AGS Seed List No 60 2011 - Alpine Garden Society

Plant Names in the Seed List
This is the tenth seed list I have produced for the AGS seed exchange, and over those years
there have been many changes in the actual plant names. The way I check names has also
changed as the Floras gradually become outdated by websites.
The plant reference websites have improved in recent years, both in content and accuracy,
and also in their ease of use. The main references I have used this year are:
The RHS Horticultural Database http://apps.rhs.org.uk/horticulturaldatabase/
The Plant List http://www.theplantlist.org/ which is a working list of all known plant species
and is a collaboration between The Royal Botanic Garden, Kew and the Missouris Botanical
Garden.
The Kew Checklist of Selected Plant Families (includes all monocots, Lamiaceae,
Campanulaceae and others) http://apps.kew.org/wcsp/
Flora Europaea http://rbg-web2.rbge.org.uk/FE/fe.html
Efloras: http://www.efloras.org/
USDA Plant checklist http://plants.usda.gov/java/nameSearch
Pavel Slaby’s Rock Garden Plant Database http://www.kadel.cz/flora/kvSearch.asp.htm
There have been many name changes over the years and I know that these changes are a
frustration to many growers. There are several reasons for name changes: the new name
may be actually a previously published name which has precedence over the old one,
sometimes two species have been merged or sometimes a subspecies has been given specific
status. Some of the bigger changes are due to the work of the Angiosperm Phylogeny Group,
or APG, who are taxonomists working on a new system of flowering plants that reflects recent
knowledge about their relationships. The most recent version was published in 2009 as
APG III. APG looks into relationships between plants by considering their molecular
characteristics and not just morphological characteristics which have previously been among
the main ways in which we have established relationships between groups of plants.
Some significant family changes have recently taken place, e.g. Alliaceae and Hyacinthaceae
have disappeared, and others such as Scrophulariaceae have undergone radical changes.
However, as far as the seed list is concerned, family changes do not affect the name we call
the plant, but genus changes do and this year I felt it appropriate to start to make changes to
the seed list at genus and specific level. I understand that some new genera may take a
while to be recognised so I am making the changes gradually. That in itself may draw some
criticism as it may be felt that there are inconsistencies in the list, but it has been done in the
best interests of the membership. I have listed below some of the changes to the names
most frequently occurring in the list and some older changes as reminders.
Old name New name
Anomatheca laxa Freesia laxa
Calochortus luteus Calochortus nuttallii
Cheiranthus cheiri Erysimum cheiri
Chionodoxa (all species) Scilla
Dicentra lichiangensis Dactylicapnos lichiangensis
Dicentra macrantha Ichthyoselmis macrantha
Dicentra macrocapnos Dactylicapnos macrocapnos
Dicentra scandens Dactylicapnos scandens
Dicentra spectabilis Lamprocapnos spectabilis
Dicentra spectabilis 'Alba' Lamprocapnos spectabilis 'Alba'
Dicentra torulosa Dactylicapnos torulosa
Lychnis alpina Silene suecica
Merendera (all species) Colchicum
Muscari azureum Pseudomuscari azureum
Muscari pallens Pseudomuscari pallens
Muscari pseudomuscari Pseudomuscari chalusicum
Schizostylis coccinea Hesperantha coccinea