Thanks to everyone who responded to my query about the type genus of
Aizoaceae (this question arose during my teaching, as well as being related
to my beloved Portulacaceae). Had I flipped the page and looked down
further in my Mabberley's Plant Book I would have found the answer that
several sent: Aizoon L. (Sp. Pl. 488. 1 Mai 1753), a genus of 15-25 species
of scandent to shrubby annual or perennial herbs, having diminutive
bisexual flowers and capsular fruits, growing in the Old World tropics
(center of diversity South Africa). Other places with this information
(for those with the appropriate resource or online connection) include the
Tokyo ICBN (1994), App. IIB, p. 99; Index Nominum Genericorum
(http://www.nmnh.si.edu/ing/); Index Nominum Supragenicorum Plantarum
Vascularium (http://matrix.nal.usda.gov:8080/star/supragenericname. html or
http://www.inform.umd.edu/EdRes/Colleges/LFSC/life_sciences/.plant_
biology/.WWW/supragen.html); Names in Current Use for Extant Plant Genera
(http://www.bgbm.fu-berlin.de/iapt/ncu/genera/Default.htm). Happy name games!
Donna I. Ford-Werntz West Virginia Univ.
Herbarium Curator (WVA) Box 6057
Asst. Prof. Biol. Morgantown, WV 26506
425 Brooks Hall (304)293-5201 X2549
email: diford at wvu.edu fax: (304)293-6363
Web site at http://www.as.wvu.edu/biology/
