On Thu, 21 Jul 2011 11:59:19 -0400 Peter Desmet <peter.desmet@umontreal.ca> wrote:
I do know that some herbaria record vernacular names on a specimen level, but that is not really best practice, since vernacular names are in fact properties of taxa, and only by relation of specimens:
The place where an association of vernacular names with specimens is appropriate is in ethnobotany, where a specimen may be a voucher for the use of a particular vernacular name by a particular person or group for a particular plant. Other than that, I'd concur, vernacular names are best treated as related to taxa. -Paul -- Paul J. Morris Biodiversity Informatics Manager Harvard University Herbaria/Museum of Comparative Zoölogy mole@morris.net AA3SD PGP public key available