THISMIA AMERICANA: A CHICAGO ENDEMIC OR AN ELABORATE HOAX?

摘要

Named in 1912, Thismia americana Pfeiff. was reportedly collected in a wet prairie in Chicago, Illinois, by Norma Pfeiffer, a student at the University of Chicago. For decades, few botanists questioned the authenticity of the find. With advances in biogeography over the last few decades and with rare but significant experience with fraudulent science, some scientists have raised questions about the veracity of Pfeiffer's work. While some have speculated on biogeographic mechanisms that account for aspecies to have spread from the Asian-Pacific region to a north-temperate one, such as the southwestern Great Lakes, some have toyed with the idea that Pfeiffer's work represents an outright hoax. This article describes an example of botanical fraud, specifically the Rum affair. Pfeiffer's work is recounted, compared with those in science who have masterminded hoaxes, and analyzed with regard to the question whether her work was fraudulent.