Template:Did you know nominations/Romulea tortuosa


 * The following is an archived discussion of the DYK nomination of the article below. Please do not modify this page. Subsequent comments should be made on the appropriate discussion page (such as |this nomination's talk page, the article's talk page or Wikipedia talk:Did you know), unless there is consensus to re-open the discussion at this page. No further edits should be made to this page.

The result was: promoted by Cwmhiraeth (talk) 05:29, 7 April 2018 (UTC)

Romulea tortuosa

 * ... that the leaves of the shrub Romulea tortuosa (pictured) are shaped like corkscrews? Source: TBA
 * Reviewed: Template:Did you know nominations/Benty Grange

5x expanded by Dwergenpaartje (talk). Nominated by Casliber (talk) at 13:03, 16 February 2018 (UTC).


 * Symbol question.svg Page size and 5x expansion checked. QPQ done. Interesting hook, properly sourced. I'm taking on good faith that the technical terms of the hook source translate to the more non-technical "coiled like corkscrews" wording of the article. Earwig found no copyvio. Image looks usable at DYK size and is properly licensed. However, there are still two fixable issues: (1) because the lead paragraph makes claims that are not summarized in the rest of the article (the family membership, location, flower blotches, etc.) it needs a source, and (2) DYK rules require that the sentence of the article containing the hook claim have its own footnote, even if that would duplicate the next footnote. —David Eppstein (talk) 01:59, 17 February 2018 (UTC)
 * do you have a source that talks about the unusual shape of the leaves? Cas Liber (talk · contribs) 04:49, 17 February 2018 (UTC)
 * The hook contains a small mistake: it is not a shrub; one could call it a bulb although technically the organ is not a bulb but a corm; although less limiting, geophyte would do.
 * "Romulea tortuosa is readily recognized by its several twisted leaves which are channelled to the tips [...]"
 * "Small plants rarely >5cm tall, with several twisted leaves and a corm with a very wide fan-shaped ridge at their base. The yellow flowers are about 20 mm in diameter and usually have dark brown markings in the center [...] It flowers in winter and early spring and is often locally abundant in moist sites in Apronveld and Arid Renosterveld in the western Klein Karoo and occurs westwards to Worcester and northwards to the Kamisberg Mountains." Dwergenpaartje (talk) 10:01, 17 February 2018 (UTC)
 * "Small plants rarely >5cm tall, with several twisted leaves and a corm with a very wide fan-shaped ridge at their base. The yellow flowers are about 20 mm in diameter and usually have dark brown markings in the center [...] It flowers in winter and early spring and is often locally abundant in moist sites in Apronveld and Arid Renosterveld in the western Klein Karoo and occurs westwards to Worcester and northwards to the Kamisberg Mountains." Dwergenpaartje (talk) 10:01, 17 February 2018 (UTC)


 * Symbol question.svg I was asked to look at this again now that the article has been revised. However the sentence containing the hook claim still has no footnote. —David Eppstein (talk) 18:38, 25 February 2018 (UTC)
 * You're right. cured! Dwergenpaartje (talk) 00:40, 1 March 2018 (UTC)
 * Ok, but that source (p.88, top of 2nd col.) says that the leaves are either "flexuose" (which apparently means sinusoidal) or "twisted" (which could mean like a corkscrew, or like a helicoid, or...). So where does the "like a corkscrew" come from? —David Eppstein (talk) 01:09, 1 March 2018 (UTC)
 * Would you accept "Leaves of this species in habitat are sometimes spirally twisted"? I hope so. It is a fine line between paraphrasing precisely (but not closely) and making the information accessible to the average reader. You are right that several meanings of "flexuose" and "twisted" exist. The images from the plant in its natural habitat support that the interpretation is viable that it often means "like a corkscrew". To me that is not OR, because anyone would draw the same conclusion, but you may have a different opinion. By the way, it is clear that in cultivation the leaves may well be straight, but many plants grown outside of their natural habitat may strongly differ from the scientific descriptions. Hence the "in habitat". I changed the citation again by adding the website cited above. Dwergenpaartje (talk) 11:06, 1 March 2018 (UTC)
 * There's no need to mention the type of plant - locating it in Sth Africa might be useful. Johnbod (talk) 19:04, 24 March 2018 (UTC)


 * ALT1... that some leaves of the South African plant Romulea tortuosa (pictured) are shaped like corkscrews? The pic caption is much too long, btw. Johnbod (talk) 19:06, 24 March 2018 (UTC)
 * I've shortened the picture caption. David Eppstein, perhaps you could propose a wording you feel is acceptable, if "corkscrews" remains a problem. Thanks. BlueMoonset (talk) 03:20, 6 April 2018 (UTC)
 * Symbol confirmed.svg Sometime after my first review another source was added (the Pacific Bulb Society one) that comes close enough to "corkscrews" to suit me. So I think this is good to go. —David Eppstein (talk) 03:45, 6 April 2018 (UTC)