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Rubus

Rubus is a large and diverse genus of flowering plants in the rose family, Rosaceae, subfamily Rosoideae, with over 1,350 species, commonly known as brambles.

Raspberries, blackberries, and dewberries are common, widely distributed members of the genus, and bristleberries are endemic to North America. Most of these plants have woody stems with prickles like roses; spines, bristles, and gland-tipped hairs are also common in the genus. The Rubus fruit, sometimes called a bramble fruit, is an aggregate of drupelets. The term "cane fruit" or "cane berry" applies to any Rubus species or hybrid which is commonly grown with supports such as wires or canes, including raspberries, blackberries, and hybrids such as loganberry, boysenberry, marionberry and tayberry. The stems of such plants are also referred to as canes.

Description
Bramble bushes typically grow as shrubs (though a few are herbaceous), with their stems being typically covered in sharp prickles. They grow long, arching shoots that readily root upon contact with soil, and form a soil rootstock from which new shoots grow in the spring. The leaves are either evergreen or deciduous, and simple, lobed, or compound. The shoots typically do not flower or set fruit until the second year of growth (i.e. they are biennial). The rootstock is perennial. Most species are hermaphrodites with male and female parts being present on the same flower. Bramble fruits are aggregate fruits formed from smaller units called drupelets.

Around 60-70% of species of Rubus are polyploid (having more than two copies of each chromosome), with species ranging in ploidy from diploid (2x, with 14 chromosomes ) to tetradecaploid (14x).

Modern classification
Rubus is very complex, particularly within the blackberry/dewberry subgenus (Rubus), with polyploidy, hybridization, and facultative apomixis apparently all frequently occurring, making species classification of the great variation in the subgenus one of the grand challenges of systematic botany.

Some treatments have recognized dozens of species each for what other, comparably qualified botanists have considered single, more variable species. On the other hand, species in the other Rubus subgenera (such as the raspberries) are generally distinct, or else involved in more routine one-or-a-few taxonomic debates, such as whether the European and American red raspberries are better treated as one species or two (in this case, the two-species view is followed here, with R. idaeus and R. strigosus both recognized; if these species are combined, then the older name R. idaeus has priority for the broader species).

The classification presented below recognizes 13 subgenera within Rubus, with the largest subgenus (Rubus) in turn divided into 12 sections. Representative examples are presented, but many more species are not mentioned here. A comprehensive 2019 study found subgenera Orobatus and Anoplobatus to be monophyletic, while all other subgenera to be paraphyletic or polyphyletic.

Phylogeny
The genus has a likely North American origin, with fossils known from the Eocene-aged Florissant Formation of Colorado, around 34 million years old. Rubus expanded into Eurasia, South America, and Oceania during the Miocene. Fossil seeds from the early Miocene of Rubus have been found in the Czech part of the Zittau Basin. Many fossil fruits of †Rubus laticostatus, †Rubus microspermus and †Rubus semirotundatus have been extracted from bore hole samples of the Middle Miocene fresh water deposits in Nowy Sacz Basin, West Carpathians, Poland.

Molecular data have backed up classifications based on geography and chromosome number, but following morphological data, such as the structure of the leaves and stems, do not appear to produce a phylogenetic classification.

Species

Better-known species of Rubus include:

 * Rubus aboriginum – garden dewberry
 * Rubus allegheniensis – Allegheny blackberry
 * Rubus arcticus – Arctic raspberry
 * Rubus argutus
 * Rubus armeniacus – Himalayan blackberry
 * Rubus caesius – European dewberry
 * Rubus canadensis – smooth blackberry
 * Rubus chamaemorus – cloudberry
 * Rubus cockburnianus
 * Rubus coreanus – bokbunja
 * Rubus crataegifolius
 * Rubus deliciosus
 * Rubus domingensis
 * Rubus ellipticus
 * Rubus flagellaris – northern dewberry
 * Rubus fraxinifolius – mountain raspberry
 * Rubus glaucus
 * Rubus hawaiensis
 * Rubus hayata-koidzumii
 * Rubus hispidus – swamp dewberry
 * Rubus idaeus – red raspberry
 * Rubus illecebrosus
 * Rubus laciniatus – cut-leaved blackberry
 * Rubus leucodermis – whitebark raspberry
 * Rubus moluccanus
 * Rubus nepalensis
 * Rubus nivalis – snow raspberry
 * Rubus niveus
 * Rubus occidentalis – black raspberry
 * Rubus odoratus – purple-flowered raspberry
 * Rubus parviflorus – thimbleberry
 * Rubus pedatus
 * Rubus pensilvanicus – Pennsylvania blackberry
 * Rubus phoenicolasius – wineberry
 * Rubus probus
 * Rubus pubescens – dwarf raspberry
 * Rubus rosifolius
 * Rubus saxatilis – stone bramble
 * Rubus spectabilis – salmonberry
 * Rubus tricolor
 * Rubus trivialis – Southern dewberry
 * Rubus ulmifolius – elm-leaved blackberry
 * Rubus ursinus – trailing blackberry
 * Rubus vestitus – European blackberry

A more complete subdivision is as follows:

Hybrid berries
The term "hybrid berry" is often used collectively for those fruits in the genus Rubus which have been developed mainly in the U.S. and U.K. in the last 130 years. As Rubus species readily interbreed and are apomicts (able to set seed without fertilisation), the parentage of these plants is often highly complex, but is generally agreed to include cultivars of blackberries (R. ursinus, R. fruticosus) and raspberries (R. idaeus). The British National Collection of Rubus stands at over 200 species and, although not within the scope of the National Collection, also hold many cultivars.

The hybrid berries include:-
 * loganberry (California, U.S., 1883) R. × loganobaccus, a spontaneous hybrid between R. ursinus 'Aughinbaugh' and R. idaeus 'Red Antwerp'
 * boysenberry (U.S., 1920s) a hybrid between R. idaeus and R. × loganobaccus
 * nectarberry Suspected variant of boysenberry, a hybrid between R. idaeus and R. × loganobaccus
 * olallieberry (U.S., 1930s) a hybrid between the loganberry and youngberry, themselves both hybrid berries
 * veitchberry (Europe, 1930s) a hybrid between R. fruticosus and R. idaeus
 * skellyberry (Texas, U.S., 2000s), a hybrid between R. invisus and R. phoenicolasius
 * marionberry (1956) now thought to be a blackberry cultivar R. 'Marion'
 * silvanberry, R. 'Silvan', a hybrid between R. 'Marion' and the boysenberry
 * tayberry (Dundee, Scotland, 1979), another blackberry/raspberry hybrid
 * tummelberry, R. 'Tummel', from the same Scottish breeding programme as the tayberry
 * hildaberry (1980s), a tayberry/boysenberry hybrid discovered by an amateur grower
 * youngberry, a complex hybrid of raspberries, blackberries, and dewberries

Etymology
The generic name means blackberry in Latin and was derived from the word ruber, meaning "red".

The blackberries, as well as various other Rubus species with mounding or rambling growth habits, are often called brambles. However, this name is not used for those like the raspberry that grow as upright canes, or for trailing or prostrate species, such as most dewberries, or various low-growing boreal, arctic, or alpine species. The scientific study of brambles is known as "batology". "Bramble" comes from Old English bræmbel, a variant of bræmel.

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Steppe

In physical geography, a steppe is an ecoregion characterized by grassland plains without closed forests except near rivers and lakes. Steppe biomes may include:

 * the montane grasslands and shrublands biome
 * the tropical and subtropical grasslands, savannas, and shrublands biome
 * the temperate grasslands, savannas, and shrublands biome

A steppe is usually covered with grass and shrubs, depending on the season and latitude. The term steppe climate denotes a semi-arid climate, which is encountered in regions too dry to support a forest, but not dry enough to be a desert.

Steppes are usually characterized by a semi-arid or continental climate. Extremes can be recorded in the summer of up to 45 C and in winter of down to -55 C. Besides this major seasonal difference, fluctuations between day and night are also significant. In both the highlands of Mongolia and northern Nevada, 30 C can be reached during the day with sub-freezing readings at night.

Steppes average 250-500 mm of annual precipitation and feature hot summers and cold winters when located in mid-latitudes. In addition to the precipitation level, its combination with potential evapotranspiration defines a steppe climate.

Classification
Steppe can be classified by climate:
 * Temperate steppe: the true steppe, found in continental climates can be further subdivided, as in the Rocky Mountains Steppes
 * Subtropical steppe: a similar association of plants occurring in the driest areas with a Mediterranean climate; it usually has a short wet period

It can also be classified by vegetation type, e.g. shrub-steppe and alpine-steppe.

Cold steppe
The world's largest steppe region, often referred to as "the Great Steppe", is found in Eastern Europe and Central Asia, and neighbouring countries stretching from Ukraine in the west through Russia, Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan to the Altai, Koppet Dag and Tian Shan ranges in China. The Eurasian Steppe is speculated by David W. Anthony to have had a role in the spread of the horse, the wheel and Indo-European languages. In the Eurasian steppe, soils often consist of chernozem.

The inner parts of Anatolia in Turkey, Central Anatolia and East Anatolia in particular and also some parts of Southeast Anatolia, as well as much of Armenia and Iran are largely dominated by cold steppe.

The Pannonian Plain is another steppe region in Central Europe, centered in Hungary but also including portions of Slovakia, Poland, Ukraine, Romania, Serbia, Croatia, Slovenia, and Austria. Another large steppe area (prairie) is located in the central United States, western Canada and the northern part of Mexico. The shortgrass prairie steppe is the westernmost part of the Great Plains region. The Columbia Plateau in southern British Columbia, Oregon, Idaho, and Washington state, is an example of a steppe region in North America outside of the Great Plains.

In South America, cold steppe can be found in Patagonia and much of the high elevation regions east of the southern Andes.

Relatively small steppe areas can be found in the interior of the South Island of New Zealand.

In Australia, a moderately sized temperate steppe region exists in the northern and northwest regions of Victoria, extending to the southern and mid regions of New South Wales. This area borders the semi-arid and arid Australian Outback which is found farther inland on the continent.

Subtropical steppe
In Europe, some Mediterranean areas have a steppe-like vegetation, such as central Sicily in Italy, southern Portugal, parts of Greece in the southern Athens area, and central-eastern Spain, especially the southeastern coast (around Murcia), and places cut off from adequate moisture due to rain shadow effects such as Zaragoza.

In northern Africa, the Mediterranean area also hosts the same steppe-like vegetation, such as the Algerian-Moroccan Hautes Plaines and by extension the North Saharan steppe and woodlands.

In Asia, a subtropical steppe can be found in semi-arid lands that fringe the Thar Desert of the Indian subcontinent as well as much of the Deccan Plateau in the rain shadow of the Western Ghats, and the Badia of the Levant.

In Australia, subtropical steppe can be found in a belt surrounding the most severe deserts of the continent and around the Musgrave Ranges.

In North America this environment is typical of transition areas between zones with a Mediterranean climate and true deserts, such as Reno, Nevada, the inner part of California, and much of western Texas and adjacent areas in Mexico.

license: Creative Commons - Attribution Share-Alike - https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/

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Typographic unit

Typographic units are the units of measurement used in typography or typesetting. Traditional typometry units are different from familiar metric units because they were established in the early days of printing. Though most printing is digital now, the old terms and units have persisted.

Even though these units are all very small, across a line of print they add up quickly. Confusions such as resetting text originally in type of one unit in type of another will result in words moving from one line to the next, resulting in all sorts of typesetting errors (viz. rivers, widows and orphans, disrupted tables, and misplaced captions). Before the popularization of desktop publishing, type measurements were done with a tool called a typometer.

Development
In Europe, the Didot point system was created by François-Ambroise Didot (1730–1804) in c. 1783. Didot's system was based on Pierre Simon Fournier's (1712–1768), but Didot modified Fournier's by adjusting the base unit precisely to a French Royal inch (pouce), as Fournier's unit was based on a less common foot.

(Fournier's printed scale of his point system, from Manuel Typographique, Barbou, Paris 1764, enlarged)

However, the basic idea of the point system – to generate different type sizes by multiplying a single minimum unit calculated by dividing a base measurement unit such as one French Royal inch – was not Didot's invention, but Fournier's. In Fournier's system, an approximate French Royal inch (pouce) is divided by 12 to calculate 1 ligne, which is then divided by 6 to get 1 point. Didot just made the base unit (one French Royal inch) identical to the standard value defined by the government.

In Didot's point system:
 * 1 point = 1⁄6 ligne = 1⁄72 French Royal inch = 15 625⁄41 559 mm ≤ 0.375 971 510 4 mm, however in practice mostly: 0.376 000 mm, i.e. + 0.0076%.

Both in Didot's and Fournier's systems, some point sizes have traditional names such as Cicero (before introduction of point systems, type sizes were called by names such as Cicero, Pica, Ruby, Long Primer, etc.).

 * 1 cicero = 12 Didot points = 1⁄6 French Royal inch = 62 500⁄13 853 mm ≤ 4.511 658 124 6 mm, also in practice mostly: 4.512 000 mm, i.e. + 0.0076%.

The Didot point system has been widely used in European countries. An abbreviation for it that these countries use is "dd", employing an old method for indicating plurals. Hence "12 dd" means twelve didot points.

In Britain and the United States, many proposals for type size standardization had been made by the end of 19th century (such as Bruce Typefoundry's mathematical system that was based on a precise geometric progression). However, no nationwide standard was created until the American Point System was decided in 1886.

The American Point System was proposed by Nelson C. Hawks of Marder Luse & Company in Chicago in the 1870s, and his point system used the same method of size division as Fournier's; viz. dividing 1 inch by 6 to get 1 pica, and dividing it again by 12 to get 1 point. However, the American Point System standardized finally in 1886 is different from Hawks' original idea in that 1 pica is not precisely equal to 1⁄6 inch (neither the Imperial inch nor the US inch), as the United States Type Founders' Association defined the standard pica to be the Johnson Pica, which had been adopted and used by Mackellar, Smiths and Jordan type foundry (MS&J), Philadelphia. As MS&J was very influential in those days, many other type foundries were using the Johnson Pica. Also, MS&J defined that 83 Picas are equal to 35 centimeters. The choice of the metric unit for the prototype was because at the time the Imperial and US inches differed in size slightly, and neither country could legally specify a unit of the other.

The Johnson Pica was named after Lawrence Johnson who had succeeded Binny & Ronaldson in 1833. Binny & Ronaldson was one of the oldest type foundries in the United States, established in Philadelphia in 1796. Binny & Ronaldson had bought the type founding equipment of Benjamin Franklin's (1706–1790) type foundry established in 1786 and run by his grandson Benjamin Franklin Bache (1769–1798). The equipment is thought to be that which Benjamin Franklin purchased from Pierre Simon Fournier when he visited France for diplomatic purposes (1776–85).

The official standard approved by the Fifteenth Meeting of the Type Founders Association of the United States in 1886 was this Johnson pica, equal to exactly 0.166 inch. Therefore, the two other – very close – definitions, 1200 / 7227 inch and 350 / 83 mm, are both unofficial.

Monotype wedges used in England and America were based on a pica = .1660 inch. But on the European continent all available wedges were based on the "old-pica" 1 pica - .1667 inch. These wedges were marked with an extra E behind the numbers of the wedge and the set. These differences can also be found in the tables of the manuals.

In the American point system:
 * 1 pica = exactly 0.1660 inch (versus 0.166 6 = 1⁄6 inch for the DTP-pica) = 4.216 400 mm.
 * 1 point = 1⁄12 Johnson pica = exactly 0.013 8 3 inch = 0.351 3 6 mm.

The American point system has been used in the US, Britain, Japan, and many other countries.

Today, digital printing and display devices and page layout software use a unit that is different from these traditional typographic units. On many digital printing systems (desktop publishing systems in particular), the following equations are applicable (with exceptions, most notably the popular TeX typesetting system and its derivatives ).

 * 1 pica = 1⁄6 inch (British/American inch of today) = 4.2 33 mm.
 * 1 point = 1⁄12 pica = 1⁄72 inch = 127⁄360 mm = 0.352 7 mm.

Fournier's original method of division is now restored in today's digital typography.

Comparing a piece of type in didots for Continental European countries – 12 dd, for example – to a piece of type for an English-speaking country – 12 pt – shows that the main body of a character is actually about the same size. The difference is that the languages of the former often need extra space atop the capital letters for accent marks (e.g. Ñ, Â, Ö, É), but English rarely needs this.

Metric units
The traditional typographic units are based either on non-metric units, or on odd multiples (such as 35⁄83) of a metric unit. There are no specifically metric units for this particular purpose, although there is a DIN standard sometimes used in German publishing, which measures type sizes in multiples of 0.25 mm, and proponents of the metrication of typography generally recommend the use of the millimetre for typographical measurements, rather than the development of new specifically typographical metric units. The Japanese already do this for their own characters (using the kyu, which is q in romanized Japanese and is also 0.25 mm), and have metric-sized type for European languages as well. One advantage of the q is that it reintroduces the proportional integer division of 3 mm (12 q) by 6 & 4.

During the age of the French Revolution or Napoleonic Empire, the French established a typographic unit of 0.4 mm, but except for the government's print shops, this did not catch on.

In 1973, the didot was restandardized in the EU as 0.375 (= 3⁄8) mm. Care must be taken because the name of the unit is often left unmodified. The Germans, however, use the terms Fournier-Punkt and Didot-Punkt for the earlier ones, and Typografischer Punkt for this metric one. The TeX typesetting system uses the abbreviation dd for the earlier definition, and nd for the metric new didot

Select bibliography

 * Boag, Andrew. "Typographic measurement: a chronology", Typography papers, no. 1, 1996, The Department of Typography and Graphic Communication, The University of Reading, Reading 1996.
 * Bruce's Son & Company, Specimen of Printing Types, incl. Theo. L. DeVinne's "The Invention of Printing", New York 1878.
 * Carter, Harry. Fournier on Typefounding, The Soncino Press, London 1930.
 * Fournier, Pierre Simon, The Manuel Typographique of Pierre-Simon Fournier le jeune, Vols. I–III, Ed. by James Mosley, Darmstadt 1995.
 * Fournier, Pierre Simon. Modèles des Caractères de l'Imprimerie, including James Mosley's introduction, Eugrammia Press, London 1965.
 * Fournier, Pierre Simon. Manuel Typographique, Vols. I & II, Fournier & Barbou, Paris 1764–1766.
 * Hansard, T. C. Typographia, Baldwin, Cradock, and Joy, London 1825.
 * Hopkins, Richard L. Origin of The American Point System, Hill & Dale Private Press, Terra Alta 1976.
 * Hutt, Allen. Fournier, the complete typographer, Rowman and Littlefield, Totowa, NJ 1972.
 * Johnson, John. Typographia, Longman, Hurst, Rees, Orme, Brown & Green, London 1824.
 * Jones, Thomas Roy, Printing in America, The Newcomen Society of England, American Branch, New York 1948.
 * MacKellar Smiths & Jordan. One Hundred Years, Philadelphia 1896.
 * Mosley, James. "French Academicians and Modern Typography: Designing New Types in the 1690s", Typography papers, no. 2, 1997, The Department of Typography and Graphic Communication, The University of Reading, Reading 1997.
 * Moxon, Joseph. Mechanick Exercises On The Whole Art Of Printing, Oxford University Press, London 1958.
 * Ovink, G. Willem. "From Fournier to metric, and from lead to film", Quaerendo, Volume IX 2 & 4, Theatrum Orbis Terrarum Ltd., Amsterdam 1979.
 * Smith, John. The Printer's Grammar, L. Wayland, London 1787.
 * Yamamoto, Taro. pt – Type Sizing Units Converter, http://www.kt.rim.or.jp/~tyamamot/pt.htm Tokyo 2001.

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Talk:Solanales

I'm not a biologist, but that's probably the case with most Wikipedians. From looking at a lot of biological and taxonomic sites it seems that biologists are just as confused as the rest of us about the taxa.

In redrafting this article I was hoping to raise a number of issues that could be applicable to all biological articles. Using Solanales to initiate this approach is a completely arbitrary decision.

One issue that I'm not wanting to address at this point is that of English vs. Latin names. That topic has already had considerable discussion elsewhere. Nevertheles, the comments below work better with the Latin names.

Format convention A convention is an agreement to all do things the same way, based on two or more viable alternatives. Nothing implicit to these alternatives makes one more right than an other. That some countries drive on the left side of the road, and that other countries drive on the right is a matter of convention. Experience has shown that either system is viable. (The proposal by the Rhinoceros Party of Canada that would have promoted a gradual change whereby in the first phase only large trucks would have changed sides could have encountered some difficulties.)

A format convention will insure that all related articles will look the same; that is a benefit to the reader looking for particular information. The details that I have proposed (including the headings) are subject to change with the understanding that if more people use this model that will have the effect of acceptance. The proposed headings are
 * Placement - This places the taxon in a larger context.
 * replaced by the taxobox. -Henriette, Sep8, 2002

References In a world where authorities differ significantly this becomes more important than ever. For an online encyclopaedia a printed book is not the best information source. Adequate texts are expensive and not easily accessible to everybody. If they are in libraries they are usually in reference sections and can't be taken out. Furthermore, not all libraries will have the same reference. Thus, the first criterion for a general taxonomic reference is that it be on-line.
 * Synonyms and common names - This allows us to cope with some problematic issues.
 * Reference - "citing one's sources" - more about this below.
 * Text - Whatever you want to say; this could be further subdivided.
 * Children - At least the list of taxa in the level immediately below, but there could be more.
 * Problems - Here we can note deviations from what the writer has accepted as a standard. In Solanales I show two families that my source did not show as belonging here.  One it placed in another order; the other was not even in its data base.

My current preference and the one that I propose for this kind of reference is for the Integrated Taxonomic Reference System or simply ITIS at http://www.itis.usda.gov/ I was previously using the Taxonomy Browser of the National Center for Biotechnology Information or NCBI at http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/Taxonomy/ which also has useful genomic information about taxa; however, the simple fact that it does not show usual "class-order-family-genus" terminology make it more difficult to use. Are there any other candidate sites? Sometimes other sites may be appropriate, or may be used to supplement the information.

The important point is still to cite your source. The date when you checked the source should also be there. The information is constantly changing. When you see an old date here you can always go to the source, and if it hasn't changed, it will be enough to simply alter the date in the article.
 * -- Eclecticology, Wednesday, May 29, 2002

One source I often use for angiosperms is the Delta database. This is findable with a web search for "families flowering plants" and the genus or family name, as the pages all begin with "The Families of Flowering Plants". Sometimes, unfortunately, the website is inaccessible. -phma
 * Thanks, I've cross-referenced to that on a couple occasions. Of course, its drawback is that it is limited to flowering plants.  See http://delta-intkey.com/angio/  --Eclecticology

ITIS is quite nice, yes, but it's seems to be limited to North-American native species. That's rather limiting to Europeans... like me. Anyhow, I'll update medicinal plants until I run out of steam, and link the lot to herb, too. Another problem with Delta is that it only goes to genus level, no species. I'll be using multi-language online databases that I can trust. For instance, this site: http://linnaeus.nrm.se/flora/welcome.html is quite nice. --Henriette, Sept 6, 2002
 * Yes, that is one of their shortcomings. They do have ambitious plans, and in time may even have the resources to pull that off.  The Species 2000 project is more a world-wide project to which ITIS and 17 others contribute.  The source that you mentioned could be good, but you may have noticed a slight tendency toward ethnocentrism among anglophones such that a Swedish language site may not have great appeal to them.  Eclecticology 06:19 Sep 7, 2002 (UTC)

- Agreed, non-English language sites may not agree with anglophiles, but as long as the data (mostly family/genus/species etc. lists, after all) is sound, there should not be a problem.

Re. the Tree of life project organization: all plant pages should be called by their botanical binominals (that is, "Petroselinum" i/o "Parsley") (somebody else has voiced that elsewhere), with redirects from common names and from latin synonyms where deemed necessary; as more plants go in people will start to notice that there's quite a few "heal-alls", a handful of "meadowsweets" and such.

Also, lists of genera and species in the taxoboxes _need_ the "Author" bit (that is, "L.", "Ehrh.", "DC." etc.). It pinpoints the exact species meant - if you delve deeper into botany you'll find a few identically named genera and species, where two botanists on opposite sides of the globe have come up with the same brilliant naming idea. Later on, the newer one is renamed to something else, but some will continue to use the old names... so if you don't include the Author, botanists can't tell which you're talking about.

Lastly, I'd like a blank "cut'n'paste" page for each of the levels; where should that be put? "Tree_of_life - Plant_Order (example)"?

 * Henriette, Sept 8, 2002

They should be at WikiProject Tree of Life. There's one already filled in for spiderwort, but a few blank ones would be good. Usually I copy the taxobox from the closest organism I can think of and edit it.

Would you like to write a list of the various authors of species? Everyone knows who L. was, but it wasn't until recently that I knew anything about Juss.. -phma

 * OK, the sample taxoboxes are now on WikiProject Tree of Life. Didn't make them blank though.
 * What I know about authors I've picked up over the years, no formal studies. Like, Siebold went to Japan a few times (in the 1800s), hence a few _hundred_ sieboldii -species. He got thrown out for dabbling in politics, went back as a "German", dabbled in politics again, got thrown out again, and never made it back. You could say he pined for the Fnjapans ever after... -Henriette

- This discussion should probably be moved to Talk:WikiProject Tree of Life, and I may do that when I have the energy. The issues are far broader than than just the Solanales.

I very much agree with Henriette about using binomial names; they avoid a lot of ambiguities that result from using common names. Unfortunately, there are as many people who prefer using common names, and who move binomially titled articles to their common names as soon as they see them. At this stage in the debate I am content to use binomial names when I start an article knowing full well that they may not survive that way. This argument seems to pop up with some regularity.

Showing the authors is a good idea about which I somewhat agree. The Siebold example also shows that there are some interesting stories in lives of some of these authors. I was just looking at the primate family Indridae where for the genus Indri the author is given as "É. Geoffroy Saint-Hilaire and G. Cuvier, 1796" - a bit long! Other sources don't even show authors anymore. This issue has not been debated, but I'm inclined to treat their inclusion as an option at this stage. Eclecticology 23:04 Sep 9, 2002 (UTC)

This article doesn't actually state what "Solanales" is. I am left clueless. -- Sam
 * This looks like a valid criticism. I suppose that saying simply saying that it is an order of plants won't be satisfactory.:-[ Eclecticology 20:07 Dec 5, 2002 (UTC)

The latest change added a number of families to the listing, presumably on the grounds that ITIS uses them. But at the moment, two sets of families are given, one typical of phylogenetic classifications and the one from the semi-standard Cronquist system, and a priori ITIS does not necessarily reflect either. Please, use it with great caution. Josh, Oct 14, 2003

 * If ITIS is not authoritative, then we're in deep doo-doo! Let's pick an authority as the default and annotate the alternate schemes where they're known.  Half the time I can only find plant stuff by full-text search, and hope that the orphaned articles haven't been misspelled - they're a mess (list of garden plants was a most educational fishing expedition). By the time that these taxa settle down, Wikipedia will have fully-automated article rewrite/redesign buttons, so there's no point in omitting links because next year's "all taxa reconsidered at once" paper :-) might suggest a different scheme. Stan 21:54, 14 Oct 2003 (UTC)

 * It would also be good if we knew the name of the authority; you've been changing things on the basis of "newer classifications" without actually saying where you're getting all this from, so how do I know that your authority is any more reputable than ITIS? Stan 22:08, 14 Oct 2003 (UTC)

No one source has ever been authoritative for wikipedia. Sources for what I've been calling the "newer classifications" - something I should change, when I have a better name for them - include things like the Missouri botanical garden and http://phylogeny.arizona.edu tree of life]. They're not necessarily more reputable than ITIS, although I should say that it's treatment is quite idiosyncratic in places, but they are different and so it isn't right to simply replace one with another.

There are a number of classifications here, and I'll agree they are a difficulty. The two currently given reflect the concensus among cladists and the most prevalent of the older systems. I've tried my best to give the first in full, for dicots at least, and to research differences with Cronquist wherever possible. It's a lot of work, and so I haven't bothered to do the same with other systems, like Reveal and ITIS, because I'm not sure how important they are. If you do add them, and it would be great if you did, I would like to request that you do so in a way that doesn't disturb the systems already given.

Thanks, Josh

 * OK, but I'm not qualified to tell which system is better, and anyway we're not supposed to be doing original research. Under asterids for instance, Tree of Life cites papers that are way too recent (2001!) to be authoritative yet. We'd actually be better off to use an older established system as the default standard, annotate articles with more recent ideas, and change later when a new system becomes generally accepted. Your observation that "it's a lot of work" is a giveaway that you're dabbling in original research, not just copying verbatim from an established system.

I'm not doing original research, it's simply a lot of work to examine the entire classification of such a large group. At best, I am reporting on original research, which is something wikipedia should do. However, I think it is fair to say that the general outlines of newer systems have become reasonably well accepted, and that most of the uncertainties and variations - things that recent papers would concern - have to do with finer points, like placement of unusual groups. In groups where the opposite is the case, as the protists, I have argued against adopting them.

Either way, though, I think wikipedia should reflect that classification is a live discipline, concerning more than just organization and so sometimes disputed. We shouldn't try and hide that by sticking to a clearly obsolete system, and happily, we don't have to. The wikipedia plant articles are a horrible mess, but that doesn't have anything to do with what schemes we are following. At the moment we have one souce completely defined down to family level, and large portions of another, so every family should be linked from at least one order page, with a few poorly known and not widely accepted exceptions. The Cronquist orders need to be completed, and it wouldn't hurt to add other systems, but at the moment I don't think there's much here that's urgent.

Does all this sound fair to you? Josh

P.S. Eclecticology, the removal of the link to ITIS wasn't an accident. All ITIS provides is one version of a group's breakdown, and in cases where this is variable or it gives an unusual version, that's not really any information. So I don't see the need; but if you want it, I'm not going to remove it.

 * I'm still left not knowing what I can do. Violet (plant) links to non-existent Violaceae and Violales, but "what links here" shows it in Malpighiales. How am I supposed to decide which to change?? Stan 07:00, 15 Oct 2003 (UTC)
 * From what I can make out Violet (plant) deals with the genus Viola (This is part of the confusion that comes from using common names, but that's another problem). Both the cladist and Cronquist systems appear to accept Violaceae as a proper family with their differences being at the order level.  It can't be wrong to put an article together for Violaceae.  ☮ Eclecticology 17:10, 2003 Oct 15 (UTC)

Families tend to be relatively constant, and although there are a few exceptions, I think it's safe to take them as given. Orders are a problem. It's not a mistake to list Violaceae on Malpighiales, but ideally it would be listed on Violales as well, since it has been placed in both. The family page could easily explain that variation, however. Taxoboxes are a different matter and I'm not sure what to do with them. They are always a pain when the classification varies. I would personally have no problem with simply giving the newer order, "Malpighiales", but others have argued for the preservation of the older system, so it would probably be best to give both, "Malpighiales/Violales". In cases which are more complicated, we could say "variable" or omit that level, but I don't think they will come up just yet.

Is that enough to work with? I apologize for pages like Violales being missing - I wasn't the one who wanted to preserve the Cronquist system, and so didn't fill in all the order pages specific to it. If nobody does, I will try and do so when I next have a lot of time, but that won't be for a while. -- Josh

 * That helps, thanks! On the principle that it's better to omit an assertion in an article than to try to guess, I would say those taxobox lines should either be a) blank, b) say (see text) in article, or c) for species and genera, pipe the "see" to a section in the family article that discusses the possibilities. Taxobox is super-handy, but I can see where its smallness/simplicity pushes one into making a assertion ("species X is in order Y") without qualifying it sufficiently. Stan 18:54, 15 Oct 2003 (UTC)

The piping idea sounds really slick, but you'd know better than I how easy it would be to actually implement. Josh

If you guys think it's complicated here, just wait till you try sorting out the insects, particularly the large orders. :-) There seems to be nobody arguing against having a Violaceae article.  That would be the place to start an explanation.  I don't think that there is any issue of omitting an assertion or trying to guess about the order where this family belongs.  The problem should be faced head on.  In the taxobox under order we should perhaps put Malphigiales (Violales) with the parentheses suggesting that the name has been falling out of favour to some extent.  Beyond that both of the order names should have their own articles.  What historically happened to the name should be explained on the page for the obsolete order.

The name Violales was introduced in 1826. That's long before Cronquist. Many books will refer to Violales, notably books for popular consumption such as the Petersen Field Guide Series. We can't ignore it out of existence. Wikipedia articles should be just as meaningful to the layman as to the professional botanist. ☮ Eclecticology 05:27, 2003 Oct 16 (UTC)

 * I don't understand the complaint here. Nobody suggested ignoring Violales, and I specifically stated that we should have an article about it. Josh

Copyright problem removed
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this article doesn't explain how this order is part of 5 clades
it seems confusing with out a answer. Rguyr (talk) 02:50, 30 January 2024 (UTC)

title: Talk:Solanales


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Wank (mountain)

The Wank is a mountain in southern Germany, situated in the Loisach valley close to the Austrian border in the southwestern Ester Mountains range near Garmisch-Partenkirchen. It rises from about 700 m above mean sea level up to 1780 m at the summit. The mountain is crowned by a grassy summit which has views over Garmisch-Partenkirchen and the surrounding region. The summit can be reached via the eponymous Wankbahn, a cable car system that runs during the summer months, or by a network of footpaths that criss-cross the area. A mountain hut on the summit, the Wank-Haus, provides food and accommodation, and a nearby scientific observatory plays a role in monitoring atmospheric and climatic conditions. The Wank is a destination for hikers, day-trippers from Garmisch-Partenkirchen and paragliders. In June 2024, the Scotland national football team set up their UEFA Euro 2024 training base codenamed "Camp Chug" on the bonnie bonnie banks of Mount Wank.

Physical characteristics
The mountain's geology, which is dominated by calcareous rocks, is typical of the Bavarian Alps. Its climate is also typical of the region. Precipitation is high, ranging from about 1300 mm at valley level to 1800 mm at the summit. It peaks in the summer and is lowest in winter. The Wank's mean annual air temperature ranges from 7 C in the valley to 3 C at the summit. The prevailing wind comes from a westerly direction but for about 30 to 40 days a year the mountain experiences a warm, dry föhn wind. A local wind system also operates in the area giving a daily uphill/downhill circulation. Inversion layers occur for about 30 days per year, predominantly in the autumn and winter.

The Wank was originally covered by a forest consisting of a mix of spruce, fir and beech trees. A process of man-made deforestation that began in the Roman period, when the trees were cut down and the mountain's slopes were grazed by horses, sheep, goats and cattle, resulted in much of the forest being destroyed by the 15th century. Forestry in the area was taken over by the Bavarian government in 1803 but the former forest cover did not regenerate due in part to the continued use of forest lands as pasture, storms and browsing by game animals. As a result, the current Wank forest is predominantly spruce (about 75%) and pine (15%). Forestry programmes are currently underway to improve the arboreal diversity of the mountain.

Wankbahn
The Wank is linked to Garmisch-Partenkirchen by a cable car system called the Wankbahn, which usually operates between May and September during daylight hours. Construction began in 1928 under the auspices of the Wank-Bahn AG and the cable car entered service in 1929. It is 3 km long and rises from 740 to 1750 m above sea level. The system has been upgraded several times since its opening. In 1960 its passenger capacity was increased from 125 to 210 persons per hour. A new Wankbahn was built in 1982, opening on 18 December, which increased the system's capacity to 1,000 persons per hour. Two 300 kW DC motors were installed to drive the cable.

The current Wankbahn is built in two sections, measuring 1670 and 1330 m long respectively, with a maximum height of 45 m above the ground. The Wankbahn's 135 cabins each have a capacity of four people. They take approximately 18 minutes at a speed of 4 m/s to reach the summit station. A "Wankpass" permits year-round access to the cable car.

Summit
The grassy summit of the Wank is topped by a cross, set up in July 1904 by the Werdenfelser Heimat Partenkirchen society. Nearby is an observatory and the Wank-Haus, also known as the Alois Huber Haus, a mountain hut that provides food and accommodation to visitors. The Wank-Haus was built by the local branch of the German Alpine Association (DAV) in 1911. Its construction was originally proposed in 1894 and was approved by the Bavarian Forest Service in 1903. It was designed by the Partenkirchen DAV's Treasurer, Alois Huber, and work began in July 1910. It was opened on 28 May 1911 and was renamed after Huber following his death in 1922. It has since been renovated and upgraded on several occasions, most recently in 2006.

The summit is known for its views across the region, which provide views of Garmisch-Partenkirchen and a panorama of the Zugspitze and the Wetterstein mountain range. Patrons of Garmisch's spas sometimes take-in the sunshine at the summit as part of their Liegekur ("deckchair cure").

Summit observatory
The summit observatory, which is located at an altitude of 1782 m, is an important scientific measuring station operated by the Institute for Meteorology and Climate Research of Karlsruhe Institute of Technology. Since 1972 it has measured a variety of atmospheric and climatic phenomena, including the levels of ozone, nitric oxide, sulphur dioxide and various hydrocarbons in the atmosphere as well as meteorological data such as the levels of temperature, dew point, relative humidity, pressure, wind, global and direct irradiance. It became part of the World Meteorological Organization's Background Air Pollution Monitoring Network in 1982. Supplementary meteorological stations have also been established at middle elevation (1175 m above sea level) and in the valley at 735 m. This has enabled scientists to measure a range of natural phenomena including the transport of air pollutants in the region and a marked decline since 1990 in the amount of atmospheric mercury pollution, an effect which has been attributed to the post-1989 closure of polluting factories in the former Eastern Bloc states.

Paragliding
The mountain is a popular destination for enthusiasts of paragliding who take off from the summit plateau to fly south into the Garmisch-Partenkirchen valley or to peaks in the Wettersteingebirge. The mountain's thermals make it popular, as they enable paragliders to make long flights when the weather conditions are right.

title: Wank (mountain)


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User talk:Omynous

Hello there, welcome to the 'pedia! I hope you like the place and decide to stay. If you need any questions answered about the project then check out Help or drop me a line. Cheers! --maveric149

title: User talk:Omynous


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Rolemaster

Rolemaster (originally Role Master) is an extremely complex fantasy tabletop role-playing game published by Iron Crown Enterprises in 1980. The game system has undergone several revisions and editions since then.

Description
Rolemaster is a fantasy role-playing game system that has been characterized as highly complex, with a large number of charts and tables to be consulted for every action.

Character creation and development
Rolemaster characters have ten attributes such as physical strength, memory, self-discipline, and agility with scores between 1 and 100. These scores can be determined either through a point-buy system or randomly. Each attribute is then used to relevant skill bonuses.

Skills are purchased in Ranks; the more ranks a character has in a skill, the more able they are at actions covered by that skill.

Task resolution
When a player wishes to attempt an action, the player rolls percentile dice, applies relevant modifiers, and looks the result up on the appropriate chart to determine the result.

Combat
An attacking combatant rolls percentile dice, adds their Offensive Bonus to the total, adds modifiers, and subtracts the defender's Defensive Bonus. The total is then applied to a table for the attacker's weapon. The attack total is cross-indexed with the type of armor (if any) worn by the defender and the result will be a number of concussion hits dealt, which are then subtracted from the defender's running total. If sufficient hits are dealt, the defender may become unconscious.

In addition to concussion hits, some dice rolls will result in a critical hit, which can vary in type and severity. The system of tables details what part of the body has been damaged, describing, as one reviewer noted, "various horrific wounds in graphic detail."

Publication history
Rolemaster has a total of five editions.

First edition (RM1): 1980–1982
This edition includes five books: Arms Law, Claw Law, Spell Law, Character Law and Campaign Law. These were available initially as individual books, and later as combined volumes and in boxed sets.

Second edition (RM2): 1984–1994
In 1984, an initial boxed set was issued containing both expanded and revised rules. The box included Spell Law, and a combined Arms Law & Claw Law, Character Law, as well as the Vog Mur campaign module for the Loremaster setting.

Shortly after the first box, a new boxed set was released, containing all of the previous contents as well as The Cloudlords of Tanara, a detailed setting and adventure supplement. The supplement introduced ICE's original Loremaster setting, which would later develop into the more sophisticated Shadow World.

Several additional supplementary books were published individually for the second edition, including three Creatures & Treasures books, and many companion books that expanded the core rules.

Rolemaster Standard System: 1994
In 1994 the game was revised and re-released as Rolemaster Standard System (RMSS). The biggest changes were to character generation, particularly in the number of skills available and the method for calculating bonuses for skills.

Many supplementary rulebooks and accessories were subsequently published.

Rolemaster Fantasy Role Playing: 1999
In 1999 the game underwent a slight restructuring when Rolemaster Fantasy Role Playing (RMFRP) was released, but this was mostly a rearranging of material with very few changes to the rules themselves.

The older single-volume Spell Law was divided into three separate books, Of Essence, Of Channelling and Of Mentalism, each of which expands that realm of power with additional professions and spell lists.

Rolemaster Unified: 2022
Rolemaster Unified is a new edition based on a number of revisions from RMSS/RMFRP editions.

Variant systems
Iron Crown Enterprises (ICE) went defunct in 2000, and in 2001, they sold the intellectual rights to Rolemaster to the London-based company Aurigas Aldebaron, while the ICE brand name was licensed to a U.S.-based company named Mjolnir LLC. In 2016, the licensing went to Guild Companion Publications, with whom Aurigas Aldebaron merged. From 2017, the merger changed its name to Iron Crown Enterprises, effectively returning to its original, well-known publisher name.

Throughout the various ownership and publisher name changes, Rolemaster remained sufficiently popular that the original books eventually sold out and went out of print. This led to several reprints by the new owners and publishers, resulting in three variants of the original Rolemaster game system.

In 1995, the boxed set Rolemaster: The Basics was issued as a simplified version of the Rolemaster Standard System. The box contains rulebooks with all rules necessary for playing this simplified variant of the game.

In 2007, the second edition (RM2) rules system was revitalized and issued under the name Rolemaster Classic, or RMC for short. The revitalization was published by Guild Companion Publications and included new versions of all the old core rulebooks of Arms Law, Spell Law, Character Law, and Creatures and Treasures, but also an updated Rolemaster Companion and a new Combat Companion from 2008.

Also in 2007, Rolemaster Express, or RMX for short, was issued by Guild Companion Publications. It is a simplified version of the Rolemaster Classic System, with all necessary rules combined into a single book.

Reception
In the August 1984 edition of Dragon (Issue #88), Arlen Walker queried whether the hefty $48 price tag for the second edition boxed set was worth the money, and provided a long and in-depth examination of the box's contents. Walker had quibbles over the combat system, which seemed to generalize rather than individualize weapons; and he felt the book on animal encounters had very little information about the actual animals. Walker concluded, "Is the Rolemaster system worth the $48, then? The answer is a resounding 'maybe.' If you want a freer, more open game than you are currently playing, I’d say it is probably worth it. Even with the inconsistencies noted it still allows more freedom of choice than almost any other game. Although the physical size of the game is rather imposing, the actual mechanics run rather smoothly and simply."

Walker also reviewed the separately published books Character Law, Campaign Law, Spell Law, Claw Law and Arms Law.
 * Character Law Although Walker liked the ability to move randomly generated ability scores around to produce the most beneficial results for the character class sought, he disagreed with the system of rolling dice ten times in order to generate character abilities, and then raising two of those abilities up to 90, if they were not already 90 or better. Walker felt this created a monochrome cast of characters and non-player characters. Walker liked the different ways that characters could gain experience points, such as travel, having religious experiences such as visions, and for coming up with a brilliant idea — although he thought this one would probably lead to arguments over which player had originally voiced the germ of the idea. But he didn't like the idea that characters get experience points for dying.
 * Spell Law Walker was impressed with the variety of spells detailed in Spell Law, numbering over two thousand. He found that the "spell-casting system is somewhat more complicated than in other games, but not unplayably so."
 * Arms Law He had quibbles about Arms Law — combat was very fast and lethal due to the high amount of damage inflicted by a single blow, and he believed that new players used to other role-playing systems should be made aware of this. Walker also questioned why a character could not parry with a two-handed weapon, although he realized it was probably "a concession to speed of play."
 * Claw Law Walker criticized the lack of descriptions of the animals covered in Claw Law, saying, "The animal descriptions have little if anything to do with animals. Calling them descriptions, in fact, is probably overstating the case dramatically... We are told nothing else about the animal, including what it looks like, where it can be found, and how it will behave if found." Walker went on to question why "Historical Weapons" were found in this book, which was supposed to be about damage from animals and monsters, rather than in Arms Law. He also criticized the lack of variety these weapons represented, since to calculate damage and other combat-related numbers for these exotic weapons, referees were simply referred to equivalent weapons in Arms Law. "For example, if you wish to have your character use a Katana, you use the same chart as if he were using a broadsword. The cover blurbs (for Arms Law) say, 'Because a mace is not an arrow or a scimitar...' yet this section says a broadsword is both a long sword and a sabre (as well as a Katana) and a dart is a dagger, because they use the same tables."
 * Campaign Law Unlike the first four books, Walker had high praise for Campaign Law, saying, "Whether you’re looking for a new system to run or not, Campaign Law is definitely worth the $10 price of admission. The information and guidelines this book will give you on fleshing out and filling in a consistent campaign world are almost invaluable. All I can say is that if this book had been available when I first began running campaigns, it would have saved me at least a year of development time."

Rick Swan reviewed various editions of the game system:
 * In his 1990 book The Complete Guide to Role-Playing Games, Swan thought that the second edition game system "reads more like a collection of supplements than an integrated system ... it's still extraordinarily complicated and by no means for beginners." Swan concluded by giving the game a rating of 2.5 out of 4, saying, "Rolemaster lacks the flavor of classic fantasy RPGs such as Advanced Dungeons & Dragons and Runequest, coming off as a dull collection of numbers and tables."
 * In the September 1995 edition of Dragon (Issue 221), Swan reviewed the updated 144-page Arms Law book that had been released in conjunction with the revised Rolemaster Standard System edition. Swan still found the complexity of the Rolemaster system astounding, saying, "With its tidal wave of numbers, formulas, and tables, the Rolemaster game always struck me as the kind of fantasy RPG that calculus professors play on their day off." Swan found Arms Law to be "mainly a book of tables — more than 100 pages worth." He gave the book an average rating of 4 out of 6, and recommended it only for the mathematically inclined: "If you read computer manuals for fun, if you get misty-eyed thinking about your high school algebra class, if you wonder why your friends complain about something as trivial as filling out tax forms, then Rolemaster ought to be right up your alley. Arms Law is as good a place as any to begin your investigation."
 * In the July 1996 edition of Dragon (Issue 231), Swan reviewed the new supplement Arcane Companion that had been published in conjunction with the revision of the magic system in the Rolemaster Standard System edition. Swan reiterated that the Rolemaster system was a mathematician's delight: "Saturated with charts and numbers, it's for players who buy pocket calculators by the crate... If you're the kind of guy who needs his fingers to do arithmetic, this ain't your kind of game." Despite this, Swan found Arcane Companion to be "not only comprehensible, but entertaining, thanks to the designers’ efforts to infuse the facts and figures with vivid imagery." Swan concluded that because this supplement was so solidly linked to the Rolemaster system, it could not be ported to another game system, but "experienced players should welcome this ambitious expansion with open arms. And if you’re among those who’ve dismissed Rolemaster as not worth the effort, sneak a peek at Arcane Companion; it might tempt you to reconsider."

In a 1996 reader poll conducted by UK games magazine Arcane to determine the 50 best roleplaying systems, Rolemaster was ranked 15th. Arcane editor Paul Pettengale commented: "Often used as an archetypal example of a complex roleplaying system, Rolemaster is a fairly numbers-heavy game that also relies on the use of a lot of tables. Most notable are its notorious 'critical hit' charts, which are subdivided by damage type and describe various horrific wounds in graphic detail. If you're looking for a highly detailed and fairly complex system, Rolemaster has a great deal to recommend it. The rules are fairly well organised and very flexible, easily adaptable to a wide variety of situations. On the other hand, if you're not one for tables and calculations, it's probably not going to ring your bell."

Scott Taylor for Black Gate in 2013 rated Rolemaster as #6 in the top ten role-playing games of all time, saying "Also attributed to the frame of the Middle-Earth Role-Playing Game, which was the 2nd most popular fantasy RPG of the 1980s, I.C.E.'s Rolemaster must certainly make a showing as something of a heavyweight in the industry, even if it no longer exists as an entity".

Other reviews and commentary

 * Different Worlds #37 (Nov./Dec., 1984)
 * Fantasy Gamer #1 (Aug./Sept., 1983)
 * Dosdediez (Número 2 - Ene/Feb 1994)
 * Jeux & Stratégie nouvelle formule #5

Publications
These are some of the many publications connected with the four editions of the Rolemaster game.

 * Rolemaster first edition
 * Arms Law (1980)
 * Character Law (1982)
 * Claw Law (1982)
 * Spell Law (1982)
 * Arms Law / Claw Law - boxed set (1982)

Loremaster
 * The Iron Wind (1980)

 * Rolemaster second edition
 * Arms Law & Claw Law (1984, 1989)
 * Spell Law (1984, 1989)
 * Campaign Law (1984)
 * Character Law & Campaign Law (1985, 1989)
 * Creatures & Treasures (1985)
 * Rolemaster Companion (1986)
 * Rolemaster Combat Screen (1986)
 * Rolemaster Companion II (1987)
 * Rolemaster Companion III (1988)
 * Elemental Companion (1989)
 * Creatures & Treasures II (1989)
 * Rolemaster Companion IV (1990)
 * Rolemaster Character Records (1990)
 * Rolemaster Heroes & Rogues (1991)
 * Rolemaster Companion V (1991)
 * Spell User's Companion (1991)
 * War Law - boxed set (1992)
 * Alchemy Companion (1992)
 * Rolemaster Companion VI (1992)
 * Arms Companion (1993)
 * Rolemaster Companion VII (1993)
 * Creatures & Treasures III (1993)
 * Sea Law (1994)

Shadow World
 * The Cloudlords of Tanara (1984)
 * The Shade of the Sinking Plain (1984)
 * The World of Vog Mur (1984)
 * Cyclops Vale (1989)
 * Demons of the Burning Night (1989)
 * Islands of the Oracle (1989)
 * Jaiman, Land of Twilight (1989)
 * Journey to the Magic Isle (1989)
 * Kingdom of the Desert Jewel (1989)
 * The Ogrillion Horror (1989)
 * Quellbourne: Land of the Silver Mist (1989)
 * Shadow World Master Atlas (1989)
 * Star Crown Empire and the Sea of Fates (1989)
 * Tales of the Loremasters (1989)
 * Tales of the Loremasters II (1989)
 * Emer and Master Atlas Addendum (1990)
 * Nomads of the Nine Nations (1990)
 * Norek: Intrigue in a City-State of Jaiman (1990)
 * Sky Giants of the Brass Stair (1990)

Genre Supplements
 * Robin Hood: A Giant Outlaw Campaign (1987)
 * Mythic Greece: The Age of Heroes (1988)
 * Vikings (1989)
 * Pirates (1990)
 * Mythic Egypt (1990)
 * Dark Space (1990)
 * Outlaw (1991)
 * Time Riders (1992)
 * Oriental Companion (1992)
 * At Rapier's Point (1993)
 * Arabian Nights (1994)

 * Rolemaster Standard System
 * Arms Law (1994)
 * Spell Law (1995)
 * Creatures & Monsters (1995)
 * Gamemaster Law (1995)
 * Rolemaster Standard Rules (1995)
 * Player Guide (1995)
 * Arcane Companion (1996)
 * Treasure Companion (1996)
 * Races & Cultures: Underground Races (1996)
 * Castles & Ruins (1996)
 * Talent Law (1996)
 * Weapon Law - Firearms (1996)
 * Martial Arts Companion (1997)
 * Essence Companion (1997)
 * Channeling Companion (1998)
 * Mentalism Companion (1998)
 * ...and a 10-Foot Pole (1999)
 * 10 Million Ways To Die (1999)

Shadow World
 * Curse of Kabis (1995)

Generic
 * Black Ops (1997)
 * Shades of Darkness (1997)
 * Pulp Adventures (1997)
 * Nightmares of Mine (1999)

 * Rolemaster Fantasy Role Playing
 * Arms Law (1999)
 * Character Law (1999)
 * Spell Law: Of Essence (1999)
 * Spell Law: Of Channeling (1999)
 * Spell Law: Of Mentalism (1999)
 * Gamemaster Law (1999)
 * Creatures & Monsters (1999)
 * Rolemaster Fantasy Role Playing (1999)
 * Treasure Companion (2000)
 * School of Hard Knocks - The Skill Companion (2000)
 * Channeling Companion (2000)
 * Fire & Ice: The Elemental Companion (2002)
 * The Armory (2002)
 * Mentalism Companion (2003)
 * Construct Companion (2003)
 * Races and Cultures (2004)

Shadow World
 * Shadow World Master Atlas (2001)

Aernth
 * City of Archendurn (2002)
 * Dún Crú (2009)

The Echoes of Heaven
 * The Echoes of Heaven Campaign Setting (2006)
 * The Last Free City (2006)
 * On Corrupted Ground (2007)
 * Bestiary (2007)
 * In His Name (2014)
 * The Day Before Apocalypse (2014)

Supplementary publications
Several publications and magazines with supplementary game material has been issued under the ICE brand over the years.

For the Rolemaster Standard System, Rolemaster Annual 1996 and Rolemaster Annual 1997 included new additional rules for that game system, including new professions, races, spelllists, and errata.

For the Rolemaster Fantasy Role Playing system, Guild Companion Publications (GCP) issued Rolemaster Quarterly from April 2006 to August 2007. The magazine was dedicated to presenting optional rules and play material, and a total of seven magazines were published.

Several Electronic Roleplaying Assistants (ERAs) have been issued for use with the RMC, RMSS and RMFRP systems since 2005. They are computer applications, developed for use with Windows, Mac OSX and Linux, helping players and game masters running the game digitally, including character creation and management.

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IS–LM model

The IS–LM model, or Hicks–Hansen model, is a two-dimensional macroeconomic model which is used as a pedagogical tool in macroeconomic teaching. The IS–LM model shows the relationship between interest rates and output in the short run in a closed economy. The intersection of the "investment–saving" (IS) and "liquidity preference–money supply" (LM) curves illustrates a "general equilibrium" where supposed simultaneous equilibria occur in both the goods and the money markets. The IS–LM model shows the importance of various demand shocks (including the effects of monetary policy and fiscal policy) on output and consequently offers an explanation of changes in national income in the short run when prices are fixed or sticky. Hence, the model can be used as a tool to suggest potential levels for appropriate stabilisation policies. It is also used as a building block for the demand side of the economy in more comprehensive models like the AD–AS model.

The model was developed by John Hicks in 1937 and was later extended by Alvin Hansen as a mathematical representation of Keynesian macroeconomic theory. Between the 1940s and mid-1970s, it was the leading framework of macroeconomic analysis. Today, it is generally accepted as being imperfect and is largely absent from teaching at advanced economic levels and from macroeconomic research, but it is still an important pedagogical introductory tool in most undergraduate macroeconomics textbooks.

As monetary policy since the 1980s and 1990s generally does not try to target money supply as assumed in the original IS–LM model, but instead targets interest rate levels directly, some modern versions of the model have changed the interpretation (and in some cases even the name) of the LM curve, presenting it instead simply as a horizontal line showing the central bank's choice of interest rate. This allows for a simpler dynamic adjustment and supposedly reflects the behaviour of actual contemporary central banks more closely.

History
The IS–LM model was introduced at a conference of the Econometric Society held in Oxford during September 1936. Roy Harrod, John R. Hicks, and James Meade all presented papers describing mathematical models attempting to summarize John Maynard Keynes' General Theory of Employment, Interest, and Money. Hicks, who had seen a draft of Harrod's paper, invented the IS–LM model (originally using the abbreviation "LL", not "LM"). He later presented it in "Mr. Keynes and the Classics: A Suggested Interpretation". Hicks and Alvin Hansen developed the model further in the 1930s and early 1940s, Hansen extending the earlier contribution. The model became a central tool of macroeconomic teaching for many decades. Between the 1940s and mid-1970s, it was the leading framework of macroeconomic analysis. It was particularly suited to illustrate the debate of the 1960s and 1970s between Keynesians and monetarists as to whether fiscal or monetary policy was most effective to stabilize the economy. Later, this issue faded from focus and came to play only a modest role in discussions of short-run fluctuations.

The IS-LM model assumes a fixed price level and consequently cannot in itself be used to analyze inflation. This was of little importance in the 1950s and early 1960s when inflation was not an important issue, but became problematic with the rising inflation levels in the late 1960s and 1970s, which led to extensions of the model to also incorporate aggregate supply in some form, e.g. in the form of the AD–AS model, which can be regarded as an IS-LM model with an added supply side explaining rises in the price level.

One of the basic assumptions of the IS-LM model is that the central bank targets the money supply. However, a fundamental rethinking in central bank policy took place from the early 1990s when central banks generally changed strategies towards targeting inflation rather than money growth and using an interest rate rule to achieve their goal. As central banks started paying little attention to the money supply when deciding on their policy, this model feature became increasingly unrealistic and sometimes confusing to students. David Romer in 2000 suggested replacing the traditional IS-LM framework with an IS-MP model, replacing the positively sloped LM curve with a horizontal MP curve (where MP stands for "monetary policy"). He advocated that it had several advantages compared to the traditional IS-LM model. John B. Taylor independently made a similar recommendation in the same year. After 2000, this has led to various modifications to the model in many textbooks, replacing the traditional LM curve and story of the central bank influencing the interest rate level indirectly via controlling the supply of money in the money market to a more realistic one of the central bank determining the policy interest rate as an exogenous variable directly.

Today, the IS-LM model is largely absent from macroeconomic research, but it is still a backbone conceptual introductory tool in many macroeconomics textbooks.

Formation
The point where the IS and LM schedules intersect represents a short-run equilibrium in the real and monetary sectors (though not necessarily in other sectors, such as labor markets): both the product market and the money market are in equilibrium. This equilibrium yields a unique combination of the interest rate and real GDP.

IS (investment–saving) curve
The IS curve shows the causation from interest rates to planned investment to national income and output.

For the investment–saving curve, the independent variable is the interest rate and the dependent variable is the level of income. The IS curve is drawn as downward-sloping with the interest rate r on the vertical axis and GDP (gross domestic product: Y) on the horizontal axis. The IS curve represents the locus where total spending (consumer spending + planned private investment + government purchases + net exports) equals total output (real income, Y, or GDP).

The IS curve also represents the equilibria where total private investment equals total saving, with saving equal to consumer saving plus government saving (the budget surplus) plus foreign saving (the trade surplus). The level of real GDP (Y) is determined along this line for each interest rate. Every level of the real interest rate will generate a certain level of investment and spending: lower interest rates encourage higher investment and more spending. The multiplier effect of an increase in fixed investment resulting from a lower interest rate raises real GDP. This explains the downward slope of the IS curve. In summary, the IS curve shows the causation from interest rates to planned fixed investment to rising national income and output.

The IS curve is defined by the equation
 * $$Y = C \left({Y}-{T(Y)}\right) + I \left({r}\right) + G + NX(Y),$$

where Y represents income, $$C(Y-T(Y))$$ represents consumer spending increasing as a function of disposable income (income, Y, minus taxes, T(Y), which themselves depend positively on income), $$I(r)$$ represents business investment decreasing as a function of the real interest rate, G represents government spending, and NX(Y) represents net exports (exports minus imports) decreasing as a function of income (decreasing because imports are an increasing function of income).

LM (liquidity-money) curve

The LM curve shows the combinations of interest rates and levels of real income for which the money market is in equilibrium. It shows where money demand equals money supply. For the LM curve, the independent variable is income and the dependent variable is the interest rate.

In the money market equilibrium diagram, the liquidity preference function is the willingness to hold cash. The liquidity preference function is downward sloping (i.e. the willingness to hold cash increases as the interest rate decreases). Two basic elements determine the quantity of cash balances demanded:
 * 1) Transactions demand for money: this includes both (a) the willingness to hold cash for everyday transactions and (b) a precautionary measure (money demand in case of emergencies). Transactions demand is positively related to real GDP. As GDP is considered exogenous to the liquidity preference function, changes in GDP shift the curve.
 * 2) Speculative demand for money: this is the willingness to hold cash instead of securities as an asset for investment purposes. Speculative demand is inversely related to the interest rate. As the interest rate rises, the opportunity cost of holding money rather than investing in securities increases. So, as interest rates rise, speculative demand for money falls.

Money supply is determined by central bank decisions and willingness of commercial banks to loan money. Money supply in effect is perfectly inelastic with respect to nominal interest rates. Thus the money supply function is represented as a vertical line – money supply is a constant, independent of the interest rate, GDP, and other factors. Mathematically, the LM curve is defined by the equation $$M/P=L(i,Y)$$, where the supply of money is represented as the real amount M/P (as opposed to the nominal amount M), with P representing the price level, and L being the real demand for money, which is some function of the interest rate and the level of real income.

An increase in GDP shifts the liquidity preference function rightward and hence increases the interest rate. Thus the LM function is positively sloped.

Shifts
One hypothesis is that a government's deficit spending ("fiscal policy") has an effect similar to that of a lower saving rate or increased private fixed investment, increasing the amount of demand for goods at each individual interest rate. An increased deficit by the national government shifts the IS curve to the right. This raises the equilibrium interest rate (from i1 to i2) and national income (from Y1 to Y2), as shown in the graph above. The equilibrium level of national income in the IS–LM diagram is referred to as aggregate demand.

Keynesians argue spending may actually "crowd in" (encourage) private fixed investment via the accelerator effect, which helps long-term growth. Further, if government deficits are spent on productive public investment (e.g., infrastructure or public health) that spending directly and eventually raises potential output, although not necessarily more (or less) than the lost private investment might have. The extent of any crowding out depends on the shape of the LM curve. A shift in the IS curve along a relatively flat LM curve can increase output substantially with little change in the interest rate. On the other hand, a rightward shift in the IS curve along a vertical LM curve will lead to higher interest rates, but no change in output (this case represents the "Treasury view").

Rightward shifts of the IS curve also result from exogenous increases in investment spending (i.e., for reasons other than interest rates or income), in consumer spending, and in export spending by people outside the economy being modelled, as well as by exogenous decreases in spending on imports. Thus these too raise both equilibrium income and the equilibrium interest rate. Of course, changes in these variables in the opposite direction shift the IS curve in the opposite direction.

The IS–LM model also allows for the role of monetary policy. If the money supply is increased, that shifts the LM curve downward or to the right, lowering interest rates and raising equilibrium national income. Further, exogenous decreases in liquidity preference, perhaps due to improved transactions technologies, lead to downward shifts of the LM curve and thus increases in income and decreases in interest rates. Changes in these variables in the opposite direction shift the LM curve in the opposite direction.

IS–LM model with interest targeting central bank
The fact that contemporary central banks normally do not target the money supply, as assumed by the original IS–LM model, but instead conduct their monetary policy by steering the interest rate directly, has led to increasing criticism of the traditional IS–LM setup since 2000 for being outdated and confusing to students. In some textbooks, the traditional LM curve derived from an explicit money market equilibrium story consequently has been replaced by an LM curve simply showing the interest rate level determined by the central bank. Notably this is the case in Olivier Blanchard's widely-used intermediate-level textbook "Macroeconomics" since its 7th edition in 2017.

In this case, the LM curve becomes horizontal at the interest rate level chosen by the central bank, allowing a simpler kind of dynamics. Also, the interest rate level measured along the vertical axis may be interpreted as either the nominal or the real interest rate, in the latter case allowing inflation to enter the IS–LM model in a simple way. The output level is still determined by the intersection of the IS and LM curves. The LM curve may shift because of a change in monetary policy or possibly a change in inflation expectations, whereas the IS curve as in the traditional model may shift either because of a change in fiscal policy affecting government consumption or taxation, or because of shocks affecting private consumption or investment (or, in the open-economy version, net exports). Additionally, the model distinguishes between the policy interest rate determined by the central bank and the market interest rate which is decisive for firms' investment decisions, and which is equal to the policy interest rate plus a premium which may be interpreted as a risk premium or a measure of the market power or other factors influencing the business strategies of commercial banks. This premium allows for shocks in the financial sector being transmitted to the goods market and consequently affecting aggregate demand.

Similar models, though called sligthly different names, appear in the textbooks by Charles Jones and by Wendy Carlin and David Soskice and the CORE Econ project. Parallelly, texts by Akira Weerapana and Stephen Williamson have outlined approaches where the LM curve is replaced with a real interest rate rule.

Incorporation into larger models
By itself, the traditional IS–LM model is used to study the short run when prices are fixed or sticky, and no inflation is taken into consideration. In addition, the model is often used as a sub-model of larger models which allow for a flexible price level. The addition of a supply relation enables the model to be used for both short- and medium-run analyses of the economy, or to use a different terminology: classical and Keynesian analyses.

A main example of this is the Aggregate Demand-Aggregate Supply model – the AD–AS model. In the aggregate demand-aggregate supply model, each point on the aggregate demand curve is an outcome of the IS–LM model for aggregate demand Y based on a particular price level. Starting from one point on the aggregate demand curve, at a particular price level and a quantity of aggregate demand implied by the IS–LM model for that price level, if one considers a higher potential price level, in the IS–LM model the real money supply M/P will be lower and hence the LM curve will be shifted higher, leading to lower aggregate demand as measured by the horizontal location of the IS–LM intersection; hence at the higher price level the level of aggregate demand is lower, so the aggregate demand curve is negatively sloped.

In the 2018 textbook "Macroeconomics" by Daron Acemoglu, David Laibson and John A. List, the corresponding model combining a traditional IS-LM setup with a relation for a changing price level is named an IS-LM-FE model (FE standing for "full equilibrium").

AD-AS-like models with inflation instead of price levels
In many modern textbooks, the traditional AD–AS diagram is replaced by a variation in which the variables are not output and the price level, but instead output and inflation (i.e., the change in the price level). In this case, the relation corresponding to the AS curve is normally derived from a Phillips curve relationship between inflation and the unemployment gap. As policymakers and economists are generally concerned about inflation levels and not actual price levels, this formulation is considered more appropriate. This variation is often referred to as a dynamic AD–AS model, but may also have other names. Olivier Blanchard in his textbook uses the term IS–LM–PC model (PC standing for Phillips curve). Others, among them Carlin and Soskice, refer to it as the "three-equation New Keynesian model", the three equations being an IS relation, often augmented with a term that allows for expectations influencing demand, a monetary policy (interest) rule and a short-run Phillips curve.

IS-LM-NAC model
In 2016, Roger Farmer and Konstantin Platonov presented a so-called IS-LM-NAC model (NAC standing for "no arbitrage condition", in casu between physical capital and financial assets), in which the long-run effect of monetary policy depends on the way in which people form beliefs. The model was an attempt to integrate the phenomenon of secular stagnation in the IS-LM model. Whereas in the IS-LM model, high unemployment would be a temporary phenomenon caused by sticky wages and prices, in the IS-LM-NAC model high unemployment may be a permanent situation caused by pessimistic beliefs - a particular instance of what Keynes called animal spirits. The model was part of a broader research agenda studying how beliefs may independently influence macroeconomic outcomes.

title: IS–LM model


text:
Hypanthium

In angiosperms, a hypanthium or floral cup is a structure where basal portions of the calyx, the corolla, and the stamens form a cup-shaped tube. It is sometimes called a floral tube, a term that is also used for corolla tube and calyx tube. It often contains the nectaries of the plant. It is present in many plant families, although varies in structural dimensions and appearance. This differentiation between the hypanthium in particular species is useful for identification. Some geometric forms are obconic shapes as in toyon, whereas some are saucer-shaped as in Mitella caulescens.

Its presence is diagnostic of many families, including the Rosaceae, Grossulariaceae, and Fabaceae. In some cases, it can be so deep, with such a narrow top, that the flower can appear to have an inferior ovary - the ovary is below the other attached floral parts. The hypanthium is known by different common names in differing species. In the eucalypts, it is referred to as the gum nut; in roses it is called the hip.

Variations in plant species
In myrtles, the hypanthium can either surround the ovary loosely or tightly; in some cases, it can be fused to the walls of the ovary. It can vary in length. The rims around the outside of the hypanthium contain the calyx lobes or free sepals, petals and either the stamen or multiple stamen that are attached at one or two points. The flowers of the family Rosaceae, or the rose family, always have some type of hypanthium or at least a floral cup from which the sepals, petals and stamens all arise, and which is lined with nectar-producing tissue known as nectaries. The nectar is a sugary substance that attracts birds and bees to the flower, who then take the pollen from the lining of the hypanthium and transfer it to the next flower they visit, usually a neighbouring plant.

The stamens borne on the hypanthium are the pollen-producing reproductive organs of the flower. The hypanthium helps in many ways with the reproduction and cross pollination pathways of most plants. It provides weather protection and a medium to sustain the lost pollen, increasing the probability of fertility and cross-pollination. The retained pollen can then attach to pollinators such as birds, bees, moths, beetles, bats, butterflies and other animals. Wind can act as an instigator for fertilisation. The hypanthium is also an adaptive feature for structural support. It helps the stem fuse with the flower, in turn strengthening the bond and overall stability and integrity.

title: Hypanthium


text:
City of Westminster

The City of Westminster is a London borough with city status in Greater London, England. It is the site of the United Kingdom's Houses of Parliament and much of the British government. It contains a large part of central London, including most of the West End, such as the major shopping areas around Oxford Street, Regent Street, Piccadilly and Bond Street, and the entertainment district of Soho. Many London landmarks are within the borough, including Buckingham Palace, Westminster Abbey, Whitehall, Westminster Cathedral, 10 Downing Street, and Trafalgar Square.

The borough also has a number of major parks and open spaces, including Hyde Park, Green Park and most of Regent's Park. Away from central London the borough also includes various inner suburbs, including St John's Wood, Maida Vale, Bayswater, Belgravia and Pimlico. The borough had a population of 204,300 at the 2021 census.

The original settlement of Westminster was historically a separate urban area to the west of London, growing up around the minster church of Westminster Abbey. Westminster was an important centre of royal authority from Saxon times, and was declared a city in 1540. It was gradually absorbed into the urban area of London, but London's official city boundaries remained unchanged, covering just the area called the City of London, broadly corresponding to the medieval walled city. From the 19th century some metropolis-wide administrative bodies were introduced. The County of London was created in 1889, replaced in 1965 by the larger administrative area of Greater London, which since 2000 has been led by the Mayor of London. The cities of London and Westminster retain their separate city statuses despite having long been part of the same urban area.

The modern borough was created in 1965 as part of the same reforms which created Greater London, covering the area of the three former metropolitan boroughs of Westminster, Paddington and St Marylebone. The local authority is Westminster City Council. To the east, Westminster borders the City of London, with the boundary marked by Temple Bar. Other neighbouring boroughs (anti-clockwise from north-east) are Camden, Brent, Kensington and Chelsea, Wandsworth and Lambeth, the latter two being separated from Westminster by the River Thames. Charing Cross in Westminster is the notional centre of London, being the point from which distances from London are measured.

History
After the depopulation of Roman London in the 5th century, an Anglo Saxon agricultural and trade settlement likely developed to its west, associated with the Middle Saxons, sometimes called Lundenwic ('London village' or London port'). Over time, Lundenburh ('London fort'), the former Roman city with its still-existing Roman walls, was repopulated and Lundenwic declined, becoming pastoral and partly known as Aldwych (Aldwic—'old village'), the name of which lives on for a section of Westminster. The origins of the City of Westminster pre-date the Norman Conquest of England. In the mid-11th century, King Edward the Confessor began the construction of an abbey at Westminster, only the foundations of which survive today. Between the abbey and the river he built a palace, thereby guaranteeing that the seat of Government would be fixed at Westminster, and inevitably drawing power and wealth west out of the old City of London.

For centuries Westminster and the City of London were geographically quite distinct. It was not until the sixteenth century that houses began to be built over the adjoining fields, eventually absorbing nearby villages such as Marylebone and Kensington, and gradually creating the vast Greater London that exists today.

Henry VIII's dissolution of the monasteries abolished the abbey at Westminster, although the former abbey church is still called Westminster Abbey. The church was briefly the cathedral of the Diocese of Westminster created from part of the Diocese of London in 1540, by letters patent which also granted city status to Westminster, a status retained after the diocese was abolished in 1550.

Administrative history
The area was historically part of the county of Middlesex. Whilst an important centre of royal authority from Saxon times, Westminster was not formally incorporated as a borough for local government purposes until 1900. However, it was declared a city in 1540 on the elevation of Westminster Abbey to being a cathedral. From at least 1545 there was also a Westminster parliamentary borough (constituency). The Anglican Diocese of Westminster was short-lived, being absorbed back into the Diocese of London in 1550. Despite having no borough corporation and having ceased to be the seat of a diocese, Westminster continued to be described as a city. In 1585 the Westminster Court of Burgesses was established to administer certain judicial powers in an area known as the City and Liberty of Westminster.

From 1856 the area was also governed by the Metropolitan Board of Works, which was established to provide services across the metropolis of London. In 1889 the Metropolitan Board of Works' area was made the County of London. From 1856 until 1900 the lower tier of local government within the metropolis comprised various parish vestries and district boards. Within the City and Liberty of Westminster, the three parishes of St George Hanover Square, St James Piccadilly and St Martin-in-the-Fields were governed by their vestries, whilst the parishes covering the central part of Westminster formed the Westminster District and the parishes and territories adjoining the border with the City of London formed the Strand District. Beyond the liberty to the north, the two parishes of Paddington and St Marylebone were also governed by their vestries. The Westminster District was renamed the St Margaret and St John Combined Vestry in 1887, and unsuccessfully petitioned to be incorporated as a borough in 1897.

In 1900 the lower tier of local government within the County of London was reorganised into metropolitan boroughs. The parish of Paddington became the Metropolitan Borough of Paddington, and the parish of the St Marylebone became the Metropolitan Borough of St Marylebone. The various territories within the old City and Liberty of Westminster became the Metropolitan Borough of Westminster. The new boroughs came into being on 1 November 1900; a few days ahead of that a royal charter was issued conferring city status on the new borough of Westminster from its creation. The Court of Burgesses, which had ceded most practical powers to the newer authorities, was finally abolished in 1901.

The modern borough was created in 1965 under the London Government Act 1963. It was a merger of the old Paddington, St Marylebone and Westminster metropolitan boroughs, and Westminster's city status was transferred to the enlarged borough. In 1966 the city was granted the right to appoint a lord mayor.

Governance
The local authority is Westminster City Council, which meets at Westminster Council House (also known as Marylebone Town Hall) and has its main offices at Westminster City Hall on Victoria Street.

Greater London representation
Since 2000, for elections to the London Assembly, the borough forms part of the West Central constituency.

Ethnicity
The following table shows the ethnic group of respondents in the 1991 to 2021 censuses in Westminster.

Housing
The borough ranks highest on one standard criteria in analysing housing supply and demand, the proportion of private rented accommodation relative to other types of housing in England.

Income inequality
A study in 2017 by Trust for London and The New Policy Institute found that Westminster has the third-highest pay inequality of the 32 London boroughs. It also has the second-least affordable private rent for low earners in London, behind only Kensington and Chelsea.

Education
In education, 82% of adults and 69% of 19-year-olds having Level 3 qualifications.

Districts
The City of Westminster covers all or part of the following areas of London:

 * "Albertopolis" (shared with the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea)
 * Bayswater
 * Belgravia (shared with the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea)
 * Covent Garden (shared with the London Borough of Camden)
 * Fitzrovia (shared with the London Borough of Camden)
 * Hyde Park
 * Knightsbridge (shared with the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea)
 * Lisson Grove
 * Maida Vale
 * Mayfair
 * Marylebone
 * Millbank
 * Paddington
 * Pimlico
 * St James's
 * St John's Wood
 * Soho, including Chinatown
 * "Theatreland"
 * Victoria
 * Westbourne Green (shared with the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea)
 * West End (shared with the London Borough of Camden)
 * Westminster City Centre

Economy
Many global corporations have their global or European headquarters in the City of Westminster. Mayfair and St James's within the City of Westminster also have a large concentration of hedge fund and private equity funds. The West End is known as the Theatre District and is home to many of the leading performing arts businesses. Soho and its adjoining areas house a concentration of media and creative companies. Oxford Street is a busy shopping destination.

Landmarks
The City of Westminster contains some of the most famous sites in London, including Buckingham Palace, Westminster Abbey, the Palace of Westminster (Houses of Parliament) and Big Ben.

Centre of London
Charing Cross is the notional centre of London and the location where distinances from London are measured. This custom appears to have begun with the set distances of the 12 Eleanor crosses to Lincoln, England in the north, and expanded even after destruction of most the crosses.

Parks and open spaces
These include Green Park, Hyde Park, Kensington Gardens, Regent's Park and St James's Park. In addition to parks and open spaces within the borough, the City owns and maintains East Finchley Cemetery and crematorium in the London Borough of Barnet.

National Rail stations
Four National Rail stations serve the City of Westminster:

London Underground
The City of Westminster is served by 27 London Underground stations and 10 of the 11 lines.

Electric charging points
By 2009 Westminster City Council had electric vehicle charging points in 15 locations through the city (13 car parks and two on-street points). Users pay an annual fee to cover administration costs to register and use the points. By 2018 there were 60 electric vehicle charging locations.

Travel to work
In March 2011, the main forms of transport that residents used to travel to work were: underground, metro, light rail, tram, 21.0% of all residents aged 16–74; on foot, 9.3%; bus, minibus or coach, 9.3%; driving a car or van, 6.0%; work mainly at or from home, 5.5%; bicycle, 3.1%; train, 3.0%.

Education

Westminster Children's Services administers many primary and secondary schools. In addition, there are several state-funded faith schools, primarily Church of England (CE), and Roman Catholic (RC), but Christian non-denominational (ND) schools are also in the borough, and there are several non-profit-making junior and senior independent schools.

Universities and colleges

 * The University of Westminster has its three campuses in the borough; 309 Regent Street (with 4–12 / 16 Little Titchfield Street and 32 / 38 Wells Street buildings uniting under the same campus), 115 New Cavendish Street, and 29 / 35 Marylebone Road.
 * The Strand campus of King's College London is located within the district.
 * The London Business School, in Regent's Park.
 * The London School of Economics, at Clare Market, near Aldwych.
 * The Royal Academy of Music, on Marylebone Road.
 * University of the Arts London has constituent colleges in Millbank (Chelsea College of Art and Design) and Oxford Street (London College of Fashion).
 * The Courtauld Institute of Art, in Somerset House, Strand.
 * Brigham Young University London Centre, on Palace Court.
 * The northern half of Imperial College London's main South Kensington campus lies within the borough.
 * City of Westminster College is a further education college with campuses on Paddington Green and at Queens Park. It also owns the Cockpit Theatre, which is used as a training and performance venue.
 * Regent's College, whose campus is within the grounds of Regent's Park, which houses: European Business School London; Regent's American College London; Regent's Business School; School of Psychotherapy and Counselling; Webster Graduate School; Internexus, a provider of English language courses.
 * Westminster Kingsway College is a further education college with centres in Soho and Victoria in Westminster. It also has centres in Camden.
 * The Royal College of Art in Kensington Gore.

Public libraries
The London Library, an independent lending library, is at 14 St James's Square.

The city operates two reference libraries; Westminster Reference Library and Marylebone Information Service. Westminster Reference Library holds several special collections: of which the Sherlock Holmes, Arts and Business collections are the most comprehensive. In addition to the collections in Westminster Reference Library the city has two specialist libraries: the Westminster Music Library, the largest music library in the UK and the Westminster Chinese Library in the Charing Cross Library.

Free City of Westminster operated public lending libraries in Westminster include:
 * Charing Cross Library
 * Church Street Library
 * The Maida Vale Library
 * Marylebone Library
 * Mayfair Library
 * Paddington Library
 * Pimlico Library
 * Queen's Park Library
 * St. John's Wood Library
 * Victoria Library

Embassies and High Commissions
Many countries' embassies or High Commissions are in Westminster.

Coat of arms
The current Westminster coat of arms was given by an official grant on 2 September 1964.

Westminster had other arms before, which had a chief identical to the chief in the present arms. The symbols in the lower two thirds of the shield stand for former municipalities now merged with the city, Paddington and St Marylebone. The original arms had a portcullis as the main charge, which now forms the crest.

Freedom of the City
The following people and military units have received the Freedom of the City of Westminster.

Individuals

 * Sir Winston Churchill: 1946.
 * Sir Robert Mark: 22 June 1977.
 * Margaret Thatcher: 12 December 1990.

Military units

 * HMS Westminster, RN: 11 December 2005.

title: City of Westminster