Search

Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History

John Wiersema

Research Associate
Department / Division
Botany
Education

Ph.D., 1984, Biology, University of Alabama, Tuscaloosa, Alabama

M.S., 1979, Biology, University of Alabama, Tuscaloosa, Alabama

B.S., 1974, Psychology & Sociology, Western Michigan University, Kalamazoo, Michigan

Research Interests

Plant nomenclature: a member of the Editorial Committee for the last 3 Codes, and Vice-rapporteur for the Shenzhen Code; with ongoing responsibility for the content of the Code Appendices database.

Economic botany: 3+ decades curating data on agricultural plants for the Germplasm Resources Information Network (GRIN) of USDA’s Agricultural Research Service.

Systematics of Nymphaeales, esp. Nymphaea, on a global basis.

Publications
Article
  • Peterson, Paul M., Soreng, Robert J., Phillips, Sylvia M., and Wiersema, John H. 2018. "(2620) Proposal to reject the name Poa amabilis (Eragrostis amabilis) (Poaceae)." Taxon 67 (3):644. https://doi.org/10.12705/673.25
  • Turland, N. J. and Wiersema, John H. 2017. "Synopsis of Proposals on Nomenclature-Shenzhen 2017: A review of the proposals concerning the International Code of Nomenclature for algae, fungi, and plants submitted to the XIX International Botanical Congress." Taxon 66:217–274. https://doi.org/10.12705/661.36
  • Turland, Nicholas J., Kempa, M., Knapp, S., Senková, E., and Wiersema, John H. 2017. "XIX International Botanical Congress: Preliminary guiding mail vote on nomenclature proposals." Taxon 66 (5):995–1000. https://doi.org/10.12705/664.25
  • Turland, Nicholas J., Wiersema, John H., Monro, Anna M., Deng, Yun-Fei, and Zhang, Li. 2017. "XIX International Botanical Congress: Report of Congress action on nomenclature proposals." Taxon 66 (5):1234–1245. https://doi.org/10.12705/665.16
  • Wiersema, John H., Delprete, Piero G., Kirkbride, Joseph H., Jr., and Franck, Alan R. 2017. "A New Weed in Florida, Spermacoce latifolia , and the Distinction between S. alata and S. latifolia (Spermacoceae, Rubiaceae)." Castanea: The Journal of the Southern Appalachian Botanical Society 82 (2):114–131. https://doi.org/10.2179/17-124
  • Wiersema, John H., May, T. W., and Turland, N. J. 2017. "Report on corrections and future considerations for Appendices II-VIII of the International Code of Nomenclature for Algae, Fungi, and Plants." Taxon 66:772–775. https://doi.org/10.12705/663.38
  • Yang, Y., Zhu, X. -Y, and Wiersema, John H. 2017. "Nomenclature notes on Phoebe chekiangensis (Lauraceae)." Taxon 66:165–166. https://doi.org/10.12705/661.10
  • Greuter, Werner, Turland, Nicholas J., and Wiersema, John H. 2016. "A proposal relating to infraspecific names (Article 24)." Taxon 65 (4):905–906. https://doi.org/10.12705/654.36
  • Greuter, Werner, Wiersema, John H., and Turland, Nicholas J. 2016. "Proposals relating to the valid publication of new combinations, names at new rank, and replacement names (Article 41)." Taxon 65 (4):911–912. https://doi.org/10.12705/654.41
  • Khoury, Colin K., Achicanoy, Harold A., Bjorkman, Anne D., Navarro-Racines, Carlos, Guarino, Luigi, Flores-Palacios, Ximena, Engels, Johannes M. M., Wiersema, John H., Dempewolf, Hannes, Sotelo, Steven, Ramírez-Villegas, Julian, Castañeda-Álvarez, Nora P., Fowler, Cary, Jarvis, Andy, Rieseberg, Loren H., and Struik, Paul C. 2016. "Origins of food crops connect countries worldwide." Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences 283 (1832):https://doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2016.0792
  • McNeill, John, Shaw, Julian M. H., and Wiersema, John H. 2016. "Proposal to preclude homonymy of generic names with names of intergeneric graft-hybrids (chimaeras)." Taxon 65 (5):1198–1199. https://doi.org/10.12705/655.39
  • Sun, Tiantian, Wiersema, John, and Yang, Yong. 2016. "Correcting the type designations of Caryodaphnopsis baviensis and C. laotica (Lauraceae)." Phytotaxa 270 (3):227. https://doi.org/10.11646/phytotaxa.270.3.8
  • Wiersema, John H. 2016. "Proposal to provide a more direct definition of the term "gathering"." Taxon 65 (5):1186–1186. https://doi.org/10.12705/655.32
  • Wiersema, John H. and Gandhi, Kanchi N. 2016. "Proposals to add Gerard, Fl. Gallo-Prov. 1761, Kramer, Elench. Veg. 1756, and Miller, Gard. Dict. Abr. ed. 4. 1754 to the list of suppressed works in Appendix VI." Taxon 65 (3):638–639. https://doi.org/10.12705/653.23
  • Wiersema, John H. and Gandhi, Kanchi N. 2016. "Proposals to amend Articles 32.2, 23.5, and 24.2 to clarify the treatment of transcribed Greek terminations of epithets." Taxon 65 (5):1195–1196. https://doi.org/10.12705/655.37
  • Wiersema, John H. and Greuter, Werner. 2016. "A proposal concerning the valid publication of suprageneric "autonyms"." Taxon 65 (3):652–652. https://doi.org/10.12705/653.33
  • Wiersema, John H., Greuter, Werner, and McNeill, John. 2016. "Some proposals to resolve problems relating to the conservation or rejection of names, suppression of works, and binding decisions." Taxon 65 (3):642–646. https://doi.org/10.12705/653.26
  • Wiersema, John H., McNeill, John, Turland, Nicholas J., Orli, Sylvia S., and Wagner, Warren L. 2015. "The foundation of the Melbourne Code Appendices: Announcing a new paradigm for tracking nomenclatural decisions." Taxon 64 (5):1021–1027. https://doi.org/10.12705/645.11
  • Dorr, Laurence J. and Wiersema, John H. 2010. "Proposals to reject twelve names emanating from Loefling's Iter Hispanicum (1758), Ayenia sidiformis (Malvaceae), Cofer (Symplocaceae), Cruzeta and C. hispanica (Amaranthaceae), Edechia inermis and E. spinosa (Rubiaceae), Justicia putata (Acanthaceae), Menais and M. topiaria (? Boraginaceae), Muco (Capparaceae), Samyda parviflora (Salicaceae), and Spermacoce suffruticosa (Rubiaceae)." Taxon 59 (4):1280–1282.
  • Dorr, Laurence J. and Wiersema, John H. 2010. "Names of American vascular plants published in Loefling's Iter Hispanicum (1758) and its German translation (1766)." Taxon 59 (4):1245–1262.
  • Dorr, Laurence J. and Wiersema, John H. 2010. "Typification of names of American species of vascular plants proposed by Linnaeus and based on Loefling's Iter Hispanicum (1758)." Taxon 59 (5):1571–1577.
  • Nicolson, Dan H. and Wiersema, John H. 2004. "Proposal to conserve Sesamum indicum against Sesamum orientale (Pedaliaceae)." Taxon 53:210–211.
  • Gandhi, K. N., Wiersema, John H., and Soreng, Robert John. 2001. "(1479) Proposal to conserve the name Bouteloua gracilis (Kunth) Griffiths against B. gracilis Vasey (Poaceae)." Taxon 50 (2):573–575.
  • Soreng, Robert John, Terrell, Edward E., Wiersema, John H., and Darbyshire, S. J. 2001. "Proposal to conserve the name Schedonorus arundinaceus (Schreb.) Dumort. against Schedonorus arundinaceus Roem. & Schult. (Poaceae: Poeae)." Taxon 50:915–917.
  • Wagstaff, D. J., Wiersema, John H., and Lellinger, David B. 1999. "Poisonous plant vouchers." Veterinary and human toxicology 51:162–164.
  • Wiersema, John H., Hill, S. R., and Terrell, Edward E. 1986. "The USDA Plant Nomenclature File." American Journal of Botany 73:795.

... more... less

Chapter
  • Wiersema, John H. and Leon, B. 2016. "The GRIN Taxonomy crop wild relative inventory." in Capturing wild relative and landrace diversity for crop improvement., edited by Maxted, N., Dulloo, M. E., and Ford-Lloyd, B. V., 453–457. CAB International. https://doi.org/10.1079/9781780646138.0453
Book
  • Wiersema, John H., McNeill, J., Turland, N. J., Barrie, F. R., Buck, W. R., Demoulin, V., Greuter, W., Hawksworth, D. L., Herendeen, P. S., Knapp, S., Marhold, K., Prado, J., Prud'homme van Reine, W. F., and Smith, G. F. , eds. 2015. International Code of Nomenclature for algae, fungi, and plants (Melbourne Code) adopted by the Eighteenth International Botanical Congress Melbourne, Australia, July 2011. Appendices II-VIII.. Königstein, Germany: Koeltz Scientific Books.