Philodendron hastatum IS NOT Philodendron domesticum!

Discussion in 'Indoor and Greenhouse Plants' started by photopro, Mar 3, 2007.

  1. photopro

    photopro Well-Known Member

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    You may have read my posts on several boards inquiring if the scientific name Philodendron hastatum had actually been changed to Philodendron domesticum. I have been searching for the answer to this question since mid 2006. Many popular garden websites, and one popular book, have posted that exact claim! Dr. Tom Croat of the Missouri Botanical Garden has finally ended my quest to verify or deny this claim. I know of no source more knowledgeable than Dr. Croat, who is in the opinion of most aroid experts, the ultimate authority in the United States on this group of plants! According to Dr. Croat, the two plants ARE NOT one and the same!

    I have had a long running exchange with Dr. Croat and Dr. Eduardo Gonçalves who is Brazil's top aroid expert regarding Philodendron hastatum. Yet, many websites have insisted the name Philodendron hastatum was changed to Philodendron domesticum. One even threatend to sue me personally because I stated they were in error! You can even find that claim on the USDA website!

    It appears this is a conflict between horticulture and botany. At one time the plant George Bunting described as Philodendron domesticum was known in horticulture as philodendron hastatum (non-scientifically). Once Bunting published the plant in 1966 horticulturists apparently elected to grant the established plant (which was published over 100 years earlier) Bunting's new name. Once the misnomer was "planted" it was difficult to dig out this myth and the myth continued to grow and take "roots". It appears even GRIN has given some credibility to this notion. Regrettably, there appears to be no known natural origin for Philodendron domesticum. In effect, it may be nothing more than a hybrid since no scientific record appears to designate where Philodendron domesticum can be found in nature. Philodendron hastatum is known to be found in Brazil. And this is Dr. Croat's email response to this entire matter:

    "I have never seen the type of P. domesticum and doubt if I would know any more if I had seen it. (comment omitted) Just looking at the illustration I could imagine that it could be a dozen different species. The reason why it is confused with P. hastatum K. Koch is that the plant he described had commonly been called P. hastatum. Naturally it had nothing to do with P. hastatum. It was just another cultivated plant of unknown origin. He accomplished nothing by describing it and instead just created another plant likely never to be understood. The paper by Sakuragui listed below just deals with the real P. hastatum and has nothing to do with the plant that Bunting described. I have made a photocopy of Bunting’s paper and will mail it to you but I can’t imagine how this will help you much."

    As far as I am concerned this controversy is now closed! Others will obviously wish to continue claiming the name has been changed. I just wish I could figure out how to convince all the websites (including the one that threatened to sue) that have repeated this unfounded claim to change what they have written! But at least now I know the truth! Several people have assisted me in tracking down the source of this notion. Those people are credited on my website.

    Please be clear, I can find absolutely no record where Bunting stated or implied the name Philodendron hastatum had been changed to Philodendron domesticum. This is strictly a case of horticulture attempting to circumvent botany in an effort to substitute one older "common name" for an established and verified botanical name. In this case, the internet, which is filled with errors, made the substitution all too easy. Someone says it, another repeats it, and suddenly science fiction is said (even by the US government) to be scientific fact!

    Still, it did occur to me! Since Bunting did not specify in his description where Philodendron domesticum originated could he have been "playing" with us when he named the plant "domesticum"? As in "home grown"?

    This is my published record of this entire account:
    http://www.exoticrainforest.com/Philodendron hastatum pc.html
     

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