I have two old images of Stewartia ovata, but one is labeled as Malachodenron pentagynum grandiflorum (syn. Stuartia pentagyna grandiflora): https://www.biodiversitylibrar...

The other is labeled as Stuartia pentagyna (syn. Malachodendron ovatum):
https://www.biodiversitylibrar...

The USDA Plants database gives Stewartia pentagyna as a synonym for Stewartia ovata:
https://plants.usda.gov/core/p...

Meanwhile the Plant List says that Malachodendron pentagynum (syn. Stewartia pentagyna) is an unresolved name:
http://www.theplantlist.org/tp...

It seems clear to me that all names are synonymous with S. ovata, but I can't figure out how this site decides what is good nomenclature, and what is not.

What say the nomenclature folks here?

Thanks,
Virginia

PS This species is a fine example of botanists' nomenclature errancy: the person for whom the genus is named was a Scottish earl, John Stuart. 'Stewartia' is an orthographic error that botanists know about, but won't correct:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/...

According to the Catalogue of Life, Stuartia is a worm genus.

http://www.catalogueoflife.org...

Unfortunately, the one named after John Stuart is spelled Stewartia. Stewartia ovata is currently the accepted name of the species, and the other names you list are synonyms:

http://www.catalogueoflife.org...

Makes you wonder why no one has corrected the spelling.

Bonehead said:Makes you wonder why no one has corrected the spelling.

Linnaeus spelled it wrong, but his (and Stuart's, of course) contemporaries corrected it. Then some know-it-alls decided that Linnaeus was infallible, I guess?

My best guess, anyway... :>)

As for why it doesn't get corrected now, I guess the problem is the worm genus that zuzu mentioned?

Virginia

zuzu said:According to the Catalogue of Life, Stuartia is a worm genus.

http://www.catalogueoflife.org...

Unfortunately, the one named after John Stuart is spelled Stewartia. Stewartia ovata is currently the accepted name of the species, and the other names you list are synonyms:

http://www.catalogueoflife.org...

So, is Catalogue of Life the definitive source for species nomenclature for this site? I've noticed that there are occasional differences with garden.org's plant database nomenclature, and that of USDA, The Plant List, and other sites, and wondered which source is used here.

Thanks,
Virginia

PS I tried to e-mail that German fuchsia site to let them know that they had an incorrect name (Fuchsia 'Mrs E. Hill' is incorrect), but they didn't respond, nor correct their listing. Oh, well.

Yes, the Catalogue of Life is our primary source because it's more comprehensive than other taxonomic databases and is updated more often. USDA is not a taxonomic source, and The Plant List hasn't been updated for 6 or 7 years.

I added Mrs. E.B. Hill as an also-sold-as name in that fuchsia entry, so it will come up in search results.

Thanks for adding the correct name. I understand that you have to go with the registration name, even if it's in error, but it was certainly introduced as 'Mrs E. G. Hill'.

Virginia

"E.G.," of course. That's what I added to the entry, not "E.B."