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Page 194 · DO #4666 · 231_Rogers_Bx2FF27_r
- Collection
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David James Rogers (1918–2007) papers
- Item/Folder
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Taximetrics Course - Student Reports, 1966–1968
- Digital Object
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DO #4666,
page 194
- Collection-level dates
- 1948–1977
Page transcription
page 3
want to include in an overall comparison of plants to determine their overall similarity. First of all, we have non-inherited variations and which we can think of - progressive individual variation would be a subtitle there. The age of a plant would be one sort of consideration. If we are taking a group of species, we don't want to compare seedlings with mature plants. The characters that we would find in seedlings, the leaves are apt to be a different size for instance. It will not be in flower and we won't have enough information on that. We could however, if we wanted to make a classification that would be a specialized classification of seedlings, it might have some advantage to a man, for instance, in the nursery business to make a classification just on seedling plants--might be real handy to have such a classification. That would not be a general botanical classification. We would want to compare those characters on plants of all, at least the mature plants somewhat near the same age. We also have seasonal variation. Usually, you get seasonal variation, for instance, in algae. You do in some plants, we can think of for instance deciduous trees out- side in the winter not having any leaves on. We would hardly want to when/an overall comparison to throw in plants that were without foliage in the winter and compare them with plants with foliage in the summer. In other words we want to collect the plants more or less at the same time so that they look somewhat similar. You run into the same thing in the tropics in the dry season and the wet season. Plants look quite different. Social variation you often get primarily in the insects. If you are doing a classification of ants, you are going to have to have some special biological knowledge in order to make the comparison, because with ants you will have soldiersants, you will have just plain foragers you will have queen ants. You have got to group them together and handle them as one because you have a unit here. You must compare your unit together. If you don't have this specialized knowledge, you are just going to have to use, let us say soldiers, and compare the soldiers for your classification. And your classification will be restricted to one form. And you have got to realize