KENYA FORESTRY RESEARCH INSTITUTE REVIEW OF BOTANICAL NAME CHANGE OF TREES, SHRUBS AND HERBS IN KENYA Technical Note No. 29 KEFRI is ISO 9001:2015 and ISO 14001:2015 certified REVIEW OF BOTANICAL NAME CHANGE OF TREES, SHRUBS AND HERBS IN KENYA Technical Note No. 29 Magrate M. Kaigongi July, 2020 © KEFRI 2020 This publication may be produced in whole or in part in any form for educational purposes or non-profit uses without permission of the copright holder provided acknowledgement is made. Cover Caption: Vachellia tortilis Photographs by: Francis Gachathi Citation: Kaigongi M. M. (2020). Review of Botanical Name Change of Trees, Shrubs, and Herbs in Kenya. KEFRI. Muguga, Kenya. Published by: Kenya Forestry Research Institute P.O. Box 20412-00200, Nairobi Kenya, Tel:+254-724-259781/2, +254-722-157414,+254-734-251888 E-mail:[email protected] Website:www.kefri.org Layout & Design: Evans Abuje and Dorothy Ochieng Foreword Kenya Forestry Research Institute (KEFRI) has the national mandate of undertaking research in forestry and allied natural resources; and disseminating forestry research outputs to stakeholders. The Institute generates its research agenda from; government policy documents, international agreements ratified by the Government of Kenya, and emerging issues. Our research agenda and information therefore conforms to national, global, and contemporary standards including international standard for naming of plants and the changes as they occur. The need for this Technical Note stemmed from questions to the taxonomist from fellow researchers and colleagues at Kenya Forestry Research Institute. This technical note seeks to address issues related to botanical name changes specifically the change of species names in the genus Acacia in Africa and the merging of families within the order Malvales (Tiliaceae, Sterculiaceae, Bombacaceae and Malvaceae) to one family Malvaceae.. It shows why plants scientific names change as well as lists of plants species, genera and families which have changed names. This document is primarily addressed to botanists (scholars, lecturers, researchers, herbalists), foresters, ecologists, pharmacologists, agriculturalists, landscapers, natural product researchers, tree growers and any other person who interacts with plants. An understanding of botanical name change, will help them provide for better means of meeting the complex needs of plant sciences. i In accordance with our core values of team work and partnership, we acknowledge the support of all actors as reflected in the book and remain committed to furthering the partnership and collaboration with all partners. Joshua K. Cheboiwo (PhD) Director, Kenya Forestry Research Institute ii Table of Contents Foreword i Acknowledgement iv 1. Introduction 1 2. Reasons why botanical names change 2 3. Recommendations 4 4. Bibliography 6 Appendix 1: Plant species name change 8 Appendix 2: Genus name change 13 Appendix 3: Merged plants families 16 Appendix 4: Conserved family names 18 iii Acknowledgement KEFRI Management is acknowledged for approving this work. I am grateful to those who helped me gather data for this work as it would not have reached its present form without their invaluable help. Special thanks to Dr. Fredrick Musila (Technical University of Kenya) and Dr. Peris Kamau (National Museums of Kenya) for guiding me on the databases used in acquiring the data. Dr. Malombe Itambo (National Museums of Kenya) is appreciated for reviewing this work. Mr. Francis Gachathi (former KEFRI taxonomist) for helping me conceive the idea of this technical note and encouraging me on the importance of this work. Many thanks to the KEFRI Editorial Committee namely Dorothy Ochieng, Paul Tuwei and Josephine Wanjiku for editing the manuscript. iv 1. Introduction Different communities have knowledge of plants growing around them, including the identification and uses. Each community assigns local or common names to plants in their own language depending on certain aspects such as uses, appearance, or origin. These common names are stable and useful in their place of origin, but are not of much use elsewhere (Gledhill, 2008; Spencer et al., 2007). The same plant may have a different common name in different places, or the same name might apply to a different plant. In order to organize the plant kingdom according to the relationships between plants, and to provide a stable and universal set of names, botanists use a system called Binomial Nomenclature. Each botanical name applies to one species only and is internationally used regardless of language and dialect. The names of plants may be changed as their relationships become better understood, but name changes can be tracked down so it is possible to know if two different names refer to the same plant. Botanical names changes are regulated by International Code of Botanical Nomenclature (ICBN), which lays down the rules under which a name may be changed, and the methods used in choosing the correct name. 1 2. Reasons why botanical names change According to Spencer et al. (2007), taxonomists from time to time need, or choose, to change the name of an organism such as a plant due to the following main reasons. i) Taxonomic Names may change as knowledge grows. A species might be transferred into a different genus, or combined with one or more other previously segregated species, or divided into two or more new species. For example, the new systematic sequence is largely based on the phylogeny of the Angiosperm Phylogeny Group (APG), a global collaborative effort to better understand the relationships of plant groups. It is expected that this system will be relatively stable as it is based on repeatable analysis and wide range of evidence. However additional modifications are always possible as new evidence comes to light. ii) Misidentification When a plant is discovered to have been mistakenly given the name of a different family, genus or species. iii) Nomenclatural Names may have been incorrectly described, or older names, which have priority, may have been overlooked in the past. 2 It is possible that a widespread species has been described by different taxonomists under different names. Alternatively, systematic revision may cause re-arrangement of genera and species, resulting in either the union of two or more species previously considered distinct or splitting what was previously one genus into two or more genera. An example is the genus Acacia which contains a large number of species (approximately 1 500), and occurs in Australia, Asia, Africa and the Americas. In the re-classification of the genus Acacia, the genus Acacia is reserved for those species native to Australia, about 900 of them, while the Acacia species native to Africa have been grouped into two separate genera, Vachellia and Senegalia. The main differences are that Vachellia has capitate inflorescences (round, head-like flowers) and spinescent stipules (thorns). Senegalia has spicate inflorescences (flowers in spikes) and the stipules are non-spinescent. For example, the well-known Acacia tortilis, A. nilotica, A. drepanolobium, A. kirkii, A. xanthophloea, A. nubica, A. abyssinica and A. sieberiana now become Vachellia tortilis, V. nilotica, V. drepanolobium, V. kirkii, V. xanthophloea, V.nubica, V. abyssinica and V. sieberiana, respectively. Similarly, Acacia nigrescens, A. brevispica, A. caffra, A. mellifera and A. senegal become Senegalia nigrescens, S. brevispica, S. caffra, S. mellifera and S. senegal, respectively (Haddad, 2011; Kyalangaliwa et al., 2013; Dyer, 2014). 3 3. Recommendations It is important that plant names used are accurate and up-to-date for correct identity of the species. For precision, use legitimate plant names, if applicable, down to the botanical variety level, and also include the author with the binomial name, when name changes have occurred as there might be a risk of confusion (McNeill et al., 2012). The new names are known as current or accepted names while the old ones applied to the same species become synonyms. The synonyms are put into brackets after the accepted names for cross-reference to other publications e.g. Vachellia tortilis (Acacia tortilis), the first time the plant is mentioned. Plant species name change, genera change, family name change and list of conserved family names are contained in Appendix 1, II, III and IV respectively. 4 Cassine buchananii Bauhinia thonningii 5 Bibliography Angiosperm Phylogeny Group. (2009). An update of the Angiosperm Phylogeny Group classification for the orders and families of flowering plants: APG III. Botanical Journal of the Linnean Society, 161(2), 105-121. Bentje, H. (1994). The Kenya trees, shrubs and lianas. Nairobi: National Museums of Kenya. Colin Dyer. (2014). New names for the African Acacia species in Vachellia and Senegalia. Southern Forests: a Journal of Forest Science, 76:4, iii-iii, DO I:10.2989/20702620.2014.980090 Flann, C., Turland, N.J., and Monro, A.M. (2014). Report on botanical nomenclature—Melbourne 2011. XVIII International Botanical Congress, Melbourne: Nomenclature Section, 18–22 July 2011. PhytoKeys, (41), 1. Gledhill, D. (2008). The names of plants. Cambridge University Press. Haddad, W.A. (2011). Classification and nomenclature of the genus Acacia (Leguminosae), with emphasis on Africa. Dendron, 43, 34-43. Heller, J.L. (1964). The early history of binomial nomenclature. Hunt Botanical Library, Carnegie Institute of Technology. Kyalangalilwa, B., Boatwright, J.S., Daru, B.H., Maurin, O., and Bank, M. (2013). Phylogenetic position and revised classification of Acacia sl (Fabaceae: Mimosoideae) in Africa, including new combinations in Vachellia and Senegalia. Botanical Journal of the Linnean Society, 172(4), 500-523. Plant List (2013). The Plant List version 1.1. Published on the Internet: (http://www. theplantlist. org) (accessed on 1st April 2019) 6 McNeill, J., Barrie, F.R., Buck, W.R., Demoulin, V., Greuter, W., Hawksworth, D.L. and Prud’homme Van Reine, W.F. (2012). International Code of Nomenclature for algae, fungi and plants. Regnum vegetabile, 154. Spencer, R., Cross, R., and Lumley, P. (2007). Plant names: a guide to botanical nomenclature. CSIRO publishing. Wearn, J.A., Chase, M.W., Mabberley, D.J., and Couch, C.