Towards a collaborative approach to the systematics of Ipomoea: A response to the “Rebuttal to (2786) Proposal to change the conserved type of Ipomoea, nom. cons. (Convolvulaceae)”

Abstract

A proposal to change the conserved type of Ipomoea was published in December 2020, and recommended by the Nomenclature Committee in 2023. This was done in the light of the possible negative consequences for a name change in the crop sweetpotato, which risk our proposal would significantly minimize. Recently, Muñoz‐Rodríguez & al. have published a rebuttal to this proposal, which we respond to here. The objections raised by these authors focus as much on the expertise and credibility of our group of authors as on the merits of our arguments. In this “rebuttal to the rebuttal”, we respond to the scientific questions raised, highlight demonstrated misinterpretation of the specialised literature relevant to this discussion and counter the assertion that a reclassification of Ipomoeeae is impossible given existing evidence. While the currently recognised genera of Ipomoeeae are not all monophyletic, the proposal to change the conserved type of Ipomoea is a necessary step that will allow exploring an improved classification for the tribe Ipomoeeae, either in the form of a better recircumscription of the genera or an efficient infrageneric classification for Ipomoea. Previously published literature has not advocated for the integration of all genera into a single genus, as Muñoz‐Rodríguez and co‐authors have incorrectly suggested, and instead have recommended a reanalysis of the high morphological diversity of the group in the context of expanded phylogenetic studies, with the possible maintenance of some of the existing genera. We believe that, in a concerted collaborative approach and with the contribution of experts from different regions and scientific backgrounds, an improved classification of Ipomoeeae that integrates the principles of monophyly and diagnosability may soon be achieved, and until when some uncertainty may need to be accommodated, with the added reassurance that, regardless of the direction of future systematic rearrangements, the stability of the scientific name of sweetpotato would be preserved.

Advancing knowledge of West African morning glories: a taxonomic revision ofIpomoeaL. (Convolvulaceae) from Ghana

“…The current conserved type of Ipomoea L. is Ipomoea pes-tigridis L., following a proposal by Manitz (1976). A later proposal to change the conserved type of Ipomoea L. to Ipomoea triloba L. has been submitted to the Nomenclature Committee (Eserman et al, 2020;Eserman et al, 2023); this proposal has been recommended by the Nomenclature Committee (Applequist, 2023) and the General Committee (Wilson, 2024), and will be submitted to voting to the Nomenclature Session at the International Botanical Congress 2024, after which, if approved, the change of conserved type of Ipomoea L. to Ipomoea triloba L. would be effective. Ipomoea intrapilosa Rose (1894: 367).…”