Wikipedia:Featured article candidates/Omphalotus nidiformis/archive1

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The following is an archived discussion of a featured article nomination. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made on the article's talk page or in Wikipedia talk:Featured article candidates. No further edits should be made to this page.

The article was promoted by Ian Rose 22:09, 5 January 2013 [1].

Omphalotus nidiformis[edit]

Omphalotus nidiformis (edit | talk | history | protect | delete | links | watch | logs | views)

Toolbox
Nominator(s): Casliber (talk · contribs) 14:15, 8 December 2012 (UTC) Sasata (talk · contribs)[reply]

This is a joint nomination by me and Sasata - has polished up well and I feel it's up to the criteria. It is small and there are two of us nominating, so we can respond double-quick.... :) Casliber (talk · contribs) 14:15, 8 December 2012 (UTC)[reply]

  • Comment - Is it known what protein is responsible for the bioluminescence? Would fit nicely in Biochemistry section. Mattximus (talk) 16:26, 8 December 2012 (UTC)[reply]
  • It is known (more or less), but since it's the same biochemical mechanism for all 70+ bioluminescent fungi, I had thought that this material would be better targeted for that page. Sasata (talk) 16:48, 8 December 2012 (UTC)[reply]
  • Support Comments by Cwmhiraeth

In general this seems a good article but I think the prose could do with a bit more polishing. Here are a few things I noticed: Cwmhiraeth (talk) 20:27, 10 December 2012 (UTC)[reply]

  • "Poisonings have occurred over confusion with oyster mushrooms." - An awkward sentence.
  • Removed (similarity with oyster mushroom previously mentioned). Sasata (talk) 20:52, 10 December 2012 (UTC)[reply]
  • "The ghost fungus was initially described in 1844 by English naturalist Miles Joseph Berkeley as Agaricus nidiformis, who thought it related to Agaricus ostreatus (now Pleurotus ostreatus) but remarked it was a "far more magnificent species"" - I think this sentence is too long and convoluted.
  • "All three taxa have been synonymised with this species, ..." - You had "all three named taxa" in the previous sentence.
  • The last two paragraphs of "Taxonomy and naming" seem to have an intermingling of present and past tenses.
Could you explain or wikilink "compatibility". Cwmhiraeth (talk) 06:54, 11 December 2012 (UTC)[reply]
  • Similarly the first paragraph of "Description" has a mix of singular and plural forms.
  • "They are thin-walled with a smooth surface, and inamyloid." - An awkward sentence.
  • "It may be confused with the edible brown oyster mushroom" - I don't think you should start a paragraph with "It".
  • "It occurs in south western Western Australia" - ditto.
  • "A saprobe or parasite, it is nonspecific" - ditto.
  • "The US Department of Agriculture considers there is a moderate to high risk of its importation" - ditto. (Perhaps you will disagree with me about these, but I wouldn't start these paragraphs in this way.)
  • Good point - reworded so article subject is named and not a pronoun in beginning sentence of para. Casliber (talk · contribs) 02:27, 11 December 2012 (UTC)[reply]
  • I think the first sentence in the "Distribution and habitat" section is too long.
??? Cwmhiraeth (talk) 06:54, 11 December 2012 (UTC)[reply]
  • Split more now. Trying to keep a logical flow is tricky. Done now I think. Casliber (talk · contribs) 11:23, 11 December 2012 (UTC)[reply]
That's better. Changed my "Comments" to "Support". Cwmhiraeth (talk) 14:48, 11 December 2012 (UTC)[reply]
  • "Its toxicity was first mentioned in a guidebook by Anthony M. Young in his 1982 work Common Australian Fungi" - I think this sentence could be arranged so that it had fewer "in"s.

Query

  • Both the nominators of this article currently have individual FAC nominations. In both of these, the image captions start with capital letters. Why do the captions of Omphalotus nidiformis depart from this normal tradition? Cwmhiraeth (talk) 07:09, 12 December 2012 (UTC)[reply]
  • I remain to be convinced that image captions are acceptable starting with lower case letters. What MOS guidelines justify this or can you find other examples of FAs or even GAs using this practice? Cwmhiraeth (talk) 06:00, 23 December 2012 (UTC)[reply]
*Our own guidelines shy away from making a decision at all on the matter. I can't recall where I read it. Will look around online for some style guidelines as it crops up all the time and be good to settle it once and for all. Casliber (talk · contribs) 20:13, 23 December 2012 (UTC)[reply]
  • My bad - found some university websites - seem unanimous in capitalising first word of caption regardless of whether a sentence or not. Hence I've capitalised first word in caption now. Casliber (talk · contribs) 02:27, 24 December 2012 (UTC)[reply]
  • That guideline you've linked to does not state explicitly that caps are to be used, but tellingly, all of the examples it gives are capitalized (except for one which starts with an ellipsis). Also, MOS:CAPTION explicitly states "Captions normally start with a capital letter." Sasata (talk) 20:38, 23 December 2012 (UTC)[reply]

Support with comments just a few nitpicks Jimfbleak - talk to me? 10:41, 12 December 2012 (UTC)[reply]

  • O. nidiformis is one of several species with bioluminescent properties occurring worldwide. — possibly ambiguous, suggesting that nidiformis has a worldwide distribution
clarified Casliber (talk · contribs) 11:47, 12 December 2012 (UTC)[reply]
  • Berkeley thought it related to Agaricus ostreatus — is there a "was" missing?
added Casliber (talk · contribs) 11:47, 12 December 2012 (UTC)[reply]
  • Omphalotus — etymology?
  • I added an etymology to the genus page, where I think it's more appropriate (I cheated a bit and used the OED entry for "omphaloid", maybe Cas has a better source?) Sasata (talk) 16:37, 12 December 2012 (UTC)[reply]
I've been looking for a discussion on it - was trying to find the original Fayod paper. The easy option is to just use my ancient greek lexicon but was holding out for a source that discussed it in relation to the actual fungus. Casliber (talk · contribs) 21:47, 12 December 2012 (UTC)[reply]
  • O.K.Mill. — I think there should at least be a space before Mill, see Orson K. Jr
added Casliber (talk · contribs) 11:47, 12 December 2012 (UTC)[reply]
I've been trying to standardize author names without spaces (saves a bit of room in taxobox synonymy lists; see also List of mycologists), so I might change this back when nobody's looking :) Sasata (talk) 16:41, 12 December 2012 (UTC)[reply]
  • brown in colour = brown
fixed Casliber (talk · contribs) 11:47, 12 December 2012 (UTC)[reply]
  • Why are captions not capitalised on first word?
Because they are not sentences, but merely words (there is no active verb present) Casliber (talk · contribs) 11:47, 12 December 2012 (UTC)[reply]
Cas and I interpret MOS:CAPTION differently, I guess. I see the statement "Captions normally start with a capital letter.", but I don't see where the guideline allows for non-capitalization of sentence fragments. Sasata (talk) 14:27, 12 December 2012 (UTC)[reply]
It's tricky as our own policy shies away from making a decision on the issue, but I do remember reading somewhere about not using capitals unless it is a sentence (and converting to sentences often makes captions souns unwieldy) Casliber (talk · contribs) 19:09, 12 December 2012 (UTC)[reply]
Support comments from Cassianto
Lead
  • "It is primarily known from southern Australia and Tasmania, but was reported from India in 2012." - seems as if there is a word or two missing from between "known" and "from". "It is primarily known to grow in southern Australia and Tasmania" or similar?
  • Changed to "known to occur primarily in ..." Sasata (talk) 16:49, 12 December 2012 (UTC)[reply]

*"Possible over linking of cramps and vomiting.

  • Sorry, I can't see the overlink; as far as I can tell, these words are only linked in the lead? Sasata (talk) 16:49, 12 December 2012 (UTC)[reply]
  • See WP:OVERLINK - "An article is said to be overlinked if... [It contains] everyday English words that are expected to be understood in the general context" - Cramps, you could leave but I would expect one to know what vomiting was seeing as everybody suffers with it at least once or twice in their life. -- CassiantoTalk 16:56, 12 December 2012 (UTC)[reply]
  • Ah, ok – vomiting delinked. Sasata (talk) 17:14, 12 December 2012 (UTC)[reply]
Taxonomy and naming
  • Fine.
Description
  • Fine.
Distribution and habitat
  • Fine.
Ecology

*Overlink of host.

Nothing major in terms of quibbles. Overall, another interesting article. -- CassiantoTalk 16:37, 12 December 2012 (UTC)[reply]

  • Thanks for your comments. Sasata (talk) 16:49, 12 December 2012 (UTC)[reply]
  • Support...I went through the article and checked for MOS issues and found none. The article is comprehensive, well written and illuminating.--MONGO 15:51, 15 December 2012 (UTC)[reply]

Delegate notes

  • Thanks to all the reviewers for comments but I'd have expected to see an image check by someone before all these declarations of support. As it happens they're fine, all taken by Cas, but a comprehensive review needs to consider image licensing.
  • Cas/Sas, while I'm not wholly against "however"s, I do like to be clear as to why they're there, and I'm not certain about the one in the lead, i.e. "it was previously considered a member of the same genus, Pleurotus, and described under the former names Pleurotus nidiformis or Pleurotus lampas. However, it is poisonous and while not lethal, consuming this mushroom..." Is it there because members of Pleurotus are typically not poisonous? If so I'd be explicit and say "Unlike other members of Pleurotus, it is poisonous..." or recast the sentence in some other way. Cheers, Ian Rose (talk) 13:46, 5 January 2013 (UTC)[reply]
Yes, pleurotus are generally edible and widely eaten..added "unlike oyster mushrooms" to clarify. Casliber (talk · contribs) 14:40, 5 January 2013 (UTC)[reply]


The above discussion is preserved as an archive. Please do not modify it. No further edits should be made to this page.
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