Index Kewensis, a publication that aimed to list all botanical names for seed plants at the ranks of species and genus, used the Kew Rule until its Supplement IV was published in 1913 (prepared 1906–1910).
The first discussion in print of what was to become known as the Kew Rule appears to have occurred in 1877 between Henry Trimen and Alphonse Pyramus de Candolle.
[5] Trimen did not think it was reasonable for older names discovered in the literature to destabilize the nomenclature that had been well accepted:[6]Probably all botanists are agreed that it is very desirable to retain when possible old specific names, but some of the best authors do not certainly consider themselves bound by any generally accepted rule in this matter.
Many new species names were coined to resurrect older epithets, for example, in 1917 Willis Jepson wrote:[7] "The plant so long known as Brodiaea grandiflora Smith ... [was] first published as Hookera coronaria Salisbury (1806).
[8] Previously overlooked botanical literature has continued to yield new examples of forgotten older names for more than 100 years since the Kew Rule was banished from the International Code of Nomenclature.