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Problems of weed taxonomy

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Biology and ecology of weeds

Part of the book series: Geobotany ((GEOB,volume 2))

Abstract

Seventy-six weed species or species groups are considered in detail by Holm et al. (1977) in their book The World’s Worst Weeds. Glancing down the list of these, it is surprising to see how many of them are the subject of some degree of taxonomic difficulty. There are those like Lantana camara L. (Stirton 1977) and Xanthium strumarium L. (Mc Millan 1975) that represent diverse species complexes whose variation is still so poorly understood that the whole taxonomy of the group, including the number of species involved, is problematical. In some, such as Portulaca oleracea L. (Danin et al. 1979) and Cirsium arvense (L.) Scop. (Moore and Frankton 1974), the limits of the species, themselves, are in less serious dispute, but the best representation of the variation within the species is far from clear. In other cases, confusion with taxonomically distinct but very similar species, for example Galium aparine L. with G. spurium L. (Moore 1975) and Setaria viridis (L.) Beauv. with S. faberi W. Herrmann (Pohl 1962), has led to some misrepresentation of the weed species distribution, biology and importance. Nor are the world’s worst weeds free from problems of scientific nomenclature as evidenced by Phragmites australis (Cay.) Trin. often referred to as P. communis Trin. (McNeill and Dore 1976), and Leptochloa panicea (Retz.) Ohwi still more often known in North America as L. filiformis (McNeill 1979).

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  1. J. McNeill
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  1. Bot. Inst., Univ. f. Bodenkultur, Gregor Mendel-Str. 33, A-1180, Wien, Austria

    W. Holzner

  2. Lab. of Ecology, Chiba University, Yayoi-cho, Chiba, Japan

    M. Numata

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McNeill, J. (1982). Problems of weed taxonomy. In: Holzner, W., Numata, M. (eds) Biology and ecology of weeds. Geobotany, vol 2. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-017-0916-3_3

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-017-0916-3_3

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