Taming the beasts: challenges of identification in big plant genera
In Solanum most clades and even species are defined by multiple rather than single putative apomorphies, which means multi-access keys are optimal for fast and accurate identification. Traditional dichotomous keys are not ideal for large groups because they become extremely lengthy and difficult with limited material. Multi-access, online keys can be constructed before a taxonomic treatment is complete, allowing for improved character understanding. The identification strategy used for Solanum can be generalised to other large genera to enable easier user access to a significant proportion of plant diversity.
Authors
- Yuri Gouvêa (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7162-8458)
- Judy L. Stone (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5955-0208)
- Iris E. Peralta (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0526-3606)
- Andrés Orejuela (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3511-1478)
- Clara Inés Orozco (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5639-2558)
- Stephen Stern
- Leandro Lacerda Giacomin (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8862-4042)
- Eric J. Tepe (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8493-0736)
- Sandra Knapp (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7698-3945)
- Rebecca Hilgenhof (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3940-4710)
- Valéria da Silva Sampaio (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6551-8877)
- Juan David Tovar Duran (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0600-8348)
- Christopher T. Martine (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5143-1773)
- Aarón Rodríguez (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1805-7403)
- Xavier Aubriot (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8112-0754)
- Lynn Bohs (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2803-2656)
- Tiina Särkinen (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6956-3093)
- Gloria E. Barboza (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1085-036X)
- Franco Chiarini (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6473-3129)
Institutions
- Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais (BR)
- Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (FR)
- Consejo Nacional de Ciencia y Tecnología (GT)
- Bucknell University (US)
- Natural History Museum (GB)
- Colorado Mesa University (US)
- University of Cartagena (CO)
- Universidad Nacional de Cuyo (AR)
- Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh (GB)
- Universidade Federal da Paraíba (BR)
- Instituto Nacional de Pesquisas da Amazônia (BR)
- Universidad de Guadalajara (MX)
- University of Utah (US)
- Colby College (US)
- Université Paris-Saclay (FR)
- Universidad Nacional de Colombia (CO)
- Ecologie, Société, Evolution (FR)
- Instituto Multidisciplinario de Biología Vegetal (AR)
- Universidade Regional do Cariri (BR)
- University of Cincinnati (US)
- University of Edinburgh (GB)
Publication Details
- Journal
- Annals of Botany
- Published
- 2025-08-04
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1093/aob/mcaf164
- Citations
- 2
- Primary Topic
- Plant Pathogens and Fungal Diseases
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 2.30