[Magdalen] Monterey fire?

[Cantor03 at aol.com]

In a message dated 9/22/2015 7:54:23 A.M. Eastern Daylight Time,  
fleenerj at gmail.com writes:

When I  finish learning birds, I am going to do trees.  They will be  easier
because they mostly stand  still.>>>>>>
 
A problem with trees, especially conifers is that the  nomenclature
for them seems always to be in a state of flux, so what learned  as
a Latin name for a species this year may not be the same next  year.
 
Driving these changes are DNA studies (what else?) which  often
change genus and even family names for species.
 
The DNA studies are fascinating, in general, however.   For
example, the common Midwest reforestation species, "Norway  Pine"
(Pinus resinosa) has very little genetic variability by which  the
tree genetics people conclude that the species survived a  near
extinction fairly recently, probably during the Pleistocene  glaciation.
 
Although I've always liked birds, I just never have gotten serious  about
them.  OTOH, my mother and Aunt Helen who lived with her for  more than
40 years were serious bird watchers, and had a lot of avian  paraphernalia
in the family home.
 
 
 
David Strang.