Dear Ross,
 
A subspecies has to be different from a species in almost 2 differences.
Since a certain date (I have to look for this day) it's no more allowed by
the international commision of nomenclature to describe a form a
variety you have to decide to describe a full species or a subspecies.
forms until that point of date are allowed to use but don't have any
specific value. In the next time I am looking for a better explanation
for you.
yours sincerly Helmut
 
 
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> I imagine this topic has been kicked around several times already, but
> as they say "what the L??"
>         1) Are the terms "form" and "variety" interchangeable?  If not, are
> there commonly-accepted principles for assigning a proposed taxa to one
> or the other?
>         2)Could some qualified  person refresh our memories as to how to
> differentiate a "subspecies" from a "form or variety"?
>
>         opinions on this topic differ even today, so could someone perhaps
> give
> a good "defence" of their particular viewpoints on these matters?
>
>                                                                       
>                  Hopefully not too Redundantly Yours,
>                                                                       
>                  Ross M.
>