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How are weeds named? A committee review of the WSSA composite list of names

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  04 June 2024

Theresa Reinhardt Piskáčková Open the ORCID record for Theresa Reinhardt Piskáčková [Opens in a new window] ,
Karla L. Gage Open the ORCID record for Karla L. Gage [Opens in a new window] ,
Eugene P. Law Open the ORCID record for Eugene P. Law [Opens in a new window] ,
Lauren M. Schwartz-Lazaro Open the ORCID record for Lauren M. Schwartz-Lazaro [Opens in a new window] ,
Joan M. Campbell Open the ORCID record for Joan M. Campbell [Opens in a new window]  and
Christine Taliga Open the ORCID record for Christine Taliga [Opens in a new window]
Theresa Reinhardt Piskáčková*
Affiliation:
Assistant Professor, Department of Agroecology and Crop Production, Czech University of Life Sciences, Prague, Czech Republic
Karla L. Gage
Affiliation:
Associate Professor of Weed Science and Plant Biology, School of Agricultural Sciences, School of Biological Sciences, Southern Illinois University Carbondale, Carbondale, IL, USA
Eugene P. Law
Affiliation:
Assistant Professor, Department of Horticulture and Crop Sciences, The Ohio State University, Columbus, OH, USA
Lauren M. Schwartz-Lazaro
Affiliation:
Senior Agronomist, Blue River Technology, Santa Clara, CA, USA
Joan M. Campbell
Affiliation:
Principal Researcher, Department of Plant Sciences, University of Idaho, Moscow, ID, USA
Christine Taliga
Affiliation:
Plant Ecologist, Plant Data Team, USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service, National Soil Survey Center, Lincoln, NE, USA
*
Corresponding author: Theresa Reinhardt Piskáčková; Email: [email protected]
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Abstract

Plant names carry a significant amount of information without providing a lengthy description. This is an efficient shorthand for scientists and stakeholders to communicate about a plant, but only when the name is based on a common understanding. It is standard to think of each plant having just two names, a common name and a scientific name, yet both names can be a source of confusion. There are often many common names that refer to the same plant, or a single common name that refers to multiple different species, and some plants have no common name at all. Scientific names are based upon international standards; however, when the taxonomy is not agreed upon, two scientific names may be used to describe the same species. Weed scientists and practitioners can easily memorize multiple plant names and know that they refer to the same species, but when we consider global communication and far-reaching databases, it becomes very relevant to consider two sides of this shift: (1) a need for greater standardization (due to database management and risk of lost data from dropped cross-referencing); and (2) the loss of local heritage, which provides useful meaning through various common names. In addition, weed scientists can be resistant to changing names that they learned or frequently use. The developments in online databases and reclassification of plant taxonomy by phylogenetic relationships have changed the accessibility and role of the list of standardized plant names compiled by the Weed Science Society of America (WSSA). As part of an attempt to reconcile WSSA and USDA common names for weedy plants, the WSSA Standardized Plant Names Committee recently concluded an extensive review of the Composite List of Weeds common names and had small changes approved to about 10% of the list of more than 2,800 distinct species.

Keywords

Communicationconservationnomenclatureplant databasesplant namesstandardizationweediness
Type
Review
Information
Weed Science , Volume 72 , Issue 5 , September 2024 , pp. 433 - 443
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Copyright
© The Author(s), 2024. Published by Cambridge University Press on behalf of Weed Science Society of America

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Footnotes

Associate Editor: William Vencill, University of Georgia

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