Abstract:
Changes over the past five decades in the scientific names of some potentially poisonous plants and toxigenic fungi in South
Africa are briefly reviewed. Some of the reasons why taxonomists change names are highlighted. In recent years, DNA sequencing
data have contributed considerably towards establishing phylogenetic relationships among plants, often resulting in changes in
generic circumscription and, consequently, the names of species. Philosophical differences between the phylogenetic and the
evolutionary schools of plant classification are briefly explained as these may manifest as different classifications for the same group
of plants. Although choice of classification remains the prerogative of the end-user of plant names, in this review, the classifications
for plants currently adopted by the South African National Biodiversity Institute (SANBI) in its online database, Plants of Southern
Africa (POSA), were followed. Noteworthy generic changes include Pachystigma to Vangueria, Homeria to Moraea, and Urginia to
Drimia. Following much controversy, the species native to southern Africa that were formerly treated as Acacia are now classified
in either Vachellia or Senegalia, with the genus name Acacia being retained for the mainly Australian members of the group, the
latter commonly known as wattles. Former southern African members of Acacia implicated in poisoning include Vachellia erioloba
(camel thorn), Vachellia sieberiana var. woodii (paperbark thorn), and Senegalia caffra (common hook thorn).
Description:
This brief review is dedicated to the memory of Johannes (Hans)
Vahrmeijer (1942/10/25–2021/07/17). Hans Vahrmeijer was a
qualified botanist with a keen interest in poisonous plants. In
1981, he published an illustrative guide ‘Poisonous plants of
southern Africa that causes stock losses’, Tafelberg Publishers.
