Talk:Amaranthus brownii/Archive 1

Images

 * Hawaii Native Plants, UH Botany &mdash;Viriditas | Talk 03:06, 1 April 2008 (UTC)

Name
Who is it named after? Circeus (talk) 16:19, 3 April 2008 (UTC)
 * I've been searching for that answer for three days. As far as I can tell, it is named after the Captain of a previous expedition to Nihoa, Captain James Brown.  But, I haven't been able to find any support for that conclusion just yet. &mdash;Viriditas | Talk 01:46, 5 April 2008 (UTC)
 * Then again, it seems more likely to have been named after botanist Robert Brown. &mdash;Viriditas | Talk 10:18, 7 April 2008 (UTC)
 * Well, it was staring me in the face the whole time: From Bruegmann & Ellshoff 1996: "Amaranthus brownii was first collected by Edward L. Caum during the Tanager Expedition in 1923. Erling Christophersen and Caum named it in honor of Dr. F.B.H. Brown in 1931." Viriditas (talk) 12:28, 11 April 2008 (UTC)

Number of Amaranthus species in Hawaii
I don't know which one is correct, eight or nine species, Viriditas. I think it's likely that E&E includes the last, extinct, ninth species in their count. Sean MD80 talk 12:22, 9 April 2008 (UTC)
 * The only thing I could find is Achyranthes atollensis, an extinct species of Achyranthes once found in the NWHI. Viriditas (talk) 11:18, 11 April 2008 (UTC)
 * I'll just quote you the passage in question. Evenhuis & Eldredge 2004: "In Hawai'i, at least nine species of Amaranthus have been recorded, but only A. Brownii is native; the remainder are weedy or cultivated introductions." Viriditas (talk) 12:53, 11 April 2008 (UTC)

Peer review
The article looks good. The one thing I'd expand on a bit is more of a description of the plant: how does it differ from other Amaranthus species? Probably a bit of "like other Amaranths, it blah blah blah" too. Does it reproduce vegetatively or by seed (if known)? If there's anything else such as medicinal uses or ornamental uses or anything, they'd go here too (although I suppose that's unlikely for a plant with such a small range). Kingdon (talk) 05:16, 19 August 2008 (UTC)
 * Wagner, Herbst & Sohmer should suffice. I'll try and get my hands on it again in the next few days.  Is it ok if I add your comments to the peer review subpage?  Viriditas (talk) 14:20, 21 August 2008 (UTC)
 * Fine with me. Kingdon (talk) 03:47, 22 August 2008 (UTC)
 * I believe your concerns have been addressed in the article, although I'm going over it again, rewriting the lead, and adding more information before nominating it for GA. Viriditas (talk) 09:48, 15 February 2009 (UTC)

Service Unavailable. [ecos.fws.gov]
As of 10:19, 10 January 2010 (UTC), Checklinks: Amaranthus brownii shows that Ecos.fws.gov appears to be down. This website hosts FWS reports linked in the references. Please do not remove these links until I can figure out what is going on. Links to the recovery plans are still live. Viriditas (talk) 10:19, 10 January 2010 (UTC)
 * As of 12:58, 10 January 2010 (UTC), ecos.fws.gov is back up and looking good. Looks like typical Sunday maintenance downtime. Viriditas (talk) 12:59, 10 January 2010 (UTC)

Note regarding plants described in 1931 category
FYI... this article is categorized in Category:Plants described in 1931 and not Category:Plants described in 1923 because the nomenclature was not published until 1931. According to this category usage, plants should be categorized by publication date, not the date of discovery. Viriditas (talk) 10:37, 10 January 2010 (UTC)

Note on omissions
The GAN reviewer (and any other editor) should be made aware of the following omissions:


 * 1) Brown's Amaranth. A few informal websites refer to Amaranthus brownii by a variety of pseudo-common names (Brown's Amaranth, Brown's Pigweed, etc.) but there is no common name recognized by the FWS or any authority, so I have left it out.
 * 2) Pigweed. Although an editor modified my original DYK to add this term, it was never (at least in modern times, see 3) used as pigweed (pig fodder) like other Amaranthus nor do the most reliable sources use the term "pigweed" in reference to this plant; for the record, Amaranthus brownii does compete with Portulaca oleracea, which is referred to as a pigweed.
 * 3) Use as food. The sources are not clear on this point.  A University of Hawaii online Botany presentation uses a photograph of it as a pakai species.  Native Hawaiians harvested leaves from pakai for food use.  However, it is my guess that the person who put this presentation together chose this image by accident, in place of the intended pakai species, Amaranthus spinosus.  What is interesting is that archaeological research by Emory (1928) estimated that 7.7 percent of Nihoa was used for terraced dry-land crop production.  However, I am not aware of a source that directly supports this connection (except for what appears to be the mistaken use of an image by the Botany department), so I have left out any mention of this except for note C.  Prehistoric Polynesian habitation on Nihoa may have led to the decline of the plant species, so it is appropriate in that context.

If there are any questions, feel free to ask. Viriditas (talk) 10:45, 2 May 2011 (UTC)

Assessment comment
Substituted at 14:12, 1 May 2016 (UTC)