The third edition of New Flora of the British Isles by Clive Stace has now been published. There are changes to the rarity status (R, RR and RRR) of some plants because the definitions of these have been changed but more importantly there are many changes to the botanical names of plants. This is a first attempt at identifying the changes to plant names in the WFS diary. These changes are also shown on the Illustrated Diary pages but not yet on the others. I will add other name changes which are not among the 1000 common plants in the WFS diary as I discover them. Any plant which is in the main section of Stace Edition 3 can be counted for WFS diary purposes and there are many more entries than in Edition 2 or 1.
Some of the changes such as those in the Orchidaceae were expected because the work which led to the proposed name changes was completed in the late 90s. Other changes such as from Rosa pimpinellifolia to Rosa spinosissima were made shortly after we published the diary. We have published a complete list of plant names which is derived from the BSBI2007 list and that already has some of the changes on the list below.
A number of name changes appear to resurrect names we once used like Carex demissa for Yellow sedge but others are extremely puzzling like Monotropa hypopitys changing to Hypopitys monotropa.
| No | Common Name | Old name in WFS Diary | New name in Stace Ed 3 | Diary | Comments |
| 1 | Man Orchid | Aceras anthropophorum | Orchis anthropophora | 1 | Expected: Bateman et al 1997 |
| 2 | Yellow Sedge | Carex viridula | Carex demissa | 17 | Welcome back old friend |
| 3 | Rustyback | Ceterach officinarum | Asplenium officinarum | 19 | |
| 4 | Corn Marigold | Chrysanthemum segetum | Glebionis segetum | 21 | Glebionis used in Europe for ages |
| 5 | Lesser Swine-cress | Coronopus didymus | Lepidium didymum | 23 | |
| 6 | Swine-cress | Coronopus squamatus | Lepidium coronopus | 23 | |
| 7 | Blue Fleabane | Erigeron acer | Erigeron acris | 31 | |
| 8 | Tall Fescue | Festuca arundinacea | Schedonorus arundinaceus | 33 | |
| 9 | Giant Fescue | Festuca gigantea | Schedonorus giganteus | 35 | |
| 10 | Meadow Fescue | Festuca pratensis | Schedonorus pratensis | 35 | |
| 11 | Hedge Bedstraw | Galium mullogo | Galium album | 37 | |
| 12 | Meadow Oat-grass | Helictotrichon pratense | Avenula pratensis | 41 | |
| 13 | Downy Oat-grass | Helictotrichon pubescens | Avenula pubescens | 41 | |
| 14 | Hybrid Bluebell | Hyacinthoides hispanica x H. non scripta | Hyacinthoides x massartiana | 43 | Known for some time |
| 15 | Tree-mallow | Lavatera arborea | Malva arborea | 49 | Lots of changes in Malva/Lavatera |
| 16 | Autumn Hawkbit | Leontodon autumnalis | Scorzoneroides autumnalis | 49 | |
| 17 | Lesser Tawyblade | Listera cordata | Neottia cordata | 51 | Expected: Bateman et al 1997 |
| 18 | Twayblade | Listera ovata | Neottia ovata | 51 | Expected: Bateman et al 1997 |
| 19 | Trailing Azalea | Loiseleuria procumbens | Kalmia procumbens | 51 | |
| 20 | Ragged Robin | Lychnis flos-cuculis | Silene flos-cuculi | 53 | Lychnis has become Silene |
| 21 | Apple | Malus domestica | Malus pumila | 55 | |
| 22 | Scented Mayweed | Matricaria recutita | Matricaria chamomilla | 55 | |
| 23 | Yellow Bird's-nest | Monotropa hypopitys | Hypopitys monotropa | 57 | My favourite change |
| 24 | Green-winged Orchid | Orchis morio | Anacamptis morio | 61 | Expected: Bateman et al 1997 |
| 25 | Star-of-Bethlehem | Ornithogallum angustifolium | Ornithogallum umbellatum ssp campestre | 63 | |
| 26 | Hart's-tongue | Phyllitis scolopendrium | Asplenium scolopendrium | 65 | |
| 27 | Bristly Ox-tongue | Picris echioides | Helminthotheca echioides | 65 | What a mouthful |
| 28 | Marsh Cinquefoil | Potentilla palustris | Comarum palustre | 69 | |
| 29 | Lesser Celandine | Ranunculus ficaria | Ficaria verna ssp fertilis | 73 | Published in BSBI news |
| 30 | Narrow-fruited Water-cress | Rorippa microphylla | Nasturtium microphyllum | 75 | |
| 31 | Water-cress | Rorippa officinale | Nasturtium officinale | 75 | |
| 32 | Burnet Rose | Rosa pimpinellifolia | Rosa spinosissima | 75 | Known for some time |
| 33 | Salad Burnet | Sanguisorba minor | Poterium sanguisorba | 81 | Haven't we met before in the 80s? |
| 34 | Sea Wormwood | Seriphidium maritimum | Artemisia maritima | 83 | Old name |
| 35 | Betony | Stachys officinalis | Betonica officinalis | 89 | Old name |
| 36 | Bog Stitchwort | Stellaria uliginosa | Stellaria alsine | 89 | Known for some time |
| 37 | Sea Arrow-grass | Triglochin maritimum | Triglochin maritima | 93 | Looks like a typographic error.... |
| 38 | Marsh Arrow-grass | Triglochin palustre | Triglochin palustris | 93 | ... until you see this one has also changed |
Other name changes
| No | Common Name | Old name in WFS Diary | New name in Stace Ed 3 | Diary | Comments |
| 39 | Hybrid Monk's-hood | Aconitum x cammarum | Aconitum x stoerkianum | ||
| 40 | Rough Mallow | Althaea hirsuta | Malva setigera | ||
| 41 | Northern Rock-cress | Arabis petraea | Arabidopsis petraea | ||
| 42 | Tower Mustard | Arabis glabra | Turritis glabra | ||
| 43 | Tower Cress | Arabis turritis | Pseudoturritis turrita | ||
| 44 | Guernsey Fern | x Asplenophyllitis microdon | Asplenium x microdon | ||
| 45 | Shrub Ragwort | Brachyglottis "Sunshine" | Brachyglottis x jubar | ||
| 46 | White Sedge | Carex curta | Carex canescens | ||
| 46 | Oval Sedge | Carex ovalis | Carex leporina | ||
| 46 | Long-stalked Yellow-sedge | Carex viridula ssp brachyrrincha | Carex lepidocarpa | ||
| 46 | Small-fruited Yellow-sedge | Carex viridula ssp viridula | Carex oederi |
Added on 28th Apr 10, updated 1st May 10