science

Nelson's taxonomic arrangement of Adenanthos

Nelson's taxonomic arrangement of Adenanthos is a science topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Nelson's taxonomic arrangement of Adenanthos rather than just read about it. In short: Ernest Charles Nelson's taxonomic arrangement of Adenanthos was the first modern-day arrangement of that plant genus. First published in his 1978 Brunonia article "A taxonomic revision of the genus Adenanthos (Proteaceae)", it superseded the arrangement of George Bentham, which had stood for over a hundred years.

Key takeaways

Nelson's taxonomic arrangement of Adenanthos belongs to science; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect Nelson's taxonomic arrangement of Adenanthos to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Nelson's taxonomic arrangement of Adenanthos from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

Ernest Charles Nelson's taxonomic arrangement of Adenanthos was the first modern-day arrangement of that plant genus. First published in his 1978 Brunonia article "A taxonomic revision of the genus Adenanthos (Proteaceae)", it superseded the arrangement of George Bentham, which had stood for over a hundred years. It was updated by Nelson in his 1995 treatment for the Flora of Australia series of monographs.

Background Adenanthos is a genus of around 30 species in the plant family Proteaceae. Endemic to southern Australia, they are evergreen woody shrubs with solitary flowers that are pollinated by birds and, if fertilised, develop into achenes. They are not much cultivated. Common names of species often include one of the terms woollybush, jugflower and stick-in-the-jug. The first known botanical collection of Adenanthos was made by Archibald Menzies during the September 1791 visit of the Vancouver Expedition to King George Sound on the south coast of Western Australia. However this did not lead to publication of the genus. Jacques Labillardière collected specimens of A. cuneatus from Esperance Bay the following year, and in 1803 Jean Baptiste Leschenault de la Tour collected the same two species as Menzies had 12 years earlier. Labillardière published the genus in 1805, in his Novae Hollandiae Plantarum Specimen, based on the specimens collected by himself and Leschenault. The genus was given the name Adenanthos from the Greek αδην (aden-, "gland") and ανθοσz (-anthos, "flower"), in reference to the prominent nectaries. By 1870, 13 species had been published. That year, Bentham published a fourteenth species and the first infrageneric arrangement, dividing the genus into two taxonomic sections, A. sect. Eurylaema and A. sect. Stenolaema, based on the shape of the perianth tube: members of A. sect. Eurylaema have perianth tubes that are curved and swollen above the middle, whereas members of A. sect. Stenolaena have perianth tubes that are straight and unswollen. This arrangement stood for over a hundred years, by which time a number of new species had been discovered, rendering Bentham's treatment "very inadequate and incomplete".

Nelson's arrangement Nelson's arrangement of Adenanthos was first published in his article "A taxonomic revision of the genus Adenanthos (Proteaceae)", published in Brunonia in 1978. Eight new species and 4 new subspecies were published, bringing the number of species up to 32. In naming them, Nelson follows Labillardière in treating Adenanthos as having feminine gender, despite an ICBN recommendation (not rule) that names ending in -anthos be treated as masculine. Bentham's two sections are retained, but several additional diagnostic characteristics are given for them; and, in accordance with modern rules of botanical nomenclature, A. sect. Stenolaema is renamed to the autonym A. sect. Adenanthos. This Nelson further divides into two subsections, A. subsect. Anaclastos and A. subsect. Adenanthos. Detailed descriptions of each are given, but Nelson recommends perianth length as the most convenient key for distinguishing between them. Nelson's subsections were discarded by him in his 1995 treatment of Adenanthos for the Flora of Australia series of monographs. He retained the two sections, and listed 40 species. Masculine names were used in accordance with a 1994 ICBN ruling. The full arrangement is as follows:

Adenanthos A. sect. Eurylaema A. detmoldii A. barbiger A. obovatus A. × pamela A. sect. Adenanthos A. drummondii A. dobagii A. apiculatus A. linearis A. pungens A. pungens subsp. pungens A. pungens subsp. effusus A. gracilipes A. venosus A. dobsonii A. glabrescens A. glabrescens subsp. glabrescens A. glabrescens subsp. exasperatus A. ellipticus A. cuneatus A. stictus A. ileticos A. forrestii A. eyrei A. cacomorphus A. flavidiflorus A. argyreus A. macropodianus A. terminalis A. sericeus A. sericeus subsp. sericeus A. sericeus subsp. sphalma A. × cunninghamii A. oreophilus A. cygnorum A. cygnorum subsp. cygnorum A. cygnorum subsp. chamaephyton A. meisneri A. velutinus A. filifolius A. labillardierei A. acanthophyllus

See also Bentham's taxonomic arrangement of Adenanthos

References

External links "Adenanthos". Flora of Australia Online. Department of the Environment and Heritage, Australian Government. Archived from the original on 2016-01-01. — an online version of Nelson's 1995 arrangement.

Illustrations

Nelson's taxonomic arrangement of Adenanthos: A. detmoldii — A. detmoldii

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Nelson's taxonomic arrangement of Adenanthos

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Nelson's taxonomic arrangement of Adenanthos claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In science, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Nelson's taxonomic arrangement of Adenanthos before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Nelson's taxonomic arrangement of Adenanthos ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Nelson's taxonomic arrangement of Adenanthos

In research: Nelson's taxonomic arrangement of Adenanthos appears in science research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Nelson's taxonomic arrangement of Adenanthos in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Nelson's taxonomic arrangement of Adenanthos is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics 1978 introductions, Adenanthos, Plant taxonomies, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Nelson's taxonomic arrangement of Adenanthos outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

Ask Teacher Smith questions about this articleOpens your AI tutor with a question about “Nelson's taxonomic arrangement of Adenanthos” →

Affiliate

Preply — study more efficiently by working with a personal tutor. 50% off.

How to study Nelson's taxonomic arrangement of Adenanthos in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Nelson's taxonomic arrangement of Adenanthos means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain Nelson's taxonomic arrangement of Adenanthos out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Nelson's taxonomic arrangement of Adenanthos in simple terms?

Why does Nelson's taxonomic arrangement of Adenanthos matter?

Because it connects several science ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Nelson's taxonomic arrangement of Adenanthos?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Nelson's taxonomic arrangement of Adenanthos.