Many exotic collectors grow a popular silver leaf philodendron which has been known for a long time as "Philodendron glaucophyllum". After a long exchange of emails with Dr. Tom Croat and Dr. Eduardo Gonçalves of Brazil I have come to learn this name is a "made-up" name. The name does not appear on either TROPICOS or the International Plant Names Index. According to both Dr. Croat and Dr. Gonçalves the correct name is Philodendron hastatum. Many don't want to give up their old favorite name and at least one other very popular garden site has now elected to make Philodendron hastatum a synonym of Philodendron domesticum. That is simply not a possibility since Philodendron hastatum was identified in 1854 and Philodendron domesticum in 1966. The rules of botany give preference to the original published name and all others become the synonyms. My point of all this is there are many popular plants that parade under a bunch of "made-up" names (those are Dr. Croat's words) especially when put up for sale on websites. It's better if we all learn our plants by their correct names so everyone knows what you're talking about. I am not trained as a botanist but I've forced myself to learn scientific names and I prefer them to common names since many plants have the same common name. You can read the entire story of my search for the correct name for this plant on my own website, The Exotic Rainforest. You can find it on any search engine Look for Philodendron hastatum on the plants collection page. Your comments are appreciated.
Thanks! I run into the bad name syndrome all the time. I collect rare plants and try to post accurate information about where they came from and how to grow them on my website. I often spend a great deal of time wading through all the bad names and bad spellings trying to find the real name. Fortunately both Dr. Croat from MOBAT and Dr. Gonçalves from Brazil have been very kind at sending me down the right path. I'd just love to see more people use the correct botanical name instead of a confusing common name. May be a bit harder to learn but then anyone you talk to about the plant knows what you're talking about. And I'd really like for book publishers to verify what they publish first! Too many popular plant books have bad names!
Supposedly an article came out awhile back claiming the mislabeling or misidentification rate in nurseries on this continent was 33%. Many people involved in commercial hort. don't know the difference. Books and magazine articles vary with level of writers and editors. Serious garden plant books do sometimes get sent out to "experts" for checking, the contributions they make also will vary with how sharp the checkers chosen are. Then there is the matter of lack of consensus among taxonomists. If only a handful of people have worked on a group and they do not agree, then what is the "correct" name for a plant in that group? You have to study the evidence yourself and pick a side. Even then it will just be your opinion added to the mix (if you publish it).
I certainly cannot argue with any of that. I suppose one of my major complaints is a very popular tropical plant identification book which is filled with bad names. I used to have a copy but finally sold it on eBay. That's why I now rely on the opinion of recognized experts before I post a name. And even then there is sometimes a bit of disagreement! But at least they don't use the "made-up" names which are all too common.