Talk:Iridaceae/GA1

GA Review

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Hi, I'll be doing this review. I look forward to reading a family-level taxon article, because I intend to write a few fungal-related ones, and it will be interesting for me to see it from the "plant perspective". Will read twice, first for general copyedit (I'll be bold and just fix the non-contentious ones myself, as it saves us both time–feel free to revert or discuss if you feel otherwise); the second time checking refs (if possible) and focusing on content. Sasata (talk) 02:47, 16 June 2009 (UTC)

Thanks Sasata! It will be highly useful to know your opinion about this article, taking into account your performance in writting so many GAs. --200.32.86.170 (talk) 11:59, 16 June 2009 (UTC) --EnCASF (talk) 13:43, 16 June 2009 (UTC) (now, logged!!)

Ok I'll start dropping notes as I go through the article section by section (slowly-sorry!). Sasata (talk) 21:15, 18 June 2009 (UTC).

Not as slowly as me!!...Sorry for delaying in starting the corrections, I was out of my home the last two days.--EnCASF (talk) 22:12, 19 June 2009 (UTC)

Have done some more copyedit, and have generated the set of comments/questions following. Over the next couple of days I'll check references and recent literature. Sasata (talk) 06:33, 20 June 2009 (UTC)

• suggest adding the type genera and authority to the taxobox

Description

• "One of the most characteristic features of the Iridaceae is the perianth formed of two whorls of three tepals, all similar in structure, shape, and often color." I had to go to those other linked articles to really understand what this sentence meant. Would it be possible to find a diagram for this?

• "...where the corolla is reduced..." reduced in size?

• "...one whorl is firm and dry..." are whorls usually wet?

• "The characters that set Iridaceae alone apart," sentence construction sounds awkward, please rephrase

• "...(related families have six)" suggest to add an example or two of related families

• "The rootstock is a rhizome, bulb, or corm." Is rootstock different than a root?

• while reading this section I got the feeling that a picture showing the stem and leaves (preferably in close-up) would be a helpful addition to the text.. any chance of that?

• "Flowers may be either actinomorphic or zygomorphic." Would like to know what this means without having to go to another article

• suggest moving a flower pic up to the description section (would help understand descriptive info in third paragraph), and possible balancing pictures on both right and left sides throughout article

• "...with axile (rarely parietal) placentation in three locules." Jargon needs linking (or better, explaining)

Distribution and habitat

• "The family prefers open, seasonal habitats." Unclear what a "seasonal habitat" is, define or link

Taxonomy

• "The family name is attributed to Antoine Laurent de Jussieu's 1789 Genera Plantarum, secundum ordines naturales disposita juxta methodum in Horto Regio Parisiensi exaratam," would be nice to have this translated parenthetically, or a few words so reader can get a general idea of what this work is and why it's important
• sometimes "2n" is italicized, sometimes not, not sure which way is standard
• Citations only present in the first paragraph of the Subfamilies section; would like to see at least a ref for each bullet-point paragraph
• "Up to 66 genera have been recognised in the family, with a total of around 2,000 species worldwide." Source for these numbers? I read 1,500 species somewhere else.
• Need to decide whether to shorten "including" to "incl." or "inc."

Ecology

• "...the dormant corms are ready to burst into growth..." sounds a bit too dramatic for an encyclopedia

• "In the case of hopliine beetles (Scarabaeidae, Hopliinae), flowers provide a stable platform on which to congregate, and the value of pollen, which beetles sometimes consume, as a reward is uncertain." This mouthful of a sentence needs some repair – the last clause is especially clunky.

Uses

• "Several cultures have used species of Iridaceae as food, ornamental, condiment or medicinal plants. " sentence sounds awkward
• last paragraph needs citation(s)

Other comments

• if you're really looking for an exciting way to spend an hour or 2, consider putting all the citations in citations templates. Not required for GA level, of course, but a veritable necessity for FAC.

Just got around to checking references now. Unfortunately, the article needs serious work and rewriting to remove plagiarism. Please read Wikipedia:Plagiarism, and consider resubmitting after each referenced statement has been carefully checked against the source. Here's a sampling of problems from just the first dozen references I checked: Sasata (talk) 22:44, 29 June 2009 (UTC)

• Article:"The rootstock is a rhizome, bulb, or corm."

Source:"rootstock a rhizome, bulb, or corm."

• Article:"Species of Moraea are unusual in the family in having channeled leaves with a distinct upper and lower surface." Sources given as [2] and [3]. However, ref [2] does not mention this.

• Article:"Iridaceae species are usually pollinated by insects or birds." Sources given as [1] and [2]; ref [2] does not mention this.

• Article:"They have a hard endosperm, with reserves of hemicellulose, oil, and protein, and a small embryo."

Source:"endosperm hard, with reserves of hemicellulose, oil, and protein; embryo small."

• Article:"Species of Moraea are unusual in the family in having channeled leaves with a distinct upper and lower surface."

• Source:"Species of Moraea are unusual in the family in having channelled leaves with a distinct upper and lower surface."

• Article:"In most genera they are tetrahedral or variously angled and without obvious adaptations for dispersal." Same as source.

• Article:"In the Cape Floral Region alone, 707 species and 27 genera are recorded." Same as source

• Article:"Fewer species occur in savannas or the semi-arid central karoo, and very few in forests." Same as sources (with the exception that the source has the singular "forest")