What’s in a Plant Name?

by Julie McConnell | Dec 18, 2024

Before my career in Extension, I spent ten years selling plants. I worked at a 40-acre nursery that was filled with thousands of plants. The selection was enormous and it was an eye-opening experience, even for a horticulturalist, to see how many different types of the same plant species were on the market. I learned quickly that if someone came in and said, “I need a daylily,” “I need a hydrangea,” or “I need a loropetalum” there were a lot more questions that needed to be asked to help them properly!

Plant breeders in ornamental horticulture spend their careers selecting plants for winning features that gardeners will line up to buy. Examples of traits include flower color, repeat flowering, mature size, disease resistance, cold hardiness, sun/shade tolerance, and foliage color. There are a lot of steps between recognizing what might be a superstar and availability in your local garden center, but let’s just jump to the part where they are in the garden center.

When shopping for plants, always look for the full name of the plant, preferably the botanical name which will include genus and species in Latin. Some plants are grown from seed and may have some variation in features. For example, a live oak grown from an acorn will be named with only genus and species, Quercus virginiana. The mature growth habit will have a wider range than one that was cultivated from a parent plant with known features. The species could be smaller than average, larger than average, an interesting branching feature, etc. Think of your own family, kids from the same parents may have different eye color, hair color, and height but they are all human children!

A cultivated plant is grown from cuttings or similar propagation methods that create a genetic clone of the originally selected plant. It is considered a cultivar if it will not grow true from seed and needs human intervention to result in the identical characteristics as the parent plant. The botanical name of a cultivated plant will follow the italicized species and is written/typed in single quotes. Note, since many plants are trademarked, there may be a botanical name that isn’t very flashy followed by a similar name, with some marketing flair. Let’s look at a couple of examples:

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  Pictured here is Emerald Snow and Purple Pixie Loropetalums. Their foliage color and sizes are very different.

  Loropetalum chinense ‘Shang-white’ PP21738 is the official botanical name for Emerald Snow® Semi-dwarf Loropetalum. Emerald Snow® is a green-leaf, white flower semi-dwarf loropetalum that will reach 4-6’ tall by 3-5’ wide.

• Loropetalum chinense ‘Peack’ PP18441 sold commercially as Purple Pixie® Dwarf Weeping Loropetalum has red foliage, pink flowers, and matures at 1-2’ tall by 3-4’ wide.

As you can see, just asking for a Loropetalum can result in vastly different plants!

Relying on common names only can also lead to an unintentional purchase. The same common name may be used for two very different plants. Another issue is that closely related species may have different places of origin and if you are trying to use only Florida native plants that could impact your design plans. Here are a couple of examples:

• Mock orange may refer to deciduous weeping shrub with white flowers that performs well in cold climates, Philadelphus coronarius, or an evergreen shrub that is only hardy to Zone 8a, Pittosporum tobira.
• Beautyberry can be native to Florida or other areas of the world. Callicarpa americana is native to North America, including Florida. Callicarpa japonica is native to China and East Asia.

The takeaway message is always look for botanical names and do a little homework when purchasing plants. Ensure the plant you are looking at has the features that match your landscape needs!