Viewing post #455880 by dave

dave said:Dr. Pounders,

I'm the operator of All Things Plants, which is a social
gathering place for gardeners and includes an active database
of plants where people post pictures of their plants and
discuss their favorite things to grow.

For much of this year, there has been a lot of discussion
surrounding a new series of Crepe Myrtles, "Black Diamond". At
this point, the consensus is that this new series of plants are
actually a mere relabel of the Ebony series that the USDA-ARS
and MSU co-released.

Do you have any way of confirming if this is the case, and if
yes, is this an acceptable practice? The public is very
confused on this point and I'd like to share with the members
of my site the real story, from the horses mouth, so to speak.

Thank you for any information you can provide, and for your
excellent work you do at USDA-ARS, that benefits all gardeners.

best, dave

Cecil Pounders said:Hello Dave,

Yes, Ebony Crapemyrtles and Black Diamond Crapemyrtles are the same clones under different names. Black Diamond Pure White is 'Ebony & Ivory'. BD Best Red is 'Ebony Flame'. BD Blush is 'Ebony Glow'. BD Crimson Red is 'Ebony Fire'. BD Red Hot is 'Ebony Embers'. The Ebony names are the officially register cultivar names and anyone is allowed to propagate and sell plants under the Ebony names without paying any fees. The practice of selling public domain plants under a trademark is legal and is not a new practice. You can usually identify the practice if you see a trade mark plant tag with no ppaf or patent number listed.

Cecil