User talk:MtBotany

🌿Welcome

I don't bite. I also do not have all the answers, but I will do my best to answer questions if you have them. If you think I am wrong, I am open to being convinced otherwise by logically supported, evidence based, succinct reasons. And as I state on my user page if you have a plant from the Southern Rocky Mountains or surrounding countryside that needs an article I will give it a higher priority on my list of things to edit. —🌿MtBotany

Archives

2023, 2024

6000 Wikipedia edits

This is edit number 6000 in the English Wikipedia. Total of 8300 across all projects. 69.5% of these edits have been in the main article space. This has come close on the heels of 8000 across all projects and no much has changed since then, but I am marking this moment. Plant editing continues to be my passion with only occasional forays into reverting vandals when I notice them. Onward to 9000. 🌿MtBotany (talk) 17:59, 11 September 2024 (UTC)[reply]

Plant editing and RFA

Maybe you just need to widen your idea of what acceptably botanical editing would look like? I did roll up Macer Floridus just for you, you know. :P -- asilvering (talk) 21:46, 21 September 2024 (UTC)[reply]

@Asilvering Truthfully, I missed that article while looking through your xtools list of most edited articles. It is acceptably plant adjacent. So are parks. Because. 🌿MtBotany (talk) 22:34, 21 September 2024 (UTC)[reply]

RFA2024 update: Discussion-only period now open for review

Hi there! The trial of the RfA discussion-only period passed at WP:RFA2024 has concluded, and after open discussion, the RfC is now considering whether to retain, modify, or discontinue it. You are invited to participate at Wikipedia:Requests for adminship/2024 review/Phase II/Discussion-only period. Cheers, and happy editing! MediaWiki message delivery (talk) 09:38, 27 September 2024 (UTC)[reply]

A Penstemon for you!

Hi MtBotany, I promised quite a while ago to return the favor for your excellent help in getting Hypericum perforatum through GAN. My weekend project has been to write up Penstemon gentianoides, which I am now quite happy with. I think it's relatively complete for a relatively obscure species, but would love any input or additions you might have! I may give it a nomination at GAN at some point, which would be my first non-Hypericum attempt there. Let me know if you venture into any projects you would like to collaborate on in the future and I am happy to do so! Fritzmann (message me) 22:10, 13 October 2024 (UTC)[reply]

Thank you Fritzmann2002. Well done on locating sources for the article, plants outside the anglosphere are harder to work on than the well studied floras of English speaking countries. I was surprised to see that the species is/was thought to grow in Columbia. I know it is the most southerly of the penstemons, but I had thought that the genus did not grow further south than Honduras. I may have to double check the sources on that. 🌿MtBotany (talk) 18:34, 15 October 2024 (UTC)[reply]

Symphyotrichum campestre

Hi, MtBotany! Thank you so much for adding a nice Distribution and habitat section to Symphyotrichum campestre this morning! You must have read my mind that it was on my list of things to do today because somehow it had gotten to Start-class quite a while ago without having one. Even though in Start-class, sections aren't needed, I like to have them in the ones I do. Symphyotrichum is my favorite genus, and I am guilty of creating all those stubs a few years ago (oops) when I was newly doing plant articles. Are there any other articles you are planning to work on in that genus (or in any of the others I have listed on the STS participants page)? Let me know in case I already have something in progress! :) – Elizabeth (Eewilson) (tag or ping me) (talk) 17:21, 23 October 2024 (UTC)[reply]

@Eewilson I watch all the aster family plants that grow in Colorado, so last night I noticed your edits before going to bed. I worked on it this morning since you had not gotten to the distribution yet and it nagged at me having seen the section head without any content. 🌿MtBotany (talk) 17:55, 23 October 2024 (UTC)[reply]

I just put those in there last night to remind myself. You are fast! I could barely keep my eyes open at that point last night. Thank you! – Elizabeth (Eewilson) (tag or ping me) (talk) 18:00, 23 October 2024 (UTC)[reply]

WikiCup 2024 November newsletter

The 2024 WikiCup has come to an end, with the final round being a very tight race. Our new champion is AirshipJungleman29 (submissions), who scored 2,283 points mainly through 3 high-multiplier FAs and 3 GAs on military history topics. By a 1% margin, Airship beat out last year's champion, BeanieFan11 (submissions), who scored second with 2,264 points, mainly from an impressive 58 GAs about athletes. In third place, Generalissima (submissions) scored 1,528 points, primarily from two FAs on U.S. Librarians of Congress and 20 GAs about various historical topics. Our other finalists are: Sammi Brie (submissions) with 879 points, Hey man im josh (submissions) with 533 points, BennyOnTheLoose (submissions) with 432 points, Arconning (submissions) with 244 points, and AryKun (submissions) with 15 points. Congratulations to our finalists and all who participated!

The final round was very productive, and contestants had 7 FAs, 9 FLs, 94 GAs, 73 FAC reviews, and 79 GAN reviews and peer reviews. Altogether, Wikipedia has benefited greatly from the activities of WikiCup competitors all through the contest. Well done everyone!

All those who reached the final will receive awards and the following special awards will be made, based on high performance in particular areas of content creation. So that the finalists do not have an undue advantage, these prizes are awarded to the competitor who scored the highest in any particular field in a single round, or in the event of a tie, to the overall leader in this field.

Generalissima (submissions) wins the featured article prize for 3 FAs in round 4, and 7 FAs overall.
Hey man im josh (submissions) wins the featured list prize for 23 FLs overall.
MaranoFan (submissions) wins the featured topic prize for 9 articles in featured topics in round 1.
Hey man im josh (submissions) wins the featured content reviewer prize for 110 FA/FL reviews overall.
BeanieFan11 (submissions) wins the good article prize for 58 GAs in round 5, and 70 GAs overall.
Fritzmann (submissions) wins the good topic prize for 6 articles in good topics in round 2.
Sammi Brie (submissions) wins the good article reviewer prize for 45 GA reviews in round 2, and 78 GA reviews overall.
BeanieFan11 (submissions) wins the DYK prize, for 131 Did you know articles overall.
Muboshgu (submissions) wins the ITN prize, for 15 In the news articles in round 1, and 36 overall.

Next year's competition will begin on 1 January. You are invited to sign up to participate; the WikiCup is open to all Wikipedians, both novices and experienced editors, and we hope to see you all in the 2025 competition. Until then, it only remains to once again congratulate our worthy winners, and thank all participants for their involvement!

If you wish to start or stop receiving this newsletter, please feel free to add or remove yourself from Wikipedia:WikiCup/Newsletter/Send. Cwmhiraeth (talk · contribs), Epicgenius (talk · contribs), and Frostly (talk · contribs). MediaWiki message delivery (talk) 13:48, 1 November 2024 (UTC)[reply]

Dates in botanical author citations

Hi, @MtBotany! Your work is beautiful. I am seeing you put dates in author citations. We don't put dates in botanical author citations in the taxoboxes per WP:PLANTS. The ICNafp standard is to not have them. You could bring it up on the project talk page (I doubt that very many people would agree to have them), but unless the consensus is changed, could you please not include them? It just adds work and inconsistency, as well as confusion, when a small percentage of articles have them based on an editor's preference. – Elizabeth (Eewilson) (tag or ping me) (talk) 02:49, 17 November 2024 (UTC)[reply]

@Eewilson I agree that there are standards in botany to not have dates as part of citations, but that's not what the speciesbox/taxobox is. It is a Wikipedia standard to give information to readers rather than a scientific citation. The Wikipedia:WikiProject Plants/Template is silent on putting dates in the information boxes. If this is a consensus it should be in the template. 🌿MtBotany (talk) 03:50, 17 November 2024 (UTC)[reply]

Hm. Very good point and I thought it was there! Let me see if I can find it somewhere. It seems things are buried in the project pages. I hope it's not just on a talk page and never got put elsewhere! – Elizabeth (Eewilson) (tag or ping me) (talk) 03:53, 17 November 2024 (UTC)[reply]

@Eewilson It is entirely possible there was a discussion, but it was not documented afterwards. Or maybe there have been moderately inconclusive discussions. When I went looking I did not find anything definitive in the archives, but it is entirely possible that I missed the critical discussion by using the wrong search words. Having a date in the information box seems useful instead of having that information down in the section on taxonomy where casual readers are likely to skim over it. Though on the other hand when the synonyms are particularly long it starts seeming silly to try to cram in another byte of information. 🌿MtBotany (talk) 04:12, 17 November 2024 (UTC)[reply]

I'm just one who likes to have things the way they are supposed to be. I'd hate to think of having to change tens of thousands of articles (I know we wouldn't do that) to have the dates in the taxoboxes, but that's not my motivation. My thoughts are if they aren't supposed to be there, then let's leave them out. If they are, then let's put them in. If it doesn't matter, then I don't care. And, you are absolutely right. However it is, it needs to be documented. – Elizabeth (Eewilson) (tag or ping me) (talk) 04:16, 17 November 2024 (UTC)[reply]

@Eewilson I think I get that. I've keep thinking about asking the question to try to settle it but also fearing the potential for an indecisive quagmire with bad feelings, so I keep putting it off. 🌿MtBotany (talk) 04:33, 17 November 2024 (UTC)[reply]

Exactly. Which could go into a 2-month long discussion and basically get nowhere. <eyeroll> – Elizabeth (Eewilson) (tag or ping me) (talk) 04:36, 17 November 2024 (UTC)[reply]

A barnstar for you!

		The Plantae Barnstar
		For your excellent work on Penstemon articles, especially Penstemon albomarginatus and Penstemon barbatus! You've gone above and beyond with your contributions to WP:PLANTSSTS and I have really enjoyed reviewing your work :) Ethmostigmus 🌿 (talk

Ethmostigmus 🌿 (talk | contribs) 03:38, 17 November 2024 (UTC)[reply]

@Ethmostigmus Thanks. I've enjoyed it. Though now that Archive.org / Biodiversity Heritage Library is more fully operational I'm starting to hear more of siren call of red links. Less than half of the penstemons even have stubs, though I know the Mexican ones will be harder to write about unless I can get a PDF of Flora Mesoamericana so I can run passages through deepL. I don't speak Spanish... yet. 🌿MtBotany (talk) 04:26, 17 November 2024 (UTC)[reply]