North American Fruit Explorers mailing list at ibiblio

[Robert Hartley <bob@sprucemt.com>]

Endothia parasitica, the chestnut blight fungus, is now Cryphonectria
parasitica.  When first described it was thought to be a new genus and
therefore given a new name (Endothia).  Later it was decided that it
belonged to a genus (Cryphonectria) that had been described earlier and
the generic name was thereby corrected. The same explanation accounts
for most such name changes but it sure can confuse us non-taxonomists.

Bob Hartley  PA z6


tanis cuff wrote:
> 
> Ee Gad, YES the botanical scientific names are changing !  I tested seeds
> for a few years, and I had to upgrade the lab's seed herbarium because there
> were so many recent changes in crops, weeds, and range/reclamation species.
> 
> If anyone is interested, I could post some websites.
> 
> Tanis Cuff