Spelling of plant names
Mary Sue Ittner (Fri, 25 Nov 2011 07:40:27 PST)

Hi,

It's so easy to make a spelling error when you post to this list. We
have many members of this list whose first language is not English
and we appreciate their posts even if there are mistakes so hopefully
no one will stop posting for fear someone is going to criticize their spelling.

On the other hand, a lot of people find us through a Google search as
our archives are searchable as is the wiki. So if a plant name is
misspelled in a post, information about that plant probably won't be
found unless you use that same spelling in the search. So it is very
helpful to make an effort to spell the botanical name correctly. And
it is good to correct the spelling in the subject when a mistake is
made rather than click on reply. For example:
Subject: Moraea, was Morea

By the way just for fun I searched on Google for Morea:
4,310,000 results

Searching for Moraea generated:
614,000 results

And the results were very different.

It can be very challenging discovering the correct spelling of a
plant name. I am very familiar with this since I check what people
add to the wiki and searches give me lots of choices. Once someone
makes a mistake it can be repeated hundreds of times. Seed in seed
exchanges is misnamed and misspelled and the mistake is passed on
under the assumption that the donor knew the correct name. I see
incorrect names in our BX and am torn about whether to call it to the
group's attention. I usually don't, but perhaps I should so the
recipient won't start out with the wrong name.

Mary Sue