal of Systematics and Evolution. 54(3):191-203. doi: 10.1111/jse.12203.

Interpretive Summary: Wild and cultivated potatoes have been the subject of intensive taxonomic work since the description of the cultivated potato in 1753. In total, there are 494 taxonomic names for wild potatoes and taxonomic names for cultivated potatoes. Different taxonomists applied various taxonomic philosophies and species concepts to wild and cultivated potatoes. Hypotheses of the number of species and their interrelationships have differed greatly among authors. The last taxonomic treatment of wild and cultivated potatoes by Jack Hawkes in 1990 recognized 228 wild species and seven cultivated species, divided into 21 taxonomic groups, technically called series. In 2014 Spooner and collaborators more than halved this number to 107 wild species and four cultivated species, partitioned into only four groups. The purpose of this paper is to provide a retrospective summary of the methods and philosophies that have resulted in this drastic decrease in the number of species and their classification into groups.

Technical Abstract: Solanum section Petota has been the subject of intensive taxonomic work since the description of the cultivated potato in 1753. In total, there are 494 epithets for wild taxa and 626 epithets for cultivated taxa. Different taxonomists applied various taxonomic philosophies and species concepts to the section. Hypotheses of the number of species and their interrelationships have differed greatly among authors. A taxonomic treatment of section Petota by Jack Hawkes in 1990 recognized 228 wild species and seven cultivated species, divided into 21 taxonomic series. In 2014 Spooner and collaborators more than halved this number to 107 wild species and four cultivated species, partitioned into four clades, not using series. The purpose of this paper is to provide a retrospective of the methods and philosophies that have resulted in this drastic decrease in the number of species and their infrasectional classification.