Milkweed
Asclepias syriaca
Asclepias syriaca Asklelepios was the Greek god of medicine syrica - Syrian
What is a Liquidamber styraciflua?
What is a Liquidamber styraciflua?
What is a Liquidamber styraciflua? Sweetgum
Liquidamber styraciflua is the scientific name Sweetgum is a common name
Why do people use those hard-to-pronounce scientific names of plants? Are we trying to impress others with our knowledge? Wouldn't it be easier to use the common names that everyone can understand, instead of the scientific names of plants?
Common names are alot more fun with names like Pincushion flower Bladdernut Chokecherry Indian bean Dog hobble Hophornbeam Mile-a-minute vine Pawpaw Redroot Musclewood Honeysuckle Common names that are easy to pronounce and they usually tell a story about the plant they name.
There is a problem with common names - not everyone will understand what particular specimens are being referred to by common names. Common names vary not only from language to language, but even from region to region. In fact, even within the same region a specimen may well have more than one nickname attributed to it.
Take the common name thrift. I ve always considered Phlox subulata, also known as creeping phlox and mosspink, as thrift. Armeria also has the name thrift. Phlox subulata does well in our Georgia climate, while Armeria fizzles out in our heat and humidity.
Carpinus caroliniana can have several common names: American Hornbeam Blue Beech Musclewood Water Beech Ironwood
It was to combat such confusion that Swedish naturalist Carolus Linnaeus (1707-1778) developed what is known as the binomial system for taxonomy -- in other words, the use of scientific names for plants. Liquidamber styraciflua
Liquidamber - produces a fragrant resin styraciflua - flowering with gum
Linnaeus lived during a period of plant exploration, when new plants from South America, southeast Asia, Africa, and the Middle East were all coming to the attention of European scientists. Linnaeus standardized plant naming by means of a binomial (two word) system, using one Latin name to indicate the genus, and another to indicate the species. The use of Latin, once the universal language of Western scholars, is still relied upon to bring universal clarity to the business of naming plants.
Pistachia chinensis in Tupelo, Mississippi is Pistachia chinensis in Bangkok, Thailand. Kerria japonica in Sacremento, California is Kerria japonica in London, England.
Plants can be named in honor of someone. Linnaeus is said to have named a useless weed "Siegesbeckia" after one of his critics, Johann Siegesbeck. The explorer John Bartram named the Franklin Tree, Franklinia alatamaha, after his friend, Benjamin Franklin.
The species part of the name often describes the plant or denotes the plant s orgin. Albus is the Latin for white Incanus for gray Lac for milk Any of these words may be used to describe a whitish plant suited to a moonlight garden. Symphoricarpos albus Snowberry
Ruber (rubrum), sanguineus, roseus, and coccineus all denote red.
Some names refer to special characteristics of the plants. Pubi, hirti, villi, and barbi are all "combining forms" suggesting hairness. Combining forms are Latin roots with vowels added to facilitate pronunication. They frequently appear attached to more familiar Latin-based words, like those for leaf and flower. Hirtifolia would mean hairy leaved. Barbiflora would mean bearded flower.
Some species names refer to the plants place of orgin Where would the following names refer to? japonica virginica chininensis indica canadensis
Liquidamber is the Genus The first letter of the Genus is always capitalized styraciflua is the species The first letter of the species is not capitalized l
Genus "A more or less closely related and definable group of plants comprising one or more species" Dirr Species "A kind of plant or animal distinct from other kinds in amrked or essential features that has good characters of identification, and may be assumed to represent in nature a continuing succession of individulas from generation to generation" L. H. Bailey
Sometimes you'll see a third name. In such cases, we're simply getting more specific, accounting for variation within a species. Most commonly, this third name is a cultivar, and it will appear in quotation marks. Liquidamber styraciflua 'Slender Silhouette'
Liquidamber styraciflua 'Slender Silhouette' 'Slender Silhouette' is a cultivar - a cutivated variety Cultivars appear in single 'quote marks'
Cupressocyparis leylandii is a Intergeneric hybrid between Cupressus macrocarpa and Chamaecyparis nootkatensis
Hamamelis xintermedia is a interspecific hybrid between two species of the same genus Hamamelis mollis and Hamamelis japonica
Tree Characteristics Deciduous or Evergreen? Are the Leaves Broad Leaved or are they Needles? How are the leaves arranged? What is the shape of the leaves? What is the edge of the leaves like? What is the bark like?
Dirr's Tree and Shrub Finder App
http://www.cas.vanderbilt.edu/bioimages/frame.htm