The thing with plant names is that they are often confusing. That can be the case for names of anything, but especially plant names. Throw in the Latin names, which are not just composed of words of the Latin language-which is why I often use the term ‘binomial name’. The point of this post is to hopefully explain why the fancy Latin names are important.
It is best to explain the main use of ‘Latin names’ by using a couple of examples. Take the common name ‘bleeding heart’. To me, this common name refers to an Australian tree that has lovely heart-shaped leaves that turn red before they fall (it is evergreen, so you only ever get a few red ones at a time). In the UK, the plant with the same common name is a clumping perennial with pretty white and pink heart-shaped flowers. That is a very good reason for the standard Latin names-everyone knows exactly what plant you are talking about. For interest, the Australian tree is called Homalanthus populifolius while the pretty little perennial is Lamprocapnos spectabilis.
The Latin name of a plant can also give you clues to what the plant is all about. A part of the name can describe a feature of the plant in question-so if you have two plants next to each other, and have just Latin names, you can tell what is what. Take Callicoma serratifolia as an example. The word serratifolia means that the leaves have saw-like edges.
For many people, if not most, the idea of getting your mind around some ‘foreign’ words that seem unpronounceable is utterly pointless when the native language is totally fine-I get it. I found it hard to get my mind around these words too. I didn’t have a choice but to learn them when I was studying my horticulture course. I am glad I did as there is a certain something added somehow.
A few weeks ago, I had a now college tell me that the guy I replaced ‘acted the snob’ by only using the Latin names of plants, just to show off. You do get those people, but I do also like to try and show people how interesting it can be-yes, I may be a little weird!
I just love sharing what I enjoy about plants and the environment with people, including ‘tricky’ names. Coming from the land of origin of the English language and living in an English speaking country (Australia), we have it far too easy when we travel as so many people all over the world speak English as a second language so we don’t have to bother. This makes us rather lazy-something I think needs changing in some way-why not start by picking up a bit of Latin for naming your plants correctly?