I think I see the tracks of this usage. In German, Spur means track (e.g., bear tracks in the woods) and trace (very small amounts). Spoor is Afrikaans for track, from old Dutch "spor." The article cited by Peter seems to have been translated from a German original, and contains numerous mis-spellings and incorrect usages. It is not a suitable reference for English usages or spellings. Jim Shields At 07:35 PM 8/23/2012 +0100, you wrote: >Rolands use of the term "spore elements" seems to be confirmed here, no >language confusion! >http://www.arts-info.eu/en/fertilizing.html >where did the use of the word "spoor" come from? >Peter (UK) > > > >On Thu, Aug 23, 2012 at 6:31 PM, Rodger Whitlock <totototo@telus.net> wrote: > > > On 23 Aug 2012, at 1:08, Bulborum Botanicum wrote: > > > > > spore elements > > > > A confusion between "spoor" and "spore" and thence between "trace" = > > "track", > > "spoor" (of an animal) and "trace" = "a minute amount". Etymologically the > > latter meaningn of "trace" is probably a development from the former. > > > > Is this cause for laughter and derision? No, of course not. Could many of > > us > > with English as our first language manage as well in another language? > > > > >_______________________________________________ >pbs mailing list >pbs@lists.ibiblio.org >http://pacificbulbsociety.org/list.php >http://pacificbulbsociety.org/pbswiki/ ************************************************* Jim Shields USDA Zone 5 P.O. Box 92 WWW: http://www.shieldsgardens.com/ Westfield, Indiana 46074, USA Lat. 40° 02.8' N, Long. 086° 06.6' W