Why plant names change

It seems no sooner have we successfully reeled off a plant’s Latin name than we are having to get our tongue around its new name. Until recently, most plant names – and the assigning of family names – was mainly a result of educated guesswork. Botanists would make a visual assessment of the similarities between plants’ morphology (form and structure) and would classify them accordingly. Now, more sophisticated methods of plant identification have led to some reclassifications. A whole host of plant names have changed in recent years. This is mainly because DNA sequencing is now being used to unlock the true relationships between plants, which means some need to be reclassified. But there are other reasons why a name might change. If it is discovered that a name was correctly published before the name that the plant has since come to be known by, the first name registered is the valid name. This is a rule stipulated under The International Code of Botanical Nomenclature. Sometimes plants are brought into cultivation, given a new – incorrect – name, then propagated and distributed with that name, even though a valid name for the plant already existed. In which case, the original name has to be re-instated. Some changes don’t prove popular. Some chrysanthemums, having been reclassified into Dendranthema, were changed back to chrysanthemum due to pressure from many sources, particularly commercial interests. Generally, a plant’s renaming shouldn’t be a source of annoyance. It’s not a case of idle botanists and taxonomists making arbitrary decisions for something to do, but an attempt on their part to clarify plant relationships.