200 'racist' plant names set to change after a vote of botanists

In a significant move, researchers voted to remove offensive scientific names of organisms. The International Botanical Congress in Madrid voted to replace over 200 plant, fungi, and algae species names that contained a racial slur related to the word “caffra,” a derogatory term used against Black people and others in southern Africa.

According to reports, species like the coast coral tree will be formally known as Erythrina affra instead of Erythrina caffra from 2026. The proposal, led by Gideon Smith and Estrela Figueiredo from Nelson Mandela University, replaces offensive names with derivatives of “afr” to recognize Africa.

The vote was close, with 351 in favour and 205 opposed. Additionally, a committee was established to address problematic names, including those honouring individuals who profited from the transatlantic slave trade.

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Kevin Thiele, a plant taxonomist at the Australia National University in Canberra, who proposed, noted that the changes involve creating a special committee to handle the ethics of names for newly described plants, fungi, and algae. Species names can now be rejected by the committee if deemed derogatory to a group of people, but this will only apply to names given after 2026, not to historical names.

Thiele expressed that the creation of a naming ethics committee and rules for handling derogatory new names is likely the best outcome he could have hoped for at this Congress, acknowledging it as a small step towards recognizing the issue.

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