Green and Gold Name Updates

 

Plant name changes happen from time to time; sometimes they vex us ordinary folk (like the Cornus florida change to Benthamidia florida), some are insightful (like the Tiarella changes), and some just make sense. I recently became aware of changes to the species level names for the perennial commonly called Green and Gold (Chrysogonum), and I think it is a positive change.

Green and Gold

Prior to the change, Green and Gold (Chrysogonum virginianum) had 3 varieties: var. brevistolon, var. australe, and var. virginianum. (Note: the term “variety” is actually part of scientific nomenclature. From Wikipedia: “In botanical nomenclature, variety (abbreviated var.in Latin:varietas) is a taxonomic rank below that of species and subspecies, but above that of form.”) An excellent description of the three varieties can be found at this Clemson link.

Chrysogonum repens

Chrysogonum australe

Chrysogonum virginianum

Their growth habits are distinctively different yet the plants were often lumped (at least on plant tags) into one name: Chrysogonum virginianum. That practice was quite annoying to those of us who really wanted a specific variety. One year we ordered 25 plants for the plant sale, expecting they were the short-stolon var. brevistolon, but when they arrived from the grower it was clear they were the long-stolon var. australe. We sent them back.

Figure 1 from referenced article

The research supporting the change (particularly of var. brevistolon to repens) is summarized in an article by Guy Nesom with excellent range details for those of us who have found it in the wild in Georgia (see Figure 1 above). For those of you who don’t normally look at vouchered specimens of actual plants, the article includes quite a few and they help to illustrate the differences (especially how much taller C. virginianum is).

Chrysogonum key from Weakley Flora 2022

So now I'll relabel all my photos and hope that growers will consider actually using the names correctly in the future. If you don't grow this plant, by the way, do consider adding it to your spring shopping list; it is a fantastic and dependable native perennial.