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Signed too on the site, AND clicked the confirmation email! And I have read on there that the next meet where this is to be discussed is to be in Mebourne in 2011.

voted and confirmed

voted.

Time to bump this thread again

@ Micetta: recently completed DNA studies suggest that the Australian acacias and the African (and American) acacias are not as closely related as previously thought. This means one of the two groups need to get another "surname" - which is the genus name (Acacia) - to show that they are quite different.

The right decision - following the rules of the International Code of Botanical Nomenclature - should be that the African and American acacias retain the genus name Acacia (because the type specimen for the name Acacia is an African species), but internal politics made the powers-that-be among international botanists decide that the Australian wattles should get the name - . So please go vote "yes" at the link provided in the first post of this thread, and help African botanists challenge the decision at the next meeting in 2011.

Dabchick

What is so infuriating is that by doing that they are completeing regarding the general rules of nomenclature, a type specimen is a type specimen you cannot change that

Thanks for the explanation, Dabchick - I see it is indeed about a power struggle: really silly as nature couldn't care less! However, I've been so at sea with renaming the birds already that I don't want to begin relearning the trees too! I voted.

BTW, when is the final decision being taken?

Voted & confirmed

Hi All, Just thought you would like to know that that meeting was held from the 17th-22nd July in Melbourne (I was lucky enough to attend that and the following conference ) and Sadly Africa has lost the name Acacia. As Dabchick said earlier, it was a case of politics...

And the worst is that : Acacia is actually a derivitive meaning with a point ( thorny ) , whereas the majority of Acacia's in Australia do not even have thorns

Now make us change ...

Yes, that is what we warned the international people proposing to take the name away from Africa would happen. I somehow don't think this 'war' is over yet.

Indeed. No one said that anyone need to accept the classification that was proposed where the African, American acacias, and the Australian wattles, should all have different genus names. It is quite acceptable to state that one only accept the original classification (called Acacia sensu lato or "Acacia in the broad sense", which means that we call all the affected species -African, American, and Australian species- Acacia. You only need to use the new names if you accept the new classification. Which I don't - I will call them Acacia.

And the battle will go on - at the next meeting (however many years in the future ) there will very likely be a proposal to reverse the decision that was taken at this last meeting.

And all because Australians do not have enough imagination to give their plants original names
So it will remain a thorny issue , so to speak

I agree oom Boom, who is going to do what to us if we continue to use Acacia

I agree!! I still call a "grey loerie" a "grey loerie".....a "grey go-away" bird is just a ridiculous name!!

For those interested I came across this article while following up on the Acacia issue: Acacia Debate