Talk:Parsnip/GA1

GA Review

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Reviewer: ColonelHenry (talk · contribs) 16:37, 24 September 2013 (UTC)[reply]

I look forward to reviewing this article. I am familiar with other articles by User:Cwmhiraeth, and recognize his hard work and dedication.--ColonelHenry (talk) 16:37, 24 September 2013 (UTC)[reply]

After a few of the revisions, I mention below, I'll do a copyedit on the article.

Just a few comments...

The etymology section is too short to exist as a stand-alone section. Perhaps it could be added to (1) the history section, or (2) as part of taxonomy and rename it "taxonomy and naming". I think (1) is the better of the options.
In the lede:
- "...a vegetable since ancient times..." how about "since Antiquity"?

In Description:
- "The plant has an apical meristem that produces a rosette of pinnate leaves. The lower leaves are petiolate, the upper leaves are sessile, and the terminal leaves have three lobes." - this should be explained so that it is accessible to the average Wikipedia reader.
- "has a chromosome number of 2n=22." -- explain this more. It's a technical axiom that most people won't understand.
In History:
- This is a very long sentence. "Zohary and Hopf note that the archaeological evidence for the cultivation of the parsnip is "still rather limited", and that Greek and Roman literary sources are a major source about its early use, but warn "there are some difficulties in distinguishing between parsnip and carrot (which, in Roman times, were white or purple) in classical writings since both vegetables seem to have been sometimes called pastinaca yet each vegetable appears to be well under cultivation in Roman times"."
- "was much esteemed and the Emperor Tiberius accepted part of the tribute payable to Rome by Germany in the form of parsnips" - why was it esteemed to be used in tribute? When explaining why it was esteemed, it might be good to divide the sentence, and start the second with the Emperor Tiberius reference.
- what precisely was said about it in "Marvels of Milan" (1288)?
- "He back-crossed cultivated plants to wild stock," just doesn't sound right.
- "...experiment was so successful..." - sounds like an editorial judgment. also, what made it successful?
In Use
- "fried or thinly sliced and made into crisps." - clarify this for a global audience...while they're not on the shelves in the US (that I know about), crisps is a BritEng idiom that would not be known by many Americans...a crisp would be akin to the AmerEng "potato chips" (although the Brits have a different idea of what a "chip" is).
In Etymology:
- OED and other Oxford dictionary state "ME: from OFr. pasnaie, from L. pastinaca (rel. to pastinare 'dig and trench the ground'); ending assimilated to neep. (cf. turnip)"
Layout: I think the Use, Nutritional properties, and Dangers should be associated as three subsection of one larger section. I think Cultivation should be moved up above the new Use/Nutrtionalproperties/Dangers section.
Rename "Dangers" to "toxicity and exposure" or something like that.
Rename "Cultivation problems" to "Pests and diseases"
In cultivation, there should be more information about where it's grown in the world, and issues of trade and transportation (parsnips don't seem to travel as well as carrots), and production yields in the field, fertilization, pesticide use, and global import/exportation figures.

Suggestion-- can we find a good picture of a parsnip dish?

Just a few things I noticed on first pass.--ColonelHenry (talk) 20:09, 25 September 2013 (UTC)[reply]