Why has the name of your plant changed?

Have you ever been confused when a plant's scientific name has suddenly changed? Sometimes they're even completely different to what you've known before. The Mother in Law's Tongue has been known asSanseveriafor as long as you've lived, but now it is suddenly grouped together withDracaenas. Why does this happen?

A brief history lesson on botanical taxonomy

When we first began to classify plants they used common names known to the area or descriptive Latin names such asAlbus erubesco major comosus esculentus. This name is totally made up as an example but it could have described a big, white, slightly blushing hairy plant that is edible.Yum!

One of these old names that's really accurate isSolanum caule inermi herbaceo, foliis pinnatis incisiswhich translates into "Solanum with the smooth stem which is herbaceous and has incised pinnate leaves". Today we know it asSolanum lycopersicumor more commonly known asTomato.

Today, every plant has agenus nameand aspecies nameand this plant species also belongs to afamily. This is called the binomial system. For exampleMonstera deliciosabelongs to the Araceae family. For a long time, plants have been classified according to their reproductive anatomy. Scientists find the plant, research its reproductive system, then name it and then place it in the taxonomic classification in relation to other known plants.

This system does have its limits - which we can refer to as the human factor.

When DNA became more interesting than reproductive systems

Even expert taxonomists have their limits, so in the early 2000s, we started usingDNA barcoding,which reflects genetic differences at the molecular level. It definitely shook things up in the plant world! These days we often see popular house plant genera being moved back and forth and either clumped together with another genus, like the Mother in Law's Tongue -SansevieriatoDracaena.They might also be split and moved in to one of the old genera like, for example, somePhilodendronintoThaumatophyllum.

And science is always evolving as we learn more about how plants relate to each other.
So this is why the plant names can be a bit confusing and change from time to time. We can expect more changes coming up in the near future. But hey, be friendly if you see an old, incorrect name being used at a garden center or on social media. It is hard to keep up to all the changes.

Here's just a small list of some of the recent revisions which has resulted in a name change

• Rosmarinus officinalis -Salvia rosmarinus

• Sanseveria -Dracaena

• Scindapsus -Epipremnum(TheEpripremnum aureumwas up until recently know asScindapsus aureus)

• Perovskia atriplicifolia -Salvia yangii

• Gaura lindheimeri-Oenothera lindheimeri

• Senecio rowleyanus -Curio rowleyanus

• most of theCalatheawe're used to grow-Goeppertia

• Epihyllum anguliger -Disocactus anguliger