Evening star., 1935-04-04

A great many people resent scien-
tific names.
Why is not the popular name, they
ask, as good as the long Latin one?
Well, it would be, If there were no,
SO many of them!
Consider the so-called common
names for the Virburnum trilobum, OF
American cranberry bush.
There we have the scientific name
and one only of many common names
Other popular names are crampbark
tree, cranberry tree, highbuSh cram
berry, wild guelder-ros gueldres.
rose, cherry wood, dog rowan tree
whitten tree, red elder, rose elder
marsh elder, water elder, white elder
gadrise. gaiter tree, gatten, love rose
May rose. pincushion tree. squaw bush
ch-hobble, witch-hopple!
The same shrub is called more thar
20 names. each In different part oi
the country, and in different nations
so that persons discussing the samt
plant might not even know they wert
talking about the same thing.
Cherry, rose. elder. cranberry-thest
are a few Of the misnomers applied tt
this one bush.
A booklet on American medicina
plants Of commercial Importance
issued by the Department of Agricul-
ture, Is q treasure trove Of such pop.
ular names.
Whether good or not, the common
names Of plants are interesting, pic.
turesque and delight to all persons
fond Of such things.
Included in them are many Indian
terms, always delightful to those who
treasure Americana.
The American mountain-aSh, fol-
instance, Is technically Sorbus amer
icana, the second, or species name
begun with a small letter, according
to scientific nomenclature, ever
when proper.
Country people, woodsmen, farmers
have q right to use their own peculiar
names. but surely they are not scien-
tific when they call the above tree by
such names as roundwood, round tree
American rowan tree. American serv.
ice tree, mountain sumac, dogberry
quickbeam, wild ash, wine tree. witch.
wood, life-of-man. Indian mozemize
missey-mooSey, mooSe-miSSe.
It will be noticed that in most oi
these names Indians and witches play
large part. Also there is tremendous
confusion in the calling.
Veratrum virde, sometimes branded
American false-hellebore, has the fol-
lowing list Of common names: True
veratum when already it has beer
called false), green veratum (which i.
better), American veratum (properiy)
green hellebore, swamp hellebore, big
hellebore, false-hellebore, bear corn
bugbsne, bugwort. devils bite. earth
gall. Indian poke. itchweed, uckleweed
duck-retter.
The devil, too, has his part to play
In most Of these lists. In some sec.
tions Of the country some name In
cooperating his satanic majesty's
name is sure to be in use.
One of the troubles with the scien.
tif1c names of plants, animals, ETC., /.
that often enough they are very hare
to pronounce.
Take Hedeoma pulegioides, Amer.
ican pennyroyal. The second. ol
species name, is almost impossible, Il
one does remember his Latin.
American pennyroyal, the mos
common of its common names, might
seem to be adequate. If it were no,
for the remainder: Pennyroyal, moci
pennyroyal, squaw mint, tickweed
sinking balm, mosquito plant.
Uses of most Of these plants are
seen in some of the names, but
scarcely in any Of the long List for the
Arctostaphylos iva -ursi, widely known
as bearberry: Uva-ursi, red bearberry