Citrus week - Introduction Part 2 I would like to point out the problems, as I see them, with Indian names. In India people often rely on Sanscrit names. Many internet sites revolve around Ayurvedic concepts and Sanskrit is as much or more popular than botanical Latin in those circles. Sanskrit names tend to be matched with older botanical names that either do not get a mention nowodays, or are older synonyms. Sometimes the synonymy can lead to the modern preferred name but in some cases it is almost impossible to match. Often the same name is applied to different plants. This is not just typical of Indian names, it does happen everywhere in the world. So one has to turn to other languages from India. The problem here is that there are many scripts and even more languages. In Europe one deals with 3 or 4 scripts mainly and in most languages the vernacular is matched with modern botanical names. Outside India when one meets an Indian name it is in 90% of cases a romanised version of a name, especially on the internet. The process of romanisation / transcription / transliteration is never totally accurate. If one tries to transcribe back into the original language many questions arise. On the botanical side all subspecific names tend to be grouped under the specific name (the numbers of species are an indication of bio-diversity) but this does not favour diversity in cultivated plants. Some of the matching common names are generic by definition so they may apply to several subspecific "taxa". This means that they are not wrong but they are not precise enough. Therefore one must try to find names that reflect the botanical rank of the plant identified. It can be a subspecies, a variety, a cultivar or belong to a cultivar group. The trade has often had a bad influence on vernacular. It is common to associate a species with a cultivar name, "kamala" is an example. Then that name gets applied to various subspecific plants thereby becoming a generic name. One can imagine, if this name is say Hindi, that it will inevitably be transcribed into Bengali, Gujarati, Malayalam, Tamil, Telugu etc. Each of those may be badly transcribed, will be (badly) romanised in various ways and one ends up with hundreds of almost meaningless names. There are hundreds of expressions such as "small-leaved", "large-flowered", "hairy-leaved", "large-seeded" ... and so on. I am not familiar enough with Indian languages but if such expressions are not commonly found in India surely there must be other ways of adding specificity to names. Localising any name as much as possible helps. "Southern...", "Northern ...", "Sinhalese ...", "Tamil Nadu...", "Silhet..." and so on.
Regarding botanical names: in the previously mentioned Wiki pages a good example is given illustrating the various "standardised" versions of a cultivar name applied to a Japanese flowering cherry. The comments in colour are my own. *Prunus serrata* Sato-zakura Group <- this is not specific enough because it would apply to all cultivars in the group. *Prunus serrata* (Sato-zakura Group) ‘Ojochin’ <- this would be my preferred choice, except that the authority name would not be excessive, thus: *Prunus serrata* Lindl. (Sato-zakura Group) ‘Ojochin’ perfect.*Prunus * ‘Ojochin’ <- this is trade standard, too brief, not enough information Flowering cherry ‘Ojochin’ <- this is vernacular, also applied in trade, catalogues for example. Coming back to Citrus, I would suggest first that whenever a name is mentioned, its origin should be mentioned (Tamil / Bengali etc.), or its corresponding name in script (as opposed to the ever misleading romanised version) should be given, and if possible the matching botanical name. I can provide much of what would be missing but we may wish to limit ourselves to short lists. At this point it is not helpful to check my MMPND pages on "Sorting Citrus names" except for the previously mentioned sections, but I will let everyone know when a more reliable string of names is being posted on that site. Examples paralleling the Prunus above: মোসাম্বি (Mōsāmbi) -> *Citrus* × *sinensis *(L.) Osbeck 'Mosambi' -> * Citrus* × *sinensis *(L.) Osbeck (*Sweet-Orange* Group) 'Mosambi' मौसम्बी Mausambī (Mausambee, Musambi) -> *Citrus* × *sinensis *(L.) Osbeck (*Sweet-Orange* Group) 'Mosambi' मौसम्बी Mausambī (Mausambee, Musambi) -> *Citrus* × *sinensis *(L.) Osbeck 'Mosambi' -> *Citrus* × *sinensis *(L.) Osbeck (*Sweet-Orange*Group) 'Mosambi' Vernacular: any of those 3 would be worth mentioning: Mausambī, Mausambee, Musambi. The most accurate word is मौसम्बी (if I havent made a mistake). Botanical: any of these would provide a good start: *Citrus* *sinensis *' Mosambi' ,or *Citrus* × *sinensis *(L.) Osbeck (*Sweet-Orange* Group), or * Citrus* × *sinensis *(L.) Osbeck 'Mosambi', even *Citrus* *sinensis .* Rightly or wrongly Mosambi is also applied to the Navel Group - *Citrus* × *sinensis *(L.) Osbeck (*Navel* Group) *Citrus* × *sinensis *(L.) Osbeck (*Navel* Group) includes non Indian cultivars such as Atwood Navel, Brazilian Navel, Thomson Navel, Washington Navel, and many more. One view (please confirm / validate) is that in India there are: *Citrus* × *sinensis *(L.) Osbeck (*Sweet-Orange* Group) including Malta, Mosambi, Sathgudi and Washington Navel. *Citrus* × *sinensis *(L.) Osbeck (Loose-skinned Orange Group) including Assam Santra, Coorg Santra, Nagpur Santra and Sikkim orange. This group should not be confused with Citrus reticulata Blanco (*Mandarine* Group). ... more coming On Saturday, May 5, 2012 7:14:47 AM UTC+10, OZmic wrote: > > Welcome to Citrus week. > I have been asked to coordinate this discussion but felt a little out of > my depth. > Dr. Gurcharan Singh having agreed to supervise the proceedings I feel a > little more relax. However mostly I will lead the exchanges related to > nomenclature. Here I feel in my element. As an introduction to the topic of > Citrus let me say that I truely believe that our discussion group has the > potential to sort most of the nomenclatural confusion in regards to Citrus > names in India. It will certainly take more than a week though. > I have received messages telling me that people do not feel they can > contribute because they are not experts. Everyone knows at least one > language, that means one has the capacity to check facts using references. > "Experts are people who know more and more about less and less". The two > complement each other, so let's all work hard together. > Here are selected references related to Citrus that will provide much > basic & advanced information. > > Background material available online. > Wikipedia's Cultivated plant taxonomy < > http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cultivated_plant_taxonomy >. > Wikipedia's Page on the 2009 ICNCP Code online < > http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_Code_of_Nomenclature_for_Cultivated_Plants>. > Brickell, C.D. et al. (eds) (2009). "International Code of Nomenclature > for Cultivated Plants" <http://www.actahort.org/chronica/pdf/sh_10.pdf>. > *Scripta > Horticulturae* (International Society of Horticultural Science) *10*: > 1–184. ISBN<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_Standard_Book_Number> > > 978-0-643-09440-6<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/978-0-643-09440-6> > . > < http://www.actahort.org/chronica/pdf/sh_10.pdf >. > > Referential material available online. > Jorma Koskinen's Citrus Pages: < > http://users.kymp.net/citruspages/botindex.html >. Each taxon illustrated > and botanically identified. > Robert Willard Hodgson's Horticultural Varieties of Citrus Chapter 4 of > The Citrus Industry: < http://lib.ucr.edu/agnic/webber/Vol1/Chapter4.html>. > Often > off line but keep trying. Lots of info about Indian cultivars. > My cross-index of Citrus names: < > http://www.plantnames.unimelb.edu.au/Sorting/Citrus.html > complements > Jorma's botanical pages. > My pages Malayalam index < > http://www.plantnames.unimelb.edu.au/Sorting/Malayalam-index-new.html >. > Tamil index and Notes pages < > http://www.plantnames.unimelb.edu.au/Sorting/Tamil_index_new.html > & < > http://www.plantnames.unimelb.edu.au/Sorting/Notes_Indian_names.html >. > The "specific and complementary" references listed at the bottom of these > pages will either serve many Indian names, most in romanised form or > provide facilities to translate, transcribe or transliterate those names. > Of course this does not exclude your favourite reference books. > Now we are equiped to do the hard work. > ....more coming >
