Is Botanical Latin Still Alive? Did I Trip over a Skunk Cabbage? A Reader Weighs In

  In my column today in Pacific Northwest magazine  I probably foolishly took on the changes happening in the world of botanical Latin...what do the scientific changes mean for gardeners? I'm sure I oversimplified in trying to figure out what is going on - and I believe it's still evolving...current changes may well be the thin edge of the wedge in moving toward using more English and less Latin.

Seattle gardener Daniel Sparler wrote a kind, clever and illustrative correction....with a helpful link which I wish I'd found before I wrote my column. Here's Daniel's take on what's going on in the world of nomenclature.

"Hi Val,

Your gardening column in Pacific NW is always the first thing I turn to when I open the Sunday paper, but today I fear you may be leading readers down the proverbial primrose path with your comments on botanical Latin. Your first paragraph, on the 2011 meeting of the IBC relaxing its rules, is right on target, but you head into the swamp and trip over a skunk cabbage in the second. It’s only the description (of roughly 100 words) of new species that may now be provided in English (botanists may also opt to stick with Latin). The actual name, the binomial (or “tongue-twisting trinomial” as you put it), must still be treated as Latin. So that smelly bog plant is still Lysichiton americanus.

Here’s the scoop straight from the horse’s mouth (or, if you will, from Equus ferus caballus): “By next year the technical descriptions accompanying the scientific names for new plant species will no longer have to be exclusively in Latin. English will be acceptable. And botanists proposing new species will no longer be required to publish a paper in hard copy—an electronic version will do. Latin, however, will still be used for the two-word, scientific species names.” (http://www.scienceinpublic.com.au/media-releases/latin). So don’t force that cup of hemlock (Conium maculatum) on botanical Latin. It ain’t dead yet!

I’ll close by including a photo of Tricyrtis latifolia blooming today in my garden (above, left) Exquisite, isn't it? And much easier to grow than the other yellow "toad lilies" -- what a horrible common epithet. Now, isn't its Latin name much more mellifluous?

Happy weeding to you,

Daniel Sparler"

I feel sure that Daniel understands these changes better than I do.  And, yes Tricyrtis latifolia sounds lovely, but the common name, toad lily, is the one most of us will remember.....Thanks, Daniel, I really appreciate your perspective and knowledge, as well as your good humor, on this confounding (to many of us) subject.

 

Comments

[Gordon Taylor]

Daniel is right, Valerie. I've just looked it up at Scientific American, and it seems that before this any discoverer of a new species actually had to write the description of his discovery in Latin. (!!!--I never knew.) Now they don't. But the name of the new species will still be in botanical Latin.

[valerie Easton]

Hi Gordon,
I'm stuck on the phrase "English names are acceptable" - even though a plant will still officially be named in Latin (which is descriptive as well as necessary to distinguish that plant from others). But trademark and other commercial names have diluted the efficiency of botanical Latin - it's so difficult now to tell if a plant is really new/unique. And once English names are acceptable, even in a definition, won't that open the door for people to use the names they're more comfortable with? We'll see how it evolves...thanks for writing,
Val

[Chris]

Tomatoe...Toomatoo! :)Well, you know what I mean!! :)

[DariaW]

The frequent changing around of the Latin names is going to dilute the efficacy of botanical Latin. One of the editors of the newest version of the Sunset Garden Book compares it to how often Lady Gaga changes her outfits, but you'll probably always be able to find it if you look for Toad lily.

[valerie Easton]

Thanks, Daria, for your perspective. I've gotten pretty beaten up for misinterpreting the changes as being more profound than others, more expert than I, believe them to be....I deleted a rude comment that suggested I take a reading comprehension class! But I still feel like the rules are relaxing, and yes, the changes are so confusing we may all be using common names more often. The point is communication, after all...and distinguishing between plants...
Val

[DariaW]

Well, I had thought/hoped DNA analysis would simplify the process, but apparently not. https://sharepoint.cahnrs.wsu.edu/blogs/urbanhort/archive/2012/07/02/a-rose-by-any-other-name--1.aspx