It is all too easy to forget that common names exist for a reason; so that laypeople don't have to trip over the latin names of plants, memorizing syllables that sound so foreign and meaningless. I personally love the latin names - things like fragrantissima (meaning very fragrant) aren't really so complicated once you get used to them, and they convey information in addition to being a name.
What's in a name? tons and tons (and tons!).So when people say something like 'I want to plant some aloe', my head hurts. I'm pretty sure they have a specific aloe in mind, but which one?! I swear, I can almost feel the language section of my brain melting and I want to stuff cotton in my ears to prevent it from coming out .... so embarrassing! I get it - not everybody has use for an encyclopedic knowledge of plants, but please - for the love of all that is holy - if you like a plant, learn its scientific name. It's actual name = scientific name = the USEFUL name.
Here's a great example: I got an email from someone saying they'd bought a "spiny aloe" for their garden, asking where it should go. Of course, I insisted that they tell me the scientific name, but just to illustrate my point....a google image search turns up a bunch of photos. Google is awesome, but the common name approach? no thanks. I let my inner freak loose and checked all of these visible links for you to see what the photos connected to. In these visible links, there are:
8 different species and 1 intergeneric hybrid shown
3 photos mis-labeled from stock photography websites (tagged as spiny aloe that aren't. I assume "spiny" was a descriptor)
2 photos of Agaves labeled as Aloes on their parent websites
7 photos of aloes giving no scientific name at all
My friend let me know he had purchased Aloe marlothii. A plant that gets 8-10 FEET tall and wide. So, if you were wondering what the big deal is, that's why. He isn't in possession of your grannie's sunburn remedy, he has a space hog of glorious proportions that needs loads of sun and space to grow up properly.Let's try it from another angle: Looking up Aloe marlothii (this same plant) on Dave's Garden reveals two common names: "flat flowered aloe" and "mountain aloe". The common name "spiny aloe" is nowhere to be found. To be fair - I double up in my professional drawings by adding common names alongside the scientific names on every single plant list. Here's 3 reasons:
it is industry standard - see the next 2 points
it is only ever listed next to the scientific name, never ever alone
landscape contractors and their office staff are not always knowledgeable about plants and I want my documents to be understandable across all levels.
2016-08-02 17_18_27-centaurea gymnocarpa - Google Search
2016-08-02 17_10_07-centaurea cineraria - Google Search
So when I recently visited a wholesale nursery to see a plant order before it would be delivered to the project, I was given a great example of how things can go awry. I specified Centaurea gymnocarpa / "Velvet Centaurea". You can see that the nursery page through that link reminds us of the old species name Centaurea cineraria as a synonym. Wikipedia comes up in the right hand side bar on my browser if I look up C. cineraria. So far, so good, the photos are mostly of the plant I want.... but wait. See there? "dusty miller" is a common name for that old scientific name. Anyone might think - oh, this is "dusty miller" - no problem, I'll let the nursery know and we'll get that.... which is exactly what the landscape contractor asked the wholesale nursery for, neglecting to include the scientific name. The wholesale nursery, having only "dusty miller" to go by, provided Jacobaea maritima. There’s even a daylily with the cultivar name ‘Dusty Miller’ and just about every Artemisia species and cultivar is called that somewhere.
So take photos of plants, photograph their plant tags, write it down, whatever you have to do to learn the scientific name or communicate exactly what you’re talking about - but please, I'm begging you - help me keep some gray matter safe inside my cranium and use the scientific name every once in a while.
Thanks!
J