Letters from Alabama: Chiefly Relating to Natural History

Appendix: Taxonomic Lists of the Plants and Animals Mentioned by P. H. Gosse in Letters from Alabama (1859)

Appendix Taxonomic Lists of the Plants and Animals Mentioned by P. H. Gosse in Letters from Alabama (1859) Gary R. Mullen The following six tables provide taxonomic lists of 392 of the 408 plants and animals mentioned by Gosse in Letters from Alabama (1859). They are grouped in six categories for the convenience of the reader, depending on one’s particular interest: plants (189), insects (94), marine fishes (14), reptiles and amphibians (15), birds (59), and mammals (21). The fig­ ures in parentheses indicate the number of taxa represented in each table. Includedarethescientificandcommonnames,preciselyasGossespelledthem,together with the scientific and common names of the respective taxa as they are known today, and the family to which each belongs. In the case of the insects, the respective order is also provided. The names and dates following the currently accepted scientific names indicate the author of the original published description of the species and the year in which it was published. All entries are listed alphabetically by order (in the case of insects ), family, and genus (as Gosse referred to it). In some cases Gosse only mentioned a species by its common name. In these cases the entries are placed after the entries with scientific names within the respective family. Becauseofdifferenceintheformatusedbytaxonomistsintheirrespectivespecialties (e.g., botany, entomology, ornithology) to indicate scientific names of species, there are a few unavoidable inconsistencies in the following tables (e.g., in the case of plants, the author names are abbreviated rather than spelled out; and additional author name[s] are included for some species). Recognizing these different notations among taxonomists and official lists by vari­ ous scientific societies, the format here generally follows that adopted by the Integrated Taxonomic Information System (ITIS) as it appears in their database (www.itis.gov). Likewise, there are differences among taxonomists in the spelling of common names. In some groups, the common name is spelled all in lower-­ case letters; in others, only the first letter of the name is capitalized, or the first letter of each word is capitalized. For the purpose of consistency, only the first letter of the currently recognized common names is capitalized in the tables that follow. Although there are of­ten multiple common and colloquial names by which each species is known, in most cases only the generally accepted English name, according to ITIS, is included in the tables. 236 Appendix An additional sixteen plants and animals that Gosse mentions in his narrative are not included in the tables. Most of these are members of vari­ ous groups of marine and terrestrial invertebrates, in­ clud­ ing corals, mollusks, isopods, and arachnids (mites, ticks, spiders, and pseudoscorpions). The lead author assumes full responsibility for any errors or inaccuracies in the taxo­ no­mic tables that follow. Taxonomic Lists 237 Plants Family Gosse’s Scientific and Common Names Current Scientific and Common Names Coniferae Gosse’s general term for Pinus Pines Anonaceae Anona palustris Asimina parviflora (Michx.) Dunal Swamp Papaw Smallflower pawpaw or Asimina triloba (L.) Dunal Pawpaw Aquifoliaceae holly Ilex species Holly Arecaceae Chaemerops palmetto Sabal palmetto (Walt. Lodd. ex Schult. & Schult. f. Fan-palm, Palmetto Cabbage palm, Cabbage palmetto Chamaerops serrulata Serenoa repens (W. Bartram) Small Fan-palm Saw palmetto Asclepiadaceae Asclepias Asclepias L. Milkweed Asclepias parviflora Asclepias perennis Walt. Swallow-wort Aquatic milkweed Asclepias tuberosa Asclepias tuberosa L. Butterfly weed, Swallow-wort Butterfly milkweed, Butterflyweed Asparagaceae Yucca aloifolia Yucca aloifolia L. Adam’s needle Aloe yucca Yucca Filamentosa Yucca filamentosa L. Bear’s Grass Adam’s needle Asteraceae Helianthus scaber Helianthus species (identification ­uncertain) Sunflower Solidago Solidago L. Golden-rod Goldenrod Zinnia Zinnia L. Zinnia Zinnia multiflora Zinnia peruviana (L.) L. Peruvian zinnia Balsaminaceae cocklebur Xanthium strumarium L Rough cockleburr 238 Appendix Family Gosse’s Scientific and Common Names Current Scientific and Common Names balsam Impatiens capensis Meerb. Spotted touch-me-not Bignoniaceae Bignonia Bignonia capreolata L. Cross Vine Cross vine Bignonia radicans Campsis radicans (L.) Seem. ex Bureau Trumpet-flower, trumpet flower Trumpet creeper Catalpa syringaefolia Catalpa bignonioides Walt. Catalpa South­ern catalpa Bromeliaceae Tillandsia usneoides Tillandsia usneoides (L.) L. Spanish moss Spanish moss Cactaceae Opuntia P. Mill Opuntia P. Mill. Prickly-pear, Prickly pear Prickly pear Campanulaceae Lobelia cardinalis Lobelia cardinalis L. Cardinal-flower Cardinal flower Cannaceae Canna angustifolia Canna indica L. Indian Shot Indian shot Caprifoliaceae Caprifolium sempervirens Lonicera sempervirens L. Scarlet Woodbine, Sweet-brier, Trumpet Honeysuckle Trumpet honeysuckle honeysuckle Lonicera L. Honeysuckle Celastraceae Euonymus angustifolius Euonymus atropurpurea Jacq. Burning Bush...