User:Plantdrew/Ponderosa

Articles for deletion/Pinus washoensis (Pinus washoensis) was closed as keep (although there wasn't any enthusiasm for treating it as a species). What should be done with the article? Merge to Pinus ponderosa? Rename to reflect status as a variety (or subspecies)?

We don't have articles for any other infraspecies taxa of P. ponderosa, but there is an article on Willamette Valley ponderosa pine (Pinus ponderosa var. willamettensis is a name for it that appears on the internet, but hasn't been formally published). I very skeptical about recognizing it as a distinct taxon at any level. The name P. ponderosa var. benthamiana (as well as the later published var. pacifica and subsp. critchfieldiana) has been applied to trees in the western-most range of P. ponderosa, and there are occurrences of P. ponderosa north of the Willamette Valley around Puget Sound. I don't find it plausible that benthamiana/pacifica/critchfieldiana would apply to Puget Sound and California populations, but not Willamette Valley populations (a recent study did find that the single sample they had from Puget Sound (on Joint Base Lewis-McChord) had nuclear DNA sister to all other populations studied). For the moment, for ease of reference, I've added the names for the western populations to the taxonbar at Willamette Valley ponderosa pine.

The Pinus ponderosa article is a bit of a mess, as the "Subspecies and varieties" sections mentions both pacifica and critchfieldiana as different entities, but does not mention benthamiana, while the map in the taxobox labels western populations as benthamiana.

Getting back to P. washoensis, POWO and WFO treat it as a synonym of var. ponderosa. But I don't trust them at all. They recognize three infraspecific taxa: var. scopulorum (in the east), var. ponderosa (in the middle), and var. pacifica (in the west), but treat the other names for western populations (benthamiana and critchfieldiana) as synonyms of var. ponderosa. If washoensis is a synonym of any recognized infraspecies, it should benthamiana, but POWO/WFO have messed up the chain of synonymy by recognizing pacifica rather than benthamiana (I'm wrong; washoensis is close in range to the Pacific ones, but is apparently closer to the eastern ones genetically and morphologically (maybe Willyard disagrees with that part?))

Willyard 2017 benthamiana Willyard 2021 benthamiana Callahm 2013 critchfieldiana Haller 2011 pacifica

Gymnosperm database benthamiana Farjon 2011 only recognizes var. scopulorum for eastern populations and var. ponderosa