[Taxacom] Plant names

[Joey Slowik]

So this may be a simple question. I'm helping with a Knotweed EA and
have realized that the recent publications all use a different name
than the USDA. The USDA plants database, which is what we are told to
use for reference, seems outdated, like 10+ years. And for some names
there seems to be no justification but historical use. Is there a
reason for this? I usually work with spiders and there is a general
consensus on accepted names from the World Spider Catalog. But is
there debate in the plant naming world? Is it ok to use old names?

Thanks

Jozef Slowik
UAF Cooperative Extension Service