Plant Name Changes

Taxonomy is that section of botany which is concerned with the valid naming of plants. Often botanists who are studying a particular group of plants will find that the relationships between individual species (or genera) are different to what has been previously published or that the previously published names are invalid for one reason or another. As a result, this research may lead to name changes resulting from:

• Old, invalid names being replaced (eg. Banksia prostrata became Banksia
  gardneri)
• Old, superseded names being restored (eg. Hakea pugioniformis reverted to
  Hakea teretifolia)
• Species being reclassified to different genera (eg. Eucalyptus maculata
  became Corymbia maculata – see footnote 4)
• Previous single, highly variable species being divided into two or more
  separate species (eg. the variable Banksia sphaerocarpa complex was divided
  into 8 separate species.)
• Previous similar species being combined into a single species (eg. Eucalyptus
  stoatei was incorporated into Eucalyptus forrestiana as Eucalyptus forrestiana
  subspecies stoatei)
• Previous sub-species or varieties being raised to species status (eg. Banksia
  integrifolia variety aquilonia became Banksia aquilonia).

Acceptance of name changes

Taxonomists are sometimes criticised by their peers and others for what is seen to be an excessive enthusiasm for revising plant names. Name changes can be frustrating, can be difficult to keep track of and, when changes involve a group of plants which is entrenched in folklore (such as the eucalypts or banksias), they can also result in some antagonism.

Botanical revision is rarely carried out without a great deal of research but it needs to be appreciated that publication of a name change in a botanical or other journal does not necessarily mean that the change will be accepted by the wider botanical (and general) community. As an example, a publication by Lyn Craven of the Australian National Herbarium (Novon 16 468-475; December 2006 “New Combinations in Melaleuca for Australian Species of Callistemon (Myrtaceae)”) argues that the differences between Callistemon and Melaleuca are insufficient to warrant them being retained separately and that they should be combined. As Melaleuca has precedence, adoption of Craven’s work would transfer all species of Callistemon into Melaleuca. Some state herbaria have adopted this change while others retain the two genera as separate.

A national database of plant names

The issue of some authorities accepting a re-classified plant name while others do not raises a problem for an organisation like ANPSA. What names do we accept?

Our approach is to adopt the Australian Plant Census which is accessible through the National Species List of vascular plants. The Australian Plant Census provides a nationally-accepted taxonomy which is endorsed by the Council of Heads of Australasian Herbaria. The Census is a work in progress and not all plants have been reviewed.

Commonly encountered name changes

The following list is not intended to be comprehensive and it should not be regarded as definitive. It concentrates on those species of Australian plants which are more commonly encountered and where name changes are likely to cause confusion.

Advice of any significant errors or omissions in the list would be appreciated.

1. The plant commonly cultivated as Oreocallis wickhamii was not, in fact, the true O.wickhamii (now known as Alloxylon wickhamii)
2. The Callistemon paludosus/pityoides/sieberi changes are confusing. Apparently research has shown that the plant previously referred to as C.paludosus was attributable to the original description of C.sieberi, thus requiring the reinstatement of the original name. As a result a new name (C.pityoides) has been applied to the plant previously known as C.sieberi.
3. Calytrix sullivanii has been incorporated into the existing species, C.tetragona.
4. In 1995 the genus Corymbia, of 113 species, was created by K.Hill and L.Johnson (Telopea, Volume 6(2-3)). In addition to 33 new species, Hill and Johnson transferred the four Eucalyptus species listed here, plus another 76, to the new genus. More recently, Ian Brooker absorbed both Corymbia and Angophora into Eucalyptus (Australian Systematic Botany 13, 79-148.) but this work does not appear to have gained wide acceptance and most authorities retain Eucalyptus, Corymbia and Angophora as separate genera.
5. Eugenia australis is now regarded as two separate species, Syzygium australe and S.paniculatum.
6. The popular garden plant commonly known as Grevillea biternata is incorrectly named. The correct name is G.curviloba subsp incurva. The true G.biternata is not widely cultivated.
7. Extensive revision of the genus Phebalium by Paul Wilson has seen 21 species transferred to the genus Leionema, 6 species transferred to Nematolepis and 3 species transferred to Rhadinothamnus. 25 species remain in Phebalium.
8. Alex George (well known to many for his work in the revision of Banksia and Dryandra and for his work on the Flora Of Australia project) published a name change for Sturt’s desert pea in the ‘Western Australian Naturalist’ in 1999. He has called the plant Willdampia formosa in honour of the explorer William Dampier. This proposal, however, does not seem to have received general acceptance.
9. Until 1995, all Australian gentians were considered to be included under Gentianella diemensis. They have now been transferred to the genus Chionogentias and split into 14 separate species. The genus Chionogentias also occurs outside of Australia.
10. The species formerly known as Baeckea virgata (now Sannantha virgata) is considered to be restricted to New Caledonia and does not occur in Australia. Australian plants formerly referred to Baeckea virgata have been re-classified to a number of different genera including Sannantha, Kardomia and Harmogia.
11. Several species formerly included in the genus Helichrysum were transferred to the new genus Bracteantha in 1991. However, it has recently (2001) been discovered that the name Xerochrysum, published by a Russian botanist in 1990, must take precedence under the rules of botanical nomenclature. This means that Bracteantha bracteatum and B.subundulata (and several other species) are now reclassified under the genus Xerochrysum.
12. The name Acacia aulacocarpa is still current but has been widely misapplied and a number of forms previously referred to as A.aulacocarpa have now been transferred to other species. The form from coastal and near coastal areas of south-east Queensland and northern New South Wales (and the one most commonly referred to as A.aulacocarpa in the past) is now A.disparrima.
13. The name Viola hederacea is still current but research has indicated that the form commonly cultivated is sufficiently distinct from the type form of that species to warrant re-classification.
14. All species in the genus Brachysema have been transferred to the genus Gastrolobium.
15. Dianella laevis is now recognised as D.longifolia in WA, NT, Qld, NSW and the ACT. Victorian populations are regarded as distinct and the name D.laevis is still current in that State.
16. A paper published by A R Mast and K Thiele (The transfer of Dryandra R.Br. to Banksia L.f. (Proteaceae); Australian Systematic Botany, 26 February 2007), proposed that the genus Dryandra be subsumed into Banksia. This revised classification has been accepted by the Council of Heads of Australasian Herbaria and the new Banksia names now appear on Florabase (the website for the Western Australian Herbarium) and in the Australian Plant Census. The new classification has come in for some criticism but, as the Australian Plant Census has been adopted as the authority on plant names by ANPSA, the revised classifiation has been accepted on the ANPSA website.
17. Dendrobium bigibbum has been re-classified as Vappodes bigibba. However, the well known Cooktown Orchid, formerly classified as a form of D. bigibbum has been placed in Vappodes phalaenopsis.
18. The reclassification of two species of Astroloma to Stenanthera is accepted in the Australian Plant Census but is not accepted by some other authorities (it is possible that both Stenanthera and Astroloma, together with several other related genera, will be transferred to an expanded Styphelia genus in the future).