Talk:Calea ternifolia/Archives/2020/February

Major Identification Issue
C. ternifolia is in fact a synonym of C. oliveri. C. zacatechichi is an entirely different species. As such, the notion promoted this article that C. ternifolia and C. zacatechichi are the same plant represents a critical error that appears to be false and misleading.Vapeur (talk) 18:55, 22 January 2017 (UTC)

See: http://www.theplantlist.org/tpl1.1/search?q=Calea+Zacatechich


 * Not so. There's a homonym involved. Calea ternifolia Kunth, described in 1820 or 1818 is what this article is about. Calea ternifolia Oliv., described by Daniel Oliver in 1886, has the replacement name C. oliveri. The Plant List may have an error, is it also lists both Kunths and Olivers C. ternifolia as illegitimate. GRIN is usually an excellent source (less error prone than The Plant List, though less comprehensive) and is cited for synonymizing C. zacatechichi under (Kunth's) C. ternifolia. Plantdrew (talk) 21:09, 23 January 2017 (UTC)


 * Thanks for weighing in on this discrepancy. I did not consider that The Plant List, considering the credibility of the groups who manage it, would contain such an error.Vapeur (talk) 16:57, 24 January 2017 (UTC)


 * The Plant List is very good overall. The problem is that it was created by stitching together several different datasets (WCSP, Tropicos, TICA, etc.), and discrepancies between the data set were resolved algorithmically by computers and weren't checked by humans. It's worth paying attention to the confidence level given by TPL and odd species with status "unresolved" in a genus that has most species resolved as either synonyms or accepted (as is the case with Calea; Kunth's C. ternifolia has one star for confidence and is one of a handful of "unresolved" species). Low confidence unresolved species can indicate some kind of error in matching up datasets. Plantdrew (talk) 20:24, 24 January 2017 (UTC)

Two Varieties of Calea
It is well known that there are at least two varieties of plant that are being called Calea Zacatechichi. There is a bitter variety and a non-bitter variety. There have been no confirmed reports that the two are separate species, but I suspect it's possible that they may be, judging by the differences in flavor, flower color, and leaf shape. I'm going to include this tidbit in this article so that people know there are two varieties.

I think we need to do something about this statement, until it is conclusively shown that Calea has two varieties, and the two are not different species:

"Calea is an extremely bitter herb and is known to induce strong nausea when drunk."


 * The claim of a "non-bitter variety" is erroneous, as it is not Calea sp. at all, but an entirely different plant (with very similar leaf morphology) that has been identified as Chromolaena odorata.Vapeur (talk) 18:50, 22 January 2017 (UTC)

Nice work!
This is some excellent research and writing. Could you please add a Tree of Life taxobox to the article? Thanks! &mdash; Catherine\talk 18:02, 30 August 2006 (UTC)

The pictures in this article are not correct. Could someone knowledgeable please find and upload correct ones. The second pic down is a falsely-marketed Calea plant. It is closer related to boneset. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 129.89.104.132 (talk) 19:55, 6 October 2009 (UTC)

Soon to be delegalized in Poland
This substance is on the list of

Ttg53 (talk) 14:11, 25 March 2009 (UTC)

Danish language setting is wrong
The page that is linked to in the Danish Wikipedia is wrong - as far as I can tell, there is no article about this plant on the Danish Wiki. Right now, it links to a novel :) (It does mention the plant very briefly at the end, though.) --92.243.251.182 (talk) 15:31, 22 March 2014 (UTC)