Skip to content
Center for Plant Conservation
  • Login
  • Register
  • Get Newsletters
  • Donate
  • Discover Our Work
    • 2025 National Meeting
      • Sponsor the National Meeting
      • Past National Meetings
      • 2025 Photo Contest
    • CPC Rare Plant Academy
      • Video Library
      • Photo Gallery
      • Applied Plant Conservation Course
      • Community Forum
    • National Collection
    • CPC Best Practices
      • Read Best Practices Online
      • Download Best Practices PDF
      • Purchase Best Practices Book
    • Pollinator Database
    • California Plant Rescue
    • Florida Plant Rescue
    • Rare Plant Finder
    • Seed Longevity Study
    • Rare Plant Reintroduction
      • Reintroduction Registry
      • CPC Reintroduction Database
  • Rare Plant Academy
    • Video Library
    • Photo Gallery
    • Applied Plant Conservation Course
    • Community Forum
  • Get Involved
    • Donate
    • 40th Anniversary
      • 40th Anniversary Campaign
      • 40th Anniversary Summit Event
    • Sponsor a Plant
    • Advocacy
    • Become a Partner
    • Get Newsletters
    • Register
    • Member Payments
    • Sponsor the National Meeting
  • Meet Our Community
    • CPC Newsletter
    • Conservation Partners
      • Institutional Partners
      • Individual Partners
    • CPC Star Awards
    • Fellowships
    • Community Forum
  • Support
    • Donate
    • Sponsor a Rare Plant
    • Shop CPC Merch
  • About
    • Team and Mission
    • Reports & Financials
    • Board of Trustees
    • Employment Opportunities
    • Press Room
    • Contact Us
  • Donate
  • Get Newsletters
  • Login
  • Register
Small-leaved rose is officially recognized as Rosa minutifolia, and calling it otherwise in your database could lead to confusion when sharing the data, even if would smell the same.
Small-leaved rose is officially recognized as Rosa minutifolia, and calling it otherwise in your database could lead to confusion when sharing the data, even if it would smell the same. Photo credit: Stacy Anderson, courtesy of San Diego Zoo Global.

 

A Rose by Any Other Name

Yes, a rose by any other name would smell as sweet. But would people know which beautiful bud you referred to? Naming and defining plants—or plant taxonomy—is essential to our understanding of plant evolution, relatedness, geography, conservation, and rarity. Accurate plant taxonomy is important when keeping data, and especially when sharing data. Make sure that rose means the same flower to those receiving the data as it does to you! Database managers need to check the names of species in their datasets against up-to-date taxonomies regularly, because names change more often than you might think.

As we learn more about plants and discover new ones, we are able to better refine our understanding of the relationships between them. New genetic data can split a genus, or merge two. Sometimes a whole family can be moved under another. For example, the former maple family (Aceraceae) is now recognized under the soapberry family (Sapindaceae). Because nature is not easily understood, defined, or categorized, experts have varying viewpoints on plant relationships and the names that represent those relationships. Although taxonomic experts do take time to meet, discuss, and agree upon changes based on the prevailing science, communication and general acceptance of these changes can be a thorny task.

The name changes definitely present a challenge for database managers. Taxonomic lists that report currently accepted names also make a point of listing current and former names (synonyms) for each plant species. Synonym cross-referencing helps botanists keep up with changes. Below is the list of taxonomic resources that CPC relies on to make sure we call a rose a rose.

1. ITIS. A very robust taxonomy reference for North America (with fairly good global coverage as well), ITIS includes names for animals, fungi, and microbes as well as plants. It is maintained in partnership with many US, Canadian, and Mexican agencies, including the Smithsonian and United States Geological Survey.
2. Plants of the World (POTW) and the World Checklist of Vascular Plants (WCVP). These resources, maintained by Kew, focus on comprehensive global coverage of plant names. WCVP (formerly known as The Plant List) is the taxonomy backbone, while POTW includes herbarium images and maps.
3. United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) Plants. Interestingly, the USDA maintains a database separate from ITIS. While it does include a large amount of taxonomy information, its strength is the wealth of images and plant trait data.
4. Regionally specific floras. The Jepson Flora is a key resource for CPC’s work with California Plant Rescue. Maintained by Jepson Herbarium at UC Berkeley, it is the primary taxonomy of state regulation in California.
5. The Flora of North America. CPC’s list of rare species will eventually conform to this taxonomy. A new website is available in Beta.

Discover Our Work

  • CPC Rare Plant Academy
  • National Collection
  • Best Practices Guide
  • Pollinator Database
  • California Plant Rescue
  • Florida Plant Rescue
  • Rare Plant Finder
  • CPC National Meeting

Get Involved

  • Donate
  • 40th Anniversary
  • Advocacy
  • Become a Partner
  • Get Newsletters
  • Register
  • Member Payment
  • Underwrite

Meet Our Community

  • CPC Newsletter
  • Institutional Partners
  • Individual Partners
  • CPC Star Awards
  • Fellowships

About

  • Team and Mission
  • Financials
  • Board of Trustees
  • Fellowships
  • Press Room
  • Contact Us

Social Media


The Center For Plant Conservation (CPC) is a 501 (c) (3) non-profit organization (EIN# 22-2527116) dedicated to saving rare plant species from extinction. CPC's National Collection represents more than 2,000 of the world's rarest plants, maintained collectively by its valued network of Participating Institutions.

Center for Plant Conservation National Headquarters 15600 San Pasqual Valley Rd. Escondido, CA 92027-7000

Email: info@saveplants.org; Phone: (760) 796-5686

The CPC National Office is headquartered at the San Diego Zoo Safari Park in Escondidio, California, in partnership with the San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance, a CPC Participating Institution.

San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance

CPC has achieved the 2019 Gold Seal of Transparency on GuideStar.

Privacy Policy | Terms & Conditions

Copyright 2020 Center for Plant Conservation | All Rights Reserved

FaceBook Twitter Instagram