I mean scientific names, mostly genera, species or subspecies, that can be somehow misleading in relation to their meaning. Few examples: Scilla peruviana is native to the west Mediterranean and is not from Peru nor from the Americas. Orobanche flava is more often pinkish or orangish rather then …

Callococcus acaciae is hosted by Kunzea, not Acacia.

There are some more examples in this thread: The name sounds native, but it's not . For example: [image] The name sounds native, but it's not Caryothraustes canadensis doesn’t occur anywhere near Canada. It’s a Neotropical rainforest species

Not from Madagascar Adding insult to injury, the genus was recently changed from Plectranthus to Coleus. But the rules insist that ‘Madagascar is wrong’ remains because It Was FIRST.

Asclepias syriaca is from eastern North America. Linnaeus was confused. Cymopterus terebinthinus. var. albiflorus has yellow flowers. Always. But the flower color fades when the petals dry.

Kind of weak, but none of the species in the genus Salvadora are found in El Salvador (but I don’t think that’s how the genus got its name). Contrastingly, Iguana iguana is in fact an iguana.

[image] rinaturalist: Contrastingly, Iguana iguana is in fact an iguana. Satisfying. Counterpoint: Puffinus puffinus is not a puffin.

Coluber constrictor isn’t really known to use constriction much or at all.

Two similar species of nighthawks have confusing names. Of the two, Chordeiles minor is a little larger than Chordeiles acutipennis , and the latter, despite a name meaning sharp-winged, has less pointed wings than its congener.

Columbicola extinctus … it’s not extinct (although it was once thought to be)!

You don’t want to know what the word puffin means. Sob. It was the Manks puffin.

"Misleading" scientific names

Nature Talk

deboas January 23, 2023, 2:30pm 3

There are some more examples in this thread: The name sounds native, but it's not. For example:

Topic		Replies	Views
New Names for old friends. How much to cut and how much to paste Nature Talk	21	881	September 7, 2022
Name Changes for Plant Taxa Nature Talk	18	1890	November 7, 2022
Scientific v. Common Name Nature Talk	33	2301	August 11, 2022
How do scientists come up with names for animals? Nature Talk question	32	6217	August 18, 2021
The name sounds native, but it's not Nature Talk	83	2578	October 7, 2022

"Misleading" scientific names

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