Here's my take on it :-)

1) The vast majority of the plant purchasing public doesn't really care all that much about proper labelling - they see a plant they like and they buy it. 75% will probably not know the proper botanical name anyway.

2) A lot of growers and retailers are still persisting under old terminology/outdated taxonomy - how many times have you seen Helleborus x hybridus sold as Helleborus orientalis? The popularity of hellebores is still pretty recent and I'd venture to say that other than the genus afficionados and qualified growers, there's more misnaming of hellebores on the market than there is of correct labelling.

3) If you know enough about the plants to suspect mislabelling - as you obviously do - or are looking at specific plants for possible hybriding purposes of your own, then doing the research - such as you've done - is definitely the way to go to assure yourself of what you are getting.

What I find disturbing about all of this is that the misinformation seems to arise from the breeder and his patent information, either directly or from whomever he has licensed to market and sell his plants in the US. One would hope that at least the breeder/hybridizer would be familiar enough with the plants he is producing and the proper nomenclature associated with the specific hybrids to at least reflect the correct info in the patent application. I don't blame you for being confused!! It seems like you are the only one that's got it worked out correctly :-)

ps. I checked out the patent info for 'Candy Love' - the application compares it to 'Pink Beauty', which they also refer to as a nigricors but is in actuality an ericksmithii. I'd give them the benefit of the doubt with a language hurdle from Dutch to English but the entire point of botanical Latin is remove these obstacles so the terminology is universal! Given all that, one would have to have some suspicions on the accuracy of the hybridizing information and the true parentage.

gardengal48__
Whatever they are, I'm the curious person that loves a mystery! So, I am purchasing a dozen of each, to grow onto maturity and find what they really are.
If they are actually H. x ballardiae & H. x ericsmithii, then that will be a plus. If in fact, they are H. x nigercors, they will still be a desirable plant and in either case a bargain at $30/doz. in 5" pots.

I am also disturbed that the examiner in the Plant Patent office is so inexperienced and/or unconcerned that those glaring errors in the Patent application went unchallenged, during a period of up to two years or more, that they often require to approve an application. Those are not the first Plant Patents that I have read, that contained errors.
You often wonder if the sole mission of the Plant Patent office is only to grant exclusive marketing rights to the applicant. MO

If the parentage (forget the labelling) is correct, which one would hope it would be, then you are looking at situation #1 :-) And you could be correct about the patent office. I wonder if they are just administrators/processors and not "plant people" at all????

I am curious if you did indeed go buy those. I am also wondering if these were from the Growers Outlet in Loganville. I saw their ad and will be going next week.
If you got them I am wondering how they look. I was going to buy a few myself. I have an Ericsmitii-Pink Beauty that I got several years ago and was hoping they resembled those. For the price, I don't imagine they will be in bloom.
Mary/Gainesville, GA