On 1/6/08 22:18, in article lid, "Stewart Robert
Hinsley" wrote:

In message , Sacha
writes
On 1/6/08 19:15, in article ,
"Charlie Pridham" wrote:

In article ,
says...
In message
,
writes
Bring some Antipodean extravagance to your garden with Hebe plants. We
found out more in an interview with Tony Hayter, Secretary of the Hebe
Society.


1. Can you tell us, what exactly is a Hebe?

A Hebe is a close related of Veronica (speedwell). It is an evergreen
shrub that comes from New Zealand. There are 100 species and many
cultivars

By more recent botanical opinion a Hebe is a Veronica of subgenus Hebe,
i.e. Hebe is nested in Veronica.

http://www.albach.gmxhome.de/Classif...n.htm#Veronica

Amazing how things come around! I have spent the last 25 years trying to
get my mother to call them Hebe not Veronica, Pghiladelphus will return
to Syringa as well and her world would be perect!

I'm not sure that Philadelphus was ever in Syringa. Syringa has got into
circulation as a vernacular name for Philadelphus, but both genera were
recognised as far back as Linnaeus.

Surely we're just talking about what people called them, not what they
actually should be?

[Googling finds a reference to Gerard using the name Syringa - referring
to the hollow stems - for both lilac and mock orange - over 100 years
before Linnaeus.]

The chance of Philadelphus being placed in Syringa are remote;
Philadelphus belongs to family Hydrangaceae in order Cornales (it used
to be in the rather unnatural Saxifragaceae sensu lato), while Syringa
belongs to family Oleaceae in order Lamiales. This contrasts with the
situation with Veronica and Hebe, where it was always recognised that
they were closely related.

There's a better chance of lilacs becoming Ligustrum. (There's data out
there suggesting that Ligustrum is nested in Syringa, and Ligustrum
occurs earlier in Species Plantarum than Syringa.)

And Aloysia triphylla will revert to Lippia citrodora (which I much prefer)
and still be Lemon Verbena to many!

That might happen. Fide WikiPedia the current name is Aloysia citrodora.
It seems that L'Heritier's use of the epithet triphylla (1785-6)
predated Lamarck's use of the epithet citrodora (1791), but an earlier
(1784) use of citrodora by a 3rd botanist has been found. So all it
would take is to decide that Lippia warrants generic rank. On the other
hand, triphylla has been in use from 1925, so it could get conserved.

Fine, then I'm sticking to Lippia citrodora. Most customers call it lemon
verbena anyway!

--
Sacha
http://www.hillhousenursery.co.uk
South Devon
'We do not inherit the earth from our ancestors, we borrow it from our
children.'