Hundreds of racist plant names will change after historic vote by botanists

Scientific designations containing a racial slur will be altered — the first time that any species names have been adjusted because of the offence they cause. - Ewen Callaway

• For the first time, researchers have voted to eliminate scientific names of organisms because they are offensive. 
• Botanists decided that more than 200 plants, fungi and algae species names should no longer contain a racial slur related to the word caffra, which is used against Black people and others mostly in southern Africa.
• The changes voted on today at the International Botanical Congress in Madrid mean that plants such as the coast coral tree will, from 2026, be formally called Erythrina affra, instead of Erythrina caffra...