Keith_Beef said:
I've always know Sorbus aucuparia as either "rowan" or "mountain ash" in English, or as "sorbier" in French.
Since arriving in the US, I've made the mistake of talking about a "plane tree" to neighbours, when everybody here calls it a "sycomore"... It turns out that "platanus occidentalis" (literally "western plane") is known as the "american sycamore" ; what in English would be a plane tree, and in French an "erable sycomore" (literally a "sycomore maple") is acer pseudoplatanus (literally "maple pretending to be a plane")...
K.
Yep, in Britain the species Sorbus aucuparia is known as either 'rowan' (often 'European Rowan') or 'mountain ash'.
Rowan is the older name deriving from the Old Norse word 'reynir' and Swedish 'ronn', basically taking it's name from the root of the word 'red', in reference to the colour of the berries. 'Mountain Ash' is a more modern term taken from the American usage of the word for any members of the genus 'Sorbus', so correctly in the US they call Sorbus aucuparia the 'European Mountain Ash'.
In understanding trees and other plants I think a knowledge of both common and botanical names is useful because both often offer information about it.
Botanical Latin names of plants and animals, particularly the second or 'species name', often describe some characteristic feature of the organism, or describes the habitat where it lives.
Not surprisingly, these words are normally adjectives which quite simply describe the first (generic) name. Hence, 'Rosa alba'
Rosa = rose
alba = white (correctly a flat/ dead white, without lustre)
is 'a white rose'
Or with our example:
Sorbus aucuparia would tell us:
Genus: Sorbus = derives from the Latin name for the
Wild Service Tree (Sorbus torminalis),
sorbum. Itself from the Proto-Indo-European root *sor-/*ser- meaning "red, reddish-brown."
Species: aucuparia = botanical epithet meaning 'attracting birds'
So, a tree which has something red (berries) and attracts birds (which it does!)
Useful to know if you want berries or catch birds
Often knowing the botanical name helps you understand the similar properties of the same type (genus) of plant, for instance a common chemical component offering certain properties used for herbal medicine, or properties of the wood.
As Nick mentioned, botanical names help us identify more precisely which species a plant or fungi is, which is important when similar species differ in toxicity, edibility or usefulness.
There is a useful guide to the botanical epiphets often used for the species name here:
FloralWiki - Botanical Latin
In the same way Common or local names can offer clues as to their use or appearance, so for instance 'rowan' as we have seen means 'red', another way to describe the colour of the berries. Also they often represent names used for the same plant over many years by our ancestors and are very much a part of our traditional heritage.
Also because most people will know that name rather than the botanical one. Lastly because they often sound so much more poetic and alive spoken in this way
They are especially useful for locating or identifying different types of habitat because, having been in use for so long, many place names use them. So seeing Beech Wood on a map will give us a good idea of the type of animals, plants, terrain etc we might expect there. Or here in France if I see a place name or filed name called 'Les Outigues' I could expect to find nettles (from the latin name 'Urtica sp. it sounds/ looks similar to the French name 'L'ortie').
And of course you have some names which really give a clue like
Soapwort (Saponaria officinalis) Even the botanical name gives a clue there as the soap like properties of the plant come from the component 'saponin' and will help you find other plants with similar properties.
So, it's the reason I always aim to post both the common name and botanical name.
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