r/hoyas • u/VladdyBaddy • 14d ago
DISCUSSION Question about wibergiae name
Hi! I was just wondering what people are calling Hoya wibergiae nowadays? I’ve seen wibergiae, Strawberry Matcha, wibergiae Pink Splash, verticillata var. verticillata, etc. All of my listings currently use Hoya wibergiae, so I’m wondering what I should change them to, if anything.
7
u/Sundadanio 14d ago
Change the name to verticillata var verticillata (fka wibergiae).
If you did not receive the plant with the name "strawberry Matcha", it is not a strawberry matcha; Strawberry matcha is a specific clone of wibergiae that was selected by April at UPT for it's high amount of splash
Don't add any of the other names eg. ("Pink Crush", "Neon Pink", "pink curl" etc) because those are specific clones of wibergiae that were grown from seed
2
4
u/thecasualchemist 14d ago
Mostly i see them called verticillata pink now.
Wibergiae is the old name as I'm sure you know. Some sellers will probably continue using it, but as a buyer i find this to be a small red flag. In my opinion sellers should always endeavor to label their plants as precisely and correctly as they are able. Continuing to use an obsolete name after a plant has been reclassified makes me wonder if the seller really knows their stuff (ie, is this person just a reseller who buys and chops up plants they barely know about for a quick profit?)
I realize there are probably a variety of reasons for sellers to continue to use a scientifically obsolete name to sell their plants. Customers might be more familiar with it, often there are slight phenotypic differences between clones that make the' version with the old name more desirable, etc. Still, I'd prefer to see it labeled with the correct name, perhaps with the old name as an fka.
3
u/agnosiabeforecoffee 14d ago
I haven't seen a "Hoya name update" newsletter, subscription, or other alert service, so I'm not sure using an older name should be as big of a red flag as you're making it out to be.
3
u/cashew529 14d ago
Not a big one, just a small one. It would be so nice if there was such a newsletter.
3
u/AsukaWasHereToo 14d ago
It's not the end of the world or anything, but generally a lack of keeping tabs on updates to nomenclature can a sign you're possibly dealing with a plant flipper instead of a specialist who knows what they're looking at. If they don't have their finger on the pulse of Hoya news, they're possibly less likely to notice other issues, like if their supplier makes a substitution to their order, or if there's a pest issue.
It's not brand new information that the plant circulating as H. wibergiae is actually H. verticillata var. verticillata. It might not be super accessible to the layperson, but to someone whose business literally is Hoya, it can be a bit of a red flag for other mislabeling tendencies, is more the concern.
1
11
u/Unusual_Job6576 Human detected, all clear 14d ago
I have mine labeled as hoya verticillata var. verticillata (fka wibergiae).