In past centuries, we used to talk about people "discovering" new species of plants. What this usually meant was that European, English or American plant explorers traveled to remote parts of the world and found plants that were new to them. Now, of course, we know that local people in those other parts of the world were often quite familiar with these plants all along. Many of the so-called new plants, including hostas, have been found in local paintings and documents produced long before the Westerners started poking around. We also know that local people often brought plants from nearby nurseries or gardens to the explorer to be "discovered".

In more recent times, however, with better communications, we more universally share the knowledge of different horticultural communities. We pretty much know which hosta species were first identified and described by local Japanese, Korean and Chinese scientists or plant collectors.

So, when people like Barry Yingeri explore remote areas of Korea as he did in the mid-1980s and come across two new hosta species (H. yingeri and H. jonesii) that had not been identified before, it is more truly a "discovery". Local and foreign plant hunters are still actively looking for new hosta species throughout that area of Asia. Therefore, it will not be surprising if some wonderful new plants are truly discovered in the coming years.