The following link was found on another site and points to an effort to list the proper names for all plant species. As such, it assigns some judgments about which names are proper and which names may not be the formal, correct names for plant species.

http://www.theplantlist.org./

Of interest to us here:

Jovibarba heuffelii is a synonym and is likely more properly called "Sempervivum heuffelii"

The "Jovibarba hirta" species, along with several other Jovibarba species, appear to be more properly named as subspecies of "Sempervivum globiferum" e.g. "Jovibarba hirta" is a synonym for "Sempervivum globiferum subsp. hirtum"; Jovibarba allionii is a synonym for "Sempervivum globiferum subsp. allionii" and there are many more.

It will be interesting to see how this effort is accepted by the scientific community and whether it helps hobbyists to get proper names on a lot of plants. Note that the list does not make an effort to sort out varietal names, which is likely an impossible task.

However, you can use this list to get an idea of just how many species of Sempervivum and related plants there are. Just count the accepted names on the list for a good idea.

Recommended for those who want to learn more.

twit, I don't see the link?

And I think my head is starting to spin just thinking about figuring out which ones I should change in the database.

Lynn, I edited the post to add the link.

I really do not think it necessary at this point in time for us to switch the names we are using. The "hobby" side of things is fully entrenched in using the Jovibarba names, so us changing everything here would just lead to confusion. Also these naming convention issues can be controversial among the biologists/botanist/nomenclature types.

HOWEVER, we should all be aware of this naming ambiguity. The world is a wide place and the Internet makes it wider still and we might run into "Sempervivum heuffelii", for example. Knowing that this is an alternate (and likely more proper name) for this species can be helpful and prevent confusion.

I am going to add this to the LINKS. That way I can find it easily. Very interesting site twit. Thank you for posting it.
This will definitely help alleviate some of the confusion in plant names.
Are you still covered in snow?

Thanks for the link Twit. I think I'll be visiting it quite often.

He is always finding us interesting things.

Oh great, now I have to go into every Jovibarba page on my site and add the notation that these may be listed as Sempervivum. I thought they originally were listed as Sempervivum, and it got changed. Wish they would make up their minds...

No, don't change them Jacki. At this point in the trade they are still being called Jovibarba. Lets take a wait and see attitude.

Maybe just a note somewhere that Jovibarba is considered a synonym for Sempervivum (in the nomenclature sense)

Yes, I'll do that - so confusing, even to me. I can't imagine how it must be to have no clue about names, and then be bombarded with someone spouting off Latin at them Guilty!

Rast ich, rost ich! (or is that another language? )