April 2006
Name Changes in the Plant Atlas Database
The plant names in the Plant Atlas database, including the collection and reference material, such as the Plant Name Finder, followed the taxonomy of the Checklist of the Vascular Plants of San Diego County, 3rd edition.  Recently the 4th edition of that book has been released. Significant changes to the taxonomy of the 3rd edition have been incorporated into the 4th edition. These changes are detailed below. The Plant Name Finder feature now represents the 4th edition. Specimens added to the collection from this date forward will be listed in the database using the newer taxonomy. In order to maintain consistency, the new names will be applied to all existing specimens in the database. 

Parabotanists can enter data using the old names, but when verified, all specimens will be renamed to the new. All existing specimens will also be renamed, and parabotanists, when reviewing their collections, will see new names when applicable.

Summary of the Taxonomic Changes
The Plant Name Finder is based on Rebman, J.P. and M.G. Simpson. 2006. Checklist of the Vascular Plants of San Diego County, San Diego Natural History Museum, San Diego, California. This Checklist catalogs all native and naturalized vascular plants known to occur in San Diego County, California, U.S.A. Nomenclature for this Checklist is based on The Jepson Manual (1993) for most native plants, Hortus Third (Bailey & Bailey 1976) for some naturalized plants, or original research journal articles where pertinent. Also utilized is the Jepson Online Interchange for California Floristics and published volumes of the Flora of North America (Flora of North America Editorial Committee (eds.) 1993+; listed electronically at eFloras.

In this 4th Edition Checklist, there have been several taxonomic name changes. Within the Angiosperms, the authors have chosen to follow the Angiosperm Phylogeny Group (2003) system of classification in denoting major groups and most families. On the Plant Name Finder webpage, you may notice a few changes made to the column “Plant Group.” The San Diego County species that have traditionally been treated as "Dicots," almost all belong to a well defined, monophyletic group called the Eudicots. Thus, the Flowering Plants that occur in San Diego County are either Monocots, Eudicots, or one of five species in the families Calycanthaceae, Lauraceae, Saururaceae Ceratophyllaceae. 

IMPORTANT: The following summary reflects the most significant changes made to the plants in our County and does not include taxonomic name changes of plants not found in San Diego County.

*** Order Changes  (Angiosperms no longer grouped as Dicots, but as Basal Dicots)
Taxa now in Magnoliids-Laurales 
   Calycanthaceae (Calycanthus occidentalis)
   Lauraceae (Cinnamomum camphora and Umbellularia californica)
Taxon now in Magnoliids-Piperales
   Saururaceae (Anemopsis californica)
Taxon now in Ceratophyllales
   Ceratophyllaceae (Ceratophyllum demersum)

*** Family Changes
Adoxaceae split from Caprifoliaceae:

   Sambucus mexicana is now Adoxaceae
Apodanthaceae:
   Pilostyles thurberi is now in Apodanthaceae (formerly Rafflesiaceae)
Asclepiadaceae merged into Apocynaceae
No longer in Boraginaceae:

   Ehretiaceae = Tiquilia spp. (T. canescens var. canescens, T. palmeri, T. plicata)
   Heliotropaceae = Heliotropium curassavicum
Callitrichaceae merged into Plantaginaceae
Chenopodiaceae merged into Amaranthaceae
Cuscutaceae merged into Convolvulaceae
Euphorbiaceae split into three families:
   Phyllanthaceae = Phyllanthus caroliniensis ssp. caroliniensis
   Picrodendraceae = Tetracoccus dioicus
   Euphorbiaceae = all remaining taxa
Lemnaceae merged into Araceae
No longer in Hostaceae:
   Agavaceae= Hesperocallis undulata
Myoporaceae merged into Scrophulariaceae
Scrophulariaceae rearranged into several families:
   1) Scrophulariaceae = Myoporum (formerly in Myoporaceae), Scrophularia, and Verbascum
   2) Orobanchaceae = Castilleja, Cordylanthus, Pedicularis, Boschniakia, and Orobanche 
   3) Phrymaceae = Mimulus
   4) Plantaginaceae= Antirrhinum, Bacopa, Collinsia, Digitalis, Keckiella, Kickxia, Limosella,
       Linaria, Lindernia, Mohavea, Penstemon, Stemodia, Triphysaria, Veronica.
Sterculiaceae merged into Malvaceae

*** Significant Generic and Species Changes
Yucca (Agavaceae) transfer:
  
Yucca whipplei to the genus Hesperoyucca
Chenopodium (Amaranthaceae) transfer:
   Chenopodium ambrosioides, C. multifidum, and C. pumilio to the genus Dysphania
Salicornia (Amaranthaceae) transfers:
   Salicornia subterminalis to the genus Arthrocnemum
   Salicornia virginica misapp. to Sarcocornia pacifica 
Aster (Asteraceae) transfer:
   Aster into the genus Symphyotrichum
Hymenoclea (Asteraceae) transfer:
  Hymenoclea into the genus Ambrosia
Gnaphalium (Asteraceae) transfers:
   Gnaphalium purpureum misapp. to Gamochaeta ustulata
   Gnaphalium bicolor
to Pseudognaphalium biolettii
   Gnaphalium canescens ssp. beneolens to Pseudognaphalium beneolens
   Gnaphalium canescens ssp. canescens to Pseudognaphalium canescens
   Gnaphalium canescens ssp. microcephalum to Pseudognaphalium microcephalum
Lessingia (Asteraceae) transfers:
   Both varieties of Lessingia filaginifolia to the genus Corethrogyne
Senecio (Asteraceae) transfers:
   Senecio ganderi to Packera ganderi
   Senecio mikanioides to Delairia odorata
Chamomilla (Asteraceae) transfers:
  Chamomilla occidentalis now Matricaria occidentalis
  Chamomilla suaveolens now Matricaria matricarioides
Arabis (Brassicaceae) transfers:
   All species of genus Arabis now are in the genus Boechera except Arabis glabra remains in Arabis
Smilacina (Convallariaceae) transfer:
   Smilacina stellata to Maianthemum stellatum
Scirpus (Cyperaceae) transfers:
   Scirpus maritimus, now Bolboschoenus maritimus ssp. paludosus
   Scirpus cernuus ssp. californicus, now Isolepis cernua var. cernua
   Scirpus acutus, S. americanus, S. californicus, and S. pungens, now all the genus Schoenoplectus
   Scirpus microcarpus is retained in that genus
Eremocarpus (Euphorbiaceae) transfer:
   Eremocarpus setigerus to Croton setigerus
Erodium (Geraniaceae) transfer:
   Erodium macrophyllum to California macrophylla
Mimulus (Phrymaceae):
   Mimulus aurantiacus split into: Mimulus aurantiacus var. aridus (formerly M. aridus), var. pubescens, and var. puniceus plus
    hybrid intermediates (var. pubescens x var. puniceus
Chloris (Poaceae) transfer:
   Chloris distichophylla to the genus Eustachys
Erioneuron (Poaceae) transfer:
   Erioneuron pulchellum to Dasyochloa pulchella
Pleuraphis (Poaceae) transfer:
  Pleuraphis rigida to the genus Hilaria
Oxytheca (Polygonaceae) transfer:
  Oxytheca trilobata to the genus Sidotheca
Potamogeton (Potamogetonaceae) transfer:
 
Potomogeton pectinatus to Stuckenia pectinata
Muilla (Themidacea) transfer:
  Muilla clevelandii to the genus Bloomeria