Cousin Itt acacia

cousin itt acacia - Bing

Thank you!

Embo, I thought that description was a joke, but it's legit....

Actual botanical name is Acacia cognata 'Minicog' but the name Cousin Itt is how it is sold.

Introductions made by commercial concerns these days often have a patented or trademarked name that functions as a selling device that technically is not a reference to the plant itself. Hence in this instance the plant is 'Minicog' with the combination Cousin Itt being used to sell it. And to give a more widely known plant as an additional example the hydrangea that was 'Endless Summer' at first became 'Bailmer' later, with The Original then being used to sell 'Bailmer'. And the Endless Summer phrase coming to designate a series of introductions rather than a single cultivar. (So that those who continue to refer to 'Bailmer' as 'Endless Summer' are not in step with the latter day naming).

Exactly. What a PITA. What's funny is that there is another plant, completely unrelated, which is a cultivar of Casuarina glauca. Other than the fact that they are both Aussies, they have little in common. But the Casuarina cultivar is botanically named 'Cousin It'. So they got the reference into the botanical name, but misspelled it! Who knew that The Adams Family was so popular down under?

Strictly speaking a cultivar is a horticultural rather than botanical name. Some plant products on the market have multiple elements attached to them including:

Botanical name

Cultivar name

Trade name (selling device)

Plant Patent number

Commercial series name (such as Endless Summer)

with some Buddleja cultivars in particular having so many promotional words attached to them it starts to become silly. And the grouping together of separate cultivars into the same marketing tools carrying an unstated implication of genetic connections that are often actually not there. With all of the associated claiming of trademarks and acquisition of patents of course being undertaken to protect financial investments made in plant novelties.