In message , Sacha
writes
On 25/2/07 08:57, in article , "Broadback"
wrote:
snip
Using Latin names is confusing enough for me, but why do they so often
seem to change plant names?
It's to do with classifying them properly from the purist's botanical pov.
I see why it's done but it irritates, I must admit. It's like that lovely
lemon scented leafed thing which I still call Lippia citrodora (also known
as lemon verbena to some) That has a 'new' name but I just cannot get it
into my head and never, ever remember it.
Aloysia triphylla. (I had to look up the triphylla bit.)
Both triphylla and citriodora are old epithets for this plant;
presumably triphylla is the older. Both have a record of usage.
Both epithets were original published in Verbena. Lippia is an older
name than Aloysia, so the choice of Aloysia is presumably a result of
the division of various plants among genera, rather than of the
application of the principle of priority.
--
Stewart Robert Hinsley