Many plant names are insulting: botanists will vote on changes

The votes at the international botanical congress in Madrid mark the first time that taxonomists officially consider changes in the rules to deal with species names that are offensive for many people.

supporters of the proposals argue that science as well as the broader society should tackle the veneration of people who have committed historical injustices. However, some in the taxonomic world fear that a mass renaming could create confusion in scientific literature, and that a 'steeper way' could arise that could endanger any person's recognition of a person.

"It is very unfortunate that many of these names are offensive," says Alina Freire-Fierro, a botanist at the Technical University of Cotopaxi in Latacunga, Ecuador. "Change the already published names would create so much confusion."

serious names

Proponents of the changes indicate that art names and taxonomous rules are constantly in the flow - at this year's meeting, hundreds of suggestions to change rules for plant names are discussed. Eliminating particularly serious names is compared to the changes that are already made if, for example, a genetic analysis divides a single species in several ways or shows new relationships between species, only a drop on the hot stone, say scientists who support the measures.

"It would be great to have a mechanism to make some of the most offensive names," adds Lennard Gillman, a retired evolutionary biogeographer and independent consultant in Auckland, New Zealand.

taxonomists meet every six to seven years for a conference called international botanical congress to discuss changes to the rules to name plants as well as mushrooms and algae (a separate group is responsible for tier names). Later this week, members of the nomenclature department will vote on two suggestions that deal with culturally sensitive names.

New plant species are usually named by the scientists who discover, with a central requirement that a description appears in scientific literature. In the nineteenth and even well into the twentieth century, the mainly European scientists, who were officially named species that were found in the non-western world, often recognized colonial owners such as the politician Cecil Rhodes and patrons.

One of the suggestions aims to rename around 218 species, the scientific names of which are based on the word 'caffra' and various derivations - these are ethnic swear words that are often used against blacks in South Africa - and to replace them with derivatives of 'AFR' in order to recognize Africa instead. The second proposal, if it is approved, would create a committee to check insulting and culturally inappropriate names.

Measure support

in a coordination carried out in the run -up to the congress to find out how much support there are for the hundreds of suggestions, almost 50% of the voters supported the change in the scientific names of plants such as erythrina caffra , generally known as coastal coral tree, to erythrina affra . The proposal to create the committee has almost exceeded the required threshold to be personally coordinated this week.

Gideon Smith, a plant taxonom at Nelson Mandela University (NMU) in Gqeberha, South Africa, expects an extremely tight coordination of the 'caffra' change, which he submitted together with his colleague NMU taxonom Estrela Figueiredo. In order to be accepted, the vote requires a 60%two -thirds majority, but the result will depend on who takes part in the congress, as well as the 'institutional voices' that enable herbaria such as the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, in London to assign voting rights by power of attorney, says Smith.

"There is resistance to these suggestions that fear of pluning the plant nomenclature into chaos," says Smith. However, he adds that the advantage that scientists are no longer forced to use a deeply insulting term outweigh the minimal practical consequences of the changes. "I can't imagine a easier way to get rid of this racist expression."

Kevin Thiele, a plant taxonom at the Australian National University in Canberra, expects that if his proposal is approved for the creation of a mechanism, only a relatively small number of species names would be changed. It is likely that the argument for stability in the species names would only outweigh in cases where plants are named after "sufficiently serious" people, he says.

A change that Thiele would like to see affects a genus of flowering bushes, most of which have yellow flowers and can be found in Australia, called Hibbertia , in which new species are regularly discovered. They are named after George Hibbert, an English merchant of the eighteenth century, who benefited from the slave trade and fought against the abolition. "There should be a way to deal with cases like Hibbert," he says.

limited resources

Alexandre Antonelli, a Brazilian scientist and head of the natural sciences in KEW, has an understanding of such concerns and would like to have a broader discussion about how justice, diversity and inclusion in this area can be increased. However, it is concerned about the practical aspects and unintentional consequences of changes in the naming rules, such as who would assess changes or how to settle differences. In addition, Antonelli argues that limited resources should be better focused on cataloging, examining and protecting the biodiversity. "I would not support suggestions that hinder this process," he says.