Musings Over the Common Names of Plants
The following article was written by Richard Evans, UT Arboretum Director, and originally published in the Volume 24, Number 3 issue of UT Arboretum Society Journal, The Leaflet.
Common names for trees are the scourge of plant taxonomists, botanists, foresters and ecologists.
Being one trained in a biological/natural science, not knowing the scientific name of all local trees
is akin to having only half an education. However, many folks are not schooled in the binomial
system for plant taxonomy. This systematic method of naming plants dates back to the Ancient
Greek philosopher Theophrastus, approximately 2,000 years ago and subsequently improved
upon by the Swedish naturalist Carolus Linnaeus (1707-1778). Linnaeus sought to bring order to
the naming of plants by giving them one botanical name and thus avoid the problem of having
many common names for the same species, or, even worse, a common name that may refer to
more than one species.
At the UT Arboretum I am constantly challenged to identify plants by verbal description
and/or reference by a local common name. For example, I was asked, “what’s the name of the
tree that looks like it’s dead in the winter . . . My dad called it the dead tree.” Well, I say, your
dad was correct!
This questioner could have equally supplied other common names, of which I may not
have been so certain, such as chiot, chico du Canada, chiot tree, American mahogany, mahogany,
geweihbaum, nettle-tree, nicker-tree, and stump tree. (I’m probably driving the botanists nuts by
now!) However, if he had referred to it as the coffeebean-tree, coffeenut, coffeetree, or Kentucky
coffeetree, then perhaps you, too, could have conversed with the questioner on his footing.
Interestingly, behind most common plant names, there is usually a story, and a lesson in
natural history. These names may have their roots in the historical uses of a plant; describe the
characteristics of the leaves, flower, or wood; or describe the habitat or geographical location
where it might be found. Ponder the common names of some trees with which we are most
familiar – dogwood, silverbell, sugar maple, mountain maple, honey locust, yellow-poplar,
slippery elm, and pignut hickory. If you really want to become an aficionado of the common
names of plants, you might want to trace them to their Gaelic origin (reference:
http:www.unc.edu/home/reddeer/gaelige/plants.html)
Oh, how I relish the challenge of the common names!
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