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Why Latin names matter

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  • DovefromaboveDovefromabove Posts: 88,147
    edited August 2018
    OP = Original Post/Poster .... the person starting the thread .... sorry @Mary370 :)

    Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.





  • Hostafan1Hostafan1 Posts: 34,889
    snap!!
    Devon.
  • HazybHazyb Posts: 336
    Until Latin names become much more commonplace and all stores etc use them common names will be used by the majority. 

    Chiltern Seeds for example states in their 2018 catalogue that they will be using Latin names from now on. 

    Most people I know use common names some do so because they are simply easier to use and they don’t go too deeply into the naming of them. 

    If someone says thistle for example we could say your thistle is lovely but out of interest the Latin name is .....  perhaps they may then become interested rather than feeling they have to change? It’s not so much the name maybe but how it is said?  

    I would tend tend to use common names more myself although I sometimes know the Latin name too as the pronunciation is easier for me. I have hearing difficulties and some words that I have never heard spoken are often said differently from how they are spelt.   
  • punkdocpunkdoc Posts: 15,039
    @Hazyb.
    Chiltern seeds are a good example. IMO they are 1 of the best seed suppliers, but without some idea of the Latin names, it would be very difficult to order from them.
    How can you lie there and think of England
    When you don't even know who's in the team

    S.Yorkshire/Derbyshire border
  • Mary370Mary370 Posts: 2,003
    Ahh I should have guessed that one @Dovefromabove it is on a lot of posts, not just yours, I was afraid to ask sooner as it might have seemed a daft/obvious question, which obviously it was.  We learn something new everyday, even if it trivial  :D:D
  • punkdocpunkdoc Posts: 15,039
    One of the great things about gardening, and of this site, is that I learn something every day.
    How can you lie there and think of England
    When you don't even know who's in the team

    S.Yorkshire/Derbyshire border
  • DovefromaboveDovefromabove Posts: 88,147
    Thistle is just too generic  ... the common name for the plant in question is Globe Thistle.  

    It's like referring to bamboo as a grass ...  

    Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.





  • Hostafan1Hostafan1 Posts: 34,889
    common names add a new level of confusion IN SOME CASES
    Golden Rain Tree is used for both Laburnum and Koelreuteria paniculata.
    I ask someone to buy me a " golden rain tree" and off they trot to the nursery/ garden centre: which one will I get?
    Devon.
  • HazybHazyb Posts: 336
    True but if people are interested enough (like me) they will over time learn the Latin names especially if they were to be the norm everywhere. 

    I tend to look up the Latin names when going through that catalogue and go oh! It’s a wallflower! or whatever lol 


  • DovefromaboveDovefromabove Posts: 88,147
    Mary370 said:
    Ahh I should have guessed that one @Dovefromabove it is on a lot of posts, not just yours, I was afraid to ask sooner as it might have seemed a daft/obvious question, which obviously it was.  We learn something new everyday, even if it trivial  :D:D
    @Mary370 ... never be afraid to ask ... the only daft question is the one you don't ask ... if you don't ask you'll never know and that's a sad state of affairs  :)

    We're all still learning .... the day I don't learn something new is the day I hope I turn my toes up .......... 

    Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.





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