Photo of Solanum sanchez-vegae, first plant to be documented in new system, courtesy sciencenews.org
As of this year, scientists may write new discoveries of plant, algae, and fungus species online in English. Prior to January 1, 2012 all scientific discoveries had to be published in papers, and descriptions written in Latin. Now only the names must be in Latin. Since only about half of all plants and a tiny amount of all fungus and algae having been classified, scientists hope these changes will speed up the classifying of all this planet's species. For more information click here.
My favorite plant is Gardenia augusta, also known as Gardenia jasminoides, the common gardenia shrub. Gardenia is my favorite scent, and the shrub is beautiful all year (evergreen) even when it isn't flowering. What is your favorite plant and why?
