More Research Results from the PlantList.org

Tricyrtis perfoliata, from plantdelights.com

A second research went towards what botanists in the world know about the genus Tricyrtis. So I went to the Plant List, an online collaboration of major botanic gardens and institutes to list all known plant species ever found, discovered and described. Although on this list there aren't any descriptions published, it still gives a pretty reliable idea of how many species within the Tricyrtis genus have been discovered in the wild and which botanist did the original naming and description. That information is essential if one would want to dig real deep into the botany of this genus.

This list also gives valuable information about previous names, now synonyms, as plants have been revised over time. As I am sure many of you might have come across this obstacle, plants seem to have more than one name, and that does not even consider the numerous common names that exist. A very confusing matter and even more complicated trying to untangle the name jungle. No surprise that I will not dig deep there for now, although I am fairly curious to find out more at a later date perhaps.

Accepted names within the genus Tricyrtis according to the Plant List are as follow:

• Tricyrtis affinis Makino
• Tricyrtis chinensis Hir.Takah.bis
• Tricyrtis flava Maxim.
• Tricyrtis formosana Baker
• Tricyrtis formosana var. glandosa (T.Shimizu) T.S.Liu & S.S.Ying
• Tricyrtis hirta (Thunb.) Hook.
• Tricyrtis imeldae Guthnick
• Tricyrtis ishiiana (Kitag. & T.Koyama) Ohwi & Okuyama
• Tricyrtis lasiocarpa Matsum.
• Tricyrtis latifolia Maxim.
• Tricyrtis macrantha Maxim.
• Tricyrtis macranthopsis Masam.
• Tricyrtis macropoda Miq.
• Tricyrtis macropoda var. chiugokuensis (Koidz.) Ohwi
• Tricyrtis maculata (D.Don) J.F.Macbr.
• Tricyrtis nana Yatabe
• Tricyrtis ohsumiensis Masam.
• Tricyrtis ovatifolia S.S.Ying
• Tricyrtis perfoliata Masam.
• Tricyrtis pseudolatifolia Hir.Takah.bis & H.Koyama
• Tricyrtis ravenii C.I Peng & Tiang
• Tricyrtis setouchiensis Hir.Takah.
• Tricyrtis stolonifera Matsum.
• Tricyrtis suzukii Masam.
• Tricyrtis viridula Hir.Takah.bis

This knowledge opens up a whole new research tree and many more questions. (... this is when I get distracted easily...) Who are these botanists? Where have they found those species? And what are those original descriptions?

I have not yet looked further into the authors but they seem at first glance mostly Japanese which could make research into their notes and descriptions rather tricky. If their journals are written in Japanese I will have no chance reading any of it. Unless there are translations to find somewhere? We will see. At the moment I am curious to find standard descriptions for each species to familiarise myself with each and learn more about the different Tricyrtis.