Uprooting the Wandering Jew

In the last few years, there have been outcries over racist or otherwise offensive names on schools, buildings, mountains, and rivers. Now, a grassroots movement by botanists, arboretums, and garden shops seeks to rename the wandering Jew plant (Tradescantia zebrina) due to the belief that its moniker is antisemitic. Liz Hughes, the co-owner of Groovy Plants Ranch in Marengo, Ohio, switched T. zebrina's name from wandering Jew to wandering dude around 2019 after hearing about the renaming movement. "Culturally, a lot of people are trying to move away from any name that could be offensive to any person," she said. "In general, it's really important to be politically correct."