PLANT NAMES Be Serious About Plant Names—But Not Too Serious

It has often been said that “a rose by any other name would smell as sweet.” Although the statement is literally true, we are often disappointed, perhaps offended, when we find some flower friend of long acquaintance called by another, and, to our minds, inferior name. Also, we dislike the attachment of a name which we have long associated with a certain plant to another, and perhaps less attractive, flower.

Common names are by no means standardized in their usage, and a well known plant in one part of the country may be called by an entirely different name somewhere else. Also, certain names are applied to a number of plants which more or less resemble one another. For instance, the name “Greasewood” is applied to almost any plant that has oily or highly inflammable leaves; and with the avid reading by eastern people of Zane Grey’s and other “westerns,” any shrubby plant with grayish foliage covering large areas of western land immediately becomes “Sagebrush.” This is particularly irritating to inhabitants of the desert areas treated in this booklet because true Sagebrush (Artemisia tridentata) rarely grows below elevations of 6,000 feet. The loose application of common names is a confusing annoyance to wildflower enthusiasts.

In an effort to avoid this confusion and to establish a method of naming that will be uniform throughout the world, botanists have developed a system using descriptive Latin names and grouping plants into genera and families based upon their relationships to one another as determined by their physical structure. Unfortunately for the layman, this system is so technical and the Latin names so unintelligible that he becomes completely bewildered. Furthermore, advanced botanical studies result in continual regroupings and changes in names so that the amateur botanist finds it impossible to keep up. Botanists who specialize in plant nomenclature have a tendency to 5 become so involved with the technicalities of naming that their writings bristle with minute descriptions of anatomical details and the reader searches in vain for such basic information as a simple statement of the color of the flowers.

The majority of common flowers have several to many common names. This is particularly true in the Southwest where some plants have names in English, Spanish, and one or more Indian languages. In addition, of course, each species has its scientific name. An effort has been made in this booklet to give as many of the names applied to each selected flower as are readily available. This not only aids in identifying the plant, but adds to its interest. The reader then finds himself in the enviable position of being able to scan the field and choose whichever name appeals to him with the reasonable assurance that he is right—at least in one locality.

Since this booklet was written by a layman for the use and enjoyment of other laymen, it violates a number of botanical, or taxonomic, principles. These violations have been committed with no spirit of disrespect, but in an effort to avoid confusion, conserve space, and keep a complicated and involved subject as simple as possible. The writer believes that the visitor to the desert who has a normal pleasure in nature is interested in the flowers because of their beauty and their relationships with other inhabitants of the desert, including mankind.