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Pogostemon, Eusteralis, Dysophylla
Bob Olesen wrote:
"I am not a scientist, but honestly, the taxonomy of aquatics,
like terrestrials, is apparently so screwed that people might be forgiven
not
knowing and using the latest, favorite classification and name of the hour."
The names and classification of _some_ aquatics is screwey, but by no means
all of them. My post wasn't meant as an attempt to force anybody to use a
particular generic name in preference to another - it was rather designed to
point out that, at least in this case, more accurate and/or helpful
information might be found if a person looked at a wider selection of
possible names for that particular plant.
I'm not a scientist either, and I'm definately an amateur regarding the
arcane and sometimes convoluted rules surrounding plant names. However,
plants are grouped together by botanists for a reason and as aquatic
gardeners we can sometimes get clues regarding how to best care for
unfamiliar plants by looking at data available for other, related plants.
Not all closely related plants have the same needs or growth habits, but
they quite often do share sufficient similarities that we at least have a
base from which to work.
Many times the names cited in hobby level literature, on amateur websites
and/or commercial nursery lists are old, out of date, or just plain wrong.
If you insist on perpetuating a mistaken identity purely because it is a
name you feel comfortable with, I guess that's fine for your personal use,
but, as Bob pointed out further in his post, "if clear communication is the
guiding principle here...", it helps to be aware that, at least in some
instances, confusion can be widespread and a little legwork and looking can
sometimes uncover interesting information. That is of course, predicated on
the principle that we are trying to share information here...
James Purchase
Toronto