Time to change your labels: Jubaeopsis caffra is now Jubaeopsis afra

[Jonathan Haycock]

As caffra is said to be derogative (Arabic word meaning infidel) towards certain groups of South Africans, they have removed it from the botanical nomenclature for a number of species, including Jubaeopsis caffra, which is now Jubaeopsis afra.

Further explanations below from Rodrigo Bernal (believe former Curator, National Colombian Herbarium, and faculty member of The University of Colombia) and Professor William J Baker (Senior Research Leader, Kew). 

[Harry’s Palms]

That is quite interesting and understandable. I don’t have this one in my collection but thank you for the information. Harry

[Silas_Sancona]

Yep, had mentioned the topic down in the " Tropical Plants,  other than Palms "  area of the forum as well.  Applaud them for having the courage to pursue change rather than fear doing so.

As mentioned, Discussion of amending names was proposed for numerous Bird sps. here in the U.S. Is being done, as far as i'm aware. Now, numerous plants containing that offensive name.

  Im 100% sure this is just the start of getting things right / bringing proper awareness of the world around us,  to us..

FYI: Don't get me started on all the  unrelated  -but still relevant-  Taxon.- related waves being made within the Agave / Cactus community atm, lol.

All this as new species continue to be discovered / re- discovered..   What a time to be alive.

[Jonathan Haycock]

For those unfamiliar with the species, here is a specimen at Brisbane City Botanic Gardens, Australia.

[Phoenikakias]

9 hours ago, Harry’s Palms said:

That is quite interesting and understandable. I don’t have this one in my collection but thank you for the information. Harry

What is no more understandable is the modified or rather mauled specific epithet. It has been a long standing scientific tradition that specific epithets should have a purpose and a meaning, either to honor a person (usually a peominent botanist) or signify main attributes or origin of the described sp. We should not deviate from this tradition. Kafir was used as a collective term for several African tribes there, and in a broad sense caffra signified the origin of Jubaeopsis. Affra means nothing or rather reminds of code letters for lab created virus strain! I would prefer a complete change of the epithet, in a way that we keep sticking to the scientific tradition and the new epithet would still signify origin. How about pondolandiae or pondolandiana or even africana?

[tim_brissy_13]

2 hours ago, Phoenikakias said:

What is no more understandable is the modified or rather mauled specific epithet. It has been a long standing scientific tradition that specific epithets should have a purpose and a meaning, either to honor a person (usually a peominent botanist) or signify main attributes or origin of the described sp. We should not deviate from this tradition. Kafir was used as a collective term for several African tribes there, and in a broad sense caffra signified the origin of Jubaeopsis. Affra means nothing or rather reminds of code letters for lab created virus strain! I would prefer a complete change of the epithet, in a way that we keep sticking to the scientific tradition and the new epithet would still signify origin. How about pondolandiae or pondolandiana or even africana?

Honestly I had the same thought. Overall I have to say the consideration of the potential offence and guts to make a change has to be a good thing, but if afra doesn’t actually have any meaning then is it the best choice? Or is it some kind of halfway reference to ‘from Africa’? Could you argue it is still just a remnant of a previous poorly chosen name and therefore still has the potential to remind people of the term and cause offence? Could’ve been an opportunity to revise from scratch, but I’m sure that there are many factors I’m not aware of as a non botanist. 

[Harry’s Palms]

I would think there are better , more descriptive names that could be used . That would be more in line with identifying this particular variety without the potential of being offensive. Harry

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[bruce Steele]

A Jubaeopsis is kinda a one off and from now on one word will be enough to describe it.  One of my favorite obsessions . 

[Bill Baker (Kew)]

On 8/8/2024 at 8:33 AM, Phoenikakias said:

What is no more understandable is the modified or rather mauled specific epithet. It has been a long standing scientific tradition that specific epithets should have a purpose and a meaning, either to honor a person (usually a peominent botanist) or signify main attributes or origin of the described sp. We should not deviate from this tradition. Kafir was used as a collective term for several African tribes there, and in a broad sense caffra signified the origin of Jubaeopsis. Affra means nothing or rather reminds of code letters for lab created virus strain! I would prefer a complete change of the epithet, in a way that we keep sticking to the scientific tradition and the new epithet would still signify origin. How about pondolandiae or pondolandiana or even africana?

I've only just come across this thread. The original proposal to change the code was published here (free access)

https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1002/tax.12622

There is explanation as to the switch to names stemming from "afer" - in my view this is a perfectly reasonable alternative epithet. Nothing mauled about it.

[Jonathan]

42 minutes ago, Bill Baker (Kew) said:

I've only just come across this thread. The original proposal to change the code was published here (free access)

https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1002/tax.12622

There is explanation as to the switch to names stemming from "afer" - in my view this is a perfectly reasonable alternative epithet. Nothing mauled about it.

Thanks for linking that Bill. The change to 'afra', as 'from Africa' seems rational, however,  doesn't the etymology of 'afer' stem from the Latin for black, or dark, which in itself is potentially offensive...ie. colonial code for the Dark Continent? Out of the frying pan into the fire!

I'd be surprised if there weren't existing names in local languages for many of the species in question that could be adapted for specific epithets. Perhaps wealthy Western institutions like Kew could fund a support program of grants to researchers in the areas affected to find a locally acceptable alternative and update the literature.

What a great opportunity for us more affluent nations to give something back to Africa, both material and intellectual, as a tiny part recompense for previous damages inflicted...or we could be lazy and just drop a c!

[Bill Baker (Kew)]

19 hours ago, Jonathan said:

Thanks for linking that Bill. The change to 'afra', as 'from Africa' seems rational, however,  doesn't the etymology of 'afer' stem from the Latin for black, or dark, which in itself is potentially offensive...ie. colonial code for the Dark Continent? Out of the frying pan into the fire!

I'd be surprised if there weren't existing names in local languages for many of the species in question that could be adapted for specific epithets. Perhaps wealthy Western institutions like Kew could fund a support program of grants to researchers in the areas affected to find a locally acceptable alternative and update the literature.

What a great opportunity for us more affluent nations to give something back to Africa, both material and intellectual, as a tiny part recompense for previous damages inflicted...or we could be lazy and just drop a c!

Not having a large Latin dictionary on my desk, I resorted to Google. I did find some references to the definition you mention, but more that referred generally to Africa, African, or some to N Africa, Carthage. I guess if that is controversial, then we can expect a new debate about changing the name of the continent!

A core source of vitriol that bubbled up over name changes was the chaos that would ensue. You aren't the first to propose large scale changes and links to indigenous languages. There is very little support for it though even within the nations concerned (a growing literature evidences that). I don't think that dropping the c was lazy, rather it was an efficient way of dealing with one particularly divisive epithet and to demonstrate clearly that the botanical community is now paying better attention (while not making swingeing changes in a precipitous fashion). 

I really love the idea of Kew as a "wealthy institution". That has sent me home chuckling! Thanks for the interesting discussion. 

[David B]

What should I call my Encephalartos caffer plants?

[Jonathan]

3 hours ago, Bill Baker (Kew) said:

Not having a large Latin dictionary on my desk, I resorted to Google. I did find some references to the definition you mention, but more that referred generally to Africa, African, or some to N Africa, Carthage. I guess if that is controversial, then we can expect a new debate about changing the name of the continent!

A core source of vitriol that bubbled up over name changes was the chaos that would ensue. You aren't the first to propose large scale changes and links to indigenous languages. There is very little support for it though even within the nations concerned (a growing literature evidences that). I don't think that dropping the c was lazy, rather it was an efficient way of dealing with one particularly divisive epithet and to demonstrate clearly that the botanical community is now paying better attention (while not making swingeing changes in a precipitous fashion). 

I really love the idea of Kew as a "wealthy institution". That has sent me home chuckling! Thanks for the interesting discussion. 

Lol! Yes, I'm sure most botanical gardens wouldn't consider themselves to be wealthy but my point was really around first world countries redistributing a bit of our wealth, particularly back to former colonies. A grants system might have been a nice way to contribute, and empower at the same time. I know Kew has done good work along those lines in places like Madagascar.

Thanks for replying, enjoyed the discussion, despite the lazy'c'!

[Looking Glass]

If anyone is interested, here’s a brief history of the word Kaffir (a historically pejorative term used by Muslims to describe “non-believers”), and its evolution, that is at the center of the controversy….  

https://www.oed.com/discover/kaffir/?tl=true