Question about Naked Ladies
J.E. Shields (Thu, 20 Dec 2007 12:01:53 PST)
Hi all,
Rodger and Diana, I agree completely. "Common" names are an abomination,
implicitly presuming that everyone is an idiot. The Naked Lady label is
one of the worst, but I had not thought about the ambiguity of Bluebell
until Rodger brought it up.
Can anyone think of any worse examples of the ambiguity of common names
(just in English, please!)
Jim Shields
in sunny central Indiana (USA) where English hasn't been heard in years
(least of all coming out of my mouth!)
At 11:12 AM 12/20/2007 -0800, you wrote:
No one thinks twice about saying fuchsia, petunia,
rhododendron, chrysanthemum, trillium,
==========================================
Cheers, Rodger!
However, some people must make up "common names" for trilliums, a name
I learned as a toddler, with the explanation that its name meant it
had three petals and three leaves, just like my tricycle had three
wheels. I have never heard anyone refer to it as anything other than
"trillium", yet recently, on labels in public gardens, I see
abominations like "wood lily". I think volunteer label makers have
the idea that all plants must have a "common" name, and get their
information from some unknown source.
Diane Whitehead
*************************************************
Jim Shields USDA Zone 5 Shields Gardens, Ltd.
P.O. Box 92 WWW: http://www.shieldsgardens.com/
Westfield, Indiana 46074, USA
Tel. ++1-317-867-3344 or toll-free 1-866-449-3344 in USA