Latin (botanical) names for trees/plants etc

[Man of Tanith]

Afternoon All

This year as my main skill improvement in the bushcraft area I have decided to improve upon my tree and plant identification, (doing the two as I think it will help me to keep going rather than loose interest).
my question to you all is how relevant is the latin name?

should I attempt to learn it as well as the standard name eg oak birch etc?

Only reason I ask is I vaugely recall being told on a woodsmoke course that if you know the latin name as well it can tell you what family the tree/plant belongs to and this can be useful as you can be aware of properties the trees/plant share.
I would particularly like to hear the opinions of those of you who actually use latin in their regular work as you will probably know how valid it really is to learn certain parts of it.

or should I stick to the poem I learnt at school?
latin is a dead language
as dead as it can be
it killed off all the romans
and now it's killing me!

 

[al21]

Definitely learn the latin names, it remains the universal scientific language for naming species. Galium aparine, will be understood from Bognor to Bangkok, but call it goose grass and others won't know you mean cleavers or sweetheart, or any of the host of other local names associated with it.

Al

 

[R.Lewis]

It can be very beneficial as the first part is the family name so can recognise several in the same genus have the same characteristics and the later part often tells more about the plant, for example Officianalis roughly translates as alchemists toolbox thus means it will have many herbal uses. Also many good ID books will catagorize in families.

 

[Ahjno]

I'd go for what they've taught you at Woodsmoke. Not only you make a dashing impression at parties, but knowing the Latin name also simplifies searching (on the web for example). One plant can have different names in one country. Some people say knowing a plants name is the least they're interested in. I find the name sometimes gives away some useful info (in dutch it does) on it's location (soiltype), uses - be it edible or medicinal or just the way it looks (amount of petals for example).

An interesting read is "Botany in a day" by Thomas J. Elpel. It covers plants by family (characteristics, etc. and it's uses shared by the whole family). It's aimed at the US, but can be used for UK / Europe - if you are willing to make notes in the book (scratch out all US-only plants) and use a Fieldguide.

 

[calibanzwei]

I would even if I wasn''t already doing so at college this is a great little book - Plant Names Explained

 

[robin wood]

Knowing the plant is the first thing, knowing the names given to it is useful to communicate to others. Say you talk about sycamore, in the UK that means Acer Pseudoplatanus, a member of the acer or maple family whereas in the US sycamore describes any member of the Platanus or plane family. They are botanical names by the way and not all Latin. Latin may or may not be a dead language but botanical nomenclature is very much alive.

Another reason is that not many folk talk about downy birch and silver birch whereas folk would talk about Betula pendula and pubescans. Likewise Oak we have two natives Quercus patraea and robur common names sessile or durmast and pedunculate.

 

[Ed]

It's deffinatly worth learning the botanical names, but one thing to remember is that with genetic testing, some plants have been re-categorised so you need to keep up with the current information as they have been found to have been placed in the wrong 'family'

Ed

 

[gregorach]

Not only do the same plants have different common names in different places, but it's not that unusual for the same common name to be used for completely different plants, so yes, knowing the "official" names is worthwhile to avoid confusion.

 

[Toddy]

I agree with all the comments posted so far

The botanical names are just so practical when discussing or searching for information on specific plants.

Robin's examples are good but think too on herbs. Meadowsweet here in the UK is Filipendula Ulmaria, and refers to this plant http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Filipendula_ulmaria
but the North American plant, also known as Meadowsweet, is Spirea alba, like this
http://plants.usda.gov/java/profile?symbol=SPAL2

In North America they have to differentiate because the European meadowsweet was introduced as a herb and has spread widely.

That's only one example, there are thousands of others.

Just means we learn enough names to describe, define the plants to everybody

cheers,
Toddy

 

[Peter_t]

another reason i use latin is because you can tell what plants are related to others.
for example i know rowan/mountain ash is sorbus aucuparia and whitebeam is sorbus aria. as both are from the sorbus genus they will have similar qualities such as its timber and its fruit.


pete

 

[sam_acw]

Sometimes there is confusion with common names (e.g. plantain, old man's beard) and the latin names are more reliable and international.
They are also not random, they give information about the family or characteristics.
I wrote about it all a while back.

 

[nodd]

I am in the middle of doing plant and animal id module as part of my Foundation degree in Ecology and Conservation management we have to use the latin names in our course work and assignments ,as has been said it is good to learn the latin names as this is the universal scientific language.

 

[Harvestman]

Agree all of the above, plus to add two points:

1. In some cases there simply isn't a common name, so you have to learn the latin name. This is especially true for hybrids, or rarer species.
2. Some people will tell you that learning these names is simply too difficult, but ask any child to name you a dinosaur, and they will all say Tyrannosaurus rex. It isn't hard, it's just a matter of what you are used to.

For plants I would also recommend the book "A-Z of plant names" by Allan J. Coombes, published by Hamlyn. I'm not sure if it is still in print now, but my 1985 copy gives explanations for what the latin names actually mean, which is not only interesting in its own right, but helps you to understand the properties of the plants in some instances.

 

[chickenofthewoods]

What al21 said. Go for the Latin.

 

[mountainm]

Only reason I ask is I vaugely recall being told on a woodsmoke course that if you know the latin name as well it can tell you what family the tree/plant belongs to and this can be useful as you can be aware of properties the trees/plant share.

There's lots of plants in the carrot family which are by no means good to have with your sunday roast - how do the latin names help here?

 

[Man of Tanith]

dunno bout the carrots
but i know hornbeam and silver birch belong to the same family (betula) so they can both be tapped for sap in spring.
seems the unanimous vote is to learn latin or botanists names as well as standard. just doubled my learning amount should of kept quiet

 

[mountainm]

cicuta maculata -Water hemlock, deadly
Daucus carota - common carrot - tasty!

Atropa belladonna, Deadly nightshade - deadly
Solanum tuberosum - common spud - tasty!

Knowing the families and not the plant actually puts you in danger here.

cicuta maculata - Apiaceae - carrot family
Daucus carota - Apiaceae - carrot family

Atropa belladonna - Solanaceae - Potato family
Solanum tuberosum - Solanaceae - Potato family

 

[Man of Tanith]

As i said vaugely recall something from woodsmoke course and it was predominantly about trees and thier familys.
i see your point though

 

[mountainm]

As i said vaugely recall something from woodsmoke course and it was predominantly about trees and thier familys.
i see your point though

Was being devils advocate - I reckon the first thing to do is know what's important and useful. This will kill me, this will fill me up, this will make me hallucinate wildy etc. Then expand on that with as much knowledge as possible until you gradually know less and less about more and more until...eventually you know nothing about everything

Or

You could specialise - soak up info on a core area - learn more and more about less and less until you know everything about nothing.

My brain only holds so much - I proved that when I went to a whiskey tasting the other day, I learnt so much about whiskey that I forgot how to walk.

Anyhow.

I find it hard enough identifying what they all look like without having to remember 2 names for each one.

 

[DMadden]

Hi, can I just add; the 'Latin' names should really be reffered to as 'botanical' (as previously stated), or 'scientific' names. This is because many botanical names are, incidentally, Latin. But alot are either Greek based i.e Lamium, and some have been named after certain people.
But the little black book calibanzwei has mentioned is great for all that!!!

And on top of all this, learning the botanical name is very interesting, as it gives insites to the past ( and present!) uses of many plants, and their meanings i.e Alnus glutinosa - sticky, the foliage can be gummy.

Hope you find it all interesting,
All the best
Dan