PL ANT OF TH E M ON TH
JIM FUNAI, LIC Cuyahoga Community College Three-toothed Cinquefoil is not a very common plant. It has only recently been renamed to Sibbaldiopsis tridentate owing to systemic phylogenetic work that places it closer to Sibbaldia genus.
SHELLEY FUNAI, LIC Stan Hywet Hall and Gardens
POTENTILLA TRIDENTATA ‘NUUK’ NUUK POTENTILLA
Potentilla – as a genus name – is usually associated with P. fruticose, the shrubby Cinquefoil that comes in an insane number of cultivars. And, while P. fruticosa has been stealing the spotlight for some time within the genus, a potential contender was removed all together, without many of us even realizing it. Officially, Potentilla tridentata ‘Nuuk’ has had its name changed to Sibbaldiopsis tridentate. Wait... does that mean we just put the wrong name in the title of our article? Let us explain. First, keep in mind that our nurseries are in a constant dance with plant names changing. If they were to immediately jump on every name change, many clients might think they were simply sold out of the plant they want. Thus, we had a feeling if we led with Sibbaldiopsis tridentate, many of you might have skipped the article thinking we lost our minds. You certainly wouldn’t find THAT plant in any local nurseries, right?
Second, we plant nerds can be a bit stubborn with name changes. We, like many of you, resist some of these changes because they don’t make sense to our eyes. That said, now that taxonomists have started sorting plants by DNA traits, they’ve been moving some plants around that don’t make sense based on their appearance alone. There is logic in organizing plants this way, as it gives us a better understanding continued on page 22
20 | Official Publication of The Ohio Landscape Association
