Indigenous Knowledge and Problematic Common Names

Language steadily changes. Words are added because we have new things to describe. Meanings shift. I just read Moult’s Relation, a record of the Plymouth Colony, 1620. Relation in the title is “what Moult related” but it sounds really weird to me. In it, a rope trap to catch a deer was described as “as artificially made as by any roper in England”—the writer clearly meant "skillfully" so artificial's meaning has shifted.

Hopi tea, greenthread, Thelesperma megapotamicum

Naturally, we have plant common names whose meanings or nuances have changed. Some are insulting or objected to by the people they refer to. People regularly suggest changing ones they don’t like. The American Public Garden Association (link) asked for input and in 2021 published a report on “Potentially Problematic Common Names in North American Public Gardens”. They found a long list of “potentially problematic” words, noting, that “… words may seem completely benign to one group, culture, or language while holding offensive and egregious connotations for another.” (p. 26 )

Plant Story--Red Yucca, Hesperaloe parviflora, a Very Handsome Plant

I saw red yucca in bud or flower all over the Dallas Fort Worth area of Texas in April. A handsome plant, it was easy to learn to recognize it.

red yucca, Hesperaloe parviflora

Plant Story--Sorghastrum nutans, Indiangrass, Yellow Indian Grass

Sorghastrum nutans was one of the three most common grasses of the tallgrass prairie. Its range spanned the U.S. from the Atlantic to the Rocky Mountains. It has been recorded in almost every county across that range. And because prairies and meadows were plowed, most people don't know it.   

Sorghastrum nutans, Indiangrass, yellow prairie grass

Growing Native Wildflowers on the Colorado Front Range

When people grow native plants, the plants are domesticated or becoming domesticated, whether we intend it or not. The conditions in yards and gardens are pretty different from growing in the wild, even in the same location. This post is about that contrast.

black-eyed Susans, Rudbeckia hirta, in a garden

Plant Story--Balloon-Flower, Platycodon grandiflorus, Ornamental, Food, and Medicine

  Balloon-flower is a pretty ornamental from Asia. 

balloon-flower, Platycodon grandiflorus

Balloon-flower is sufficiently unique that there is only one plant in the genus Platycodon, the balloon-flower, Platycodon grandiflorus. It is in the bellflower family, Campanulaceae.

Travel Story--Laura W. Bush Native Texas Park, Dallas, Texas

Visiting Dallas, Texas, we stopped into the George W. Bush Presidential Center, to find a gem of a garden I had never heard of, the Laura W. Bush Native Texas Park ( link)

Amazing hillside of wildflowers, Laura W. Bush Native Texas Park

Plant Story--Beautiful Gunnison's Mariposa Lily, Calochortus gunnisonii

One of the first things that confused me about the mariposa lily was how to tell it from a sego lily. Different people pointed out the flowers to me and told me the name. It turns out they are both the name of this flower. The scientific name is Calochortus (lily family, Liliaceae) but it is called both mariposa lily and sego lily. 

Gunnison's mariposa lily, Calochortus gunnisonii

Travel Story--the Botanical Garden in Quito, Ecuador

Quito, the capital of Ecuador, is at 9,350' in elevation (the various neighborhoods a little higher and a little lower) and the town center is about 15 miles south of the Equator (latitude 0ᆼ,0', 0"). I live at about 5,000' elevation in Colorado. Where I live, winter lasts from October to May. In Quito, there is no winter. Despite the elevation, Quito does not have frosts and consequently, the Botanical Garden had amazing tropical plants. It boggled this temperate zone botanist's mind.

orchid (Epidendrum) growing outside in Quito

Followers

 I know a lot about plants. Websites and blogs, not so much. So today, after 13 years of blogging, I figured out and added the Follower's gadget. 

Who knows what other discoveries are out there...

Photos of bouquets for fun: 

Plant Story--Red valerian, Jupiter's beard, Valeriana rubra, Centranthus ruber

The plant is called red valerian or Jupiter's beard. Here's a picture

red valerian, Jupiter's beard,
Valeriana rubra formerly Centranthus ruber

'

Travel Story--Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center, Austin, Texas

For me, who writes about plants and checks her accuracy in books and on websides, the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center (website) has long been a resource I rely on, both the website (Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower data base) and books they have published. So to visit the actual center was a treat!

flower bed of evening primroses (Oenothera)

Disambiguation of Some Common Plant Names 3: Marigold, Mountain Ash, Bugleweed, and Loosestrife

Common names are locally-used names. Nobody standardizes them. So it is easy for people to use the same common name for different plants. 

marigolds, genus Tagetes

Plant Story--Common Poppies, Corn Poppies, Flanders Poppies, Papaver rhoeas

 Poppies are cheerful flowers of middle and late spring. 

common poppies, Papaver rhoeas

Travel--Spring in the Chinese Garden in Montreal

Traveling, my husband always tries to pick the perfect time: not too hot, not too cold, not rainy, etc. He scheduled us to see Montreal, Quebec, Canada, the second week in May because apparently tourists start arriving the third week in May and hotel prices rise dramatically. I am not sure whether he thought about what that said about Montreal's weather. We flew into most of a week of chilly temperatures and light rain. 

So I have to say this was not the perfect time to see Montreal. 

rhododendrons in the Chinese garden

And yet, the Chinese Garden at the Jardin botanique de Montreal was gorgeous. 

Plant Story--Houndstongue, Gypsyflower, Cynoglossum officinale

About four years ago, I found an unfamiliar plant in my yard. I watched it flower and liked the pretty red flowers. So I let it go to seed. Mistake.

hounds tongue, gypsyweed, Cynoglossum officinale

 

Travel Story--Wildflowers of the Texas Hill Country

 In mid-Apriil, we drove south and west from Austin to find wildflowers in bloom. 

And there they were, all along the roadside

Texas roadside wildflowers

Plant Story--slimflower scurfpea, Pediomelum tenuiflorum, an Inconspicuous Pretty Native

Sometimes you look right through it 

slimflower scurfpea, Pediomelum tenuiflorum

Sometimes its the green clump in the brown grass

slimflower scurfpea, Pediomelum tenuiflorum

Short (rarely more than 2' tall), with small leaves pea-like, small blue-purple flowers, and a difficult name  to remember (in English or Latin), slimflower scurfpea, Pediomelum tenuiflorum (pea family, Fabaceae) doesn't get much attention. Yet it is an American native wildflower with a range all across the mid-continental grasslands, from Indiana and Kentucky to Montana and New Mexico (see USDA plants data base under Psoralidium tenuiflorum).

Travel Story--Central Texas in April

I just returned from a tour of part of Texas with the American Horticultural Society. We went to public and private gardens, museums, and parks where wildflowers were blooming. I wore myself out dashing between wonderful plants. 

hill country rain lilies, Cooperia pediculata

Plant Story--Oenothera curtiflora, Velvetweed, Small-Flowered Gaura,

Velvetweed is a very widespread plant, found all across the United States except the Northeast. It stands up to 9' tall and yet has a very low profile. 

velvetweed, Oenothera curtiflora

Native Plants Are, Well, Wild

When you plant a native plant, you might find it spreads aggressively around the yard, crowding out  other plants in the garden. That isn't necessarily a bad thing, but if you are growing natives, you need to be aware that some are pretty wild. 

black-eyed susan, Rudbeckia hirta
along a path; not where I planted the first one

Plant Story--Self-heal, Prunella vulgaris, Traditional Medicine

Self-heal (Prunella vulgaris, mint family, Lamiaceae) is a low creeping mint with pretty purple flowers. It spreads, so it can become an annoying weed if you want a lawn that is all grass. The flowers feed bees and butterflies, so it helps support the insect community, if you don't mind nongrasses in your lawn.

self-heal, Prunella vulgaris (from above)

Travel Story--Naples Botanical Garden, Naples, Florida

The Naples Botanical Garden is a wonderful place. On 170 acres, it, as their website says, "conserves the plants and habitats of the tropics, cultivates beauty, offers knowledge, and inspires the protection of nature."

Naples Botanical Garden, Naples, Florida

Plant Story--Dragonfruit, A Big Viney Cactus

Dragonfruits show up occasionally in U.S. grocery stores, big funny-looking tropical fruits. They are staples of fruit markets in the tropics. They turn out to be the fruits of a big cactus.

dragonfruits, Serenicereus undatus, pitayas

Disambiguation of Plant Names: Goat's Beard, Indian Paintbrush, Coneflower, and Yucca

More than a few plants share a common name. Sometimes the plants are similar, sometimes very different. Following a previous disambiguation blog (link) I'll bring some more of those to your attention so you remember to be careful to check which plant is being called by that name. In this post: goat's beard, Indian paintbrush, coneflower, and yucca. 

Indian paintbrush, Castilleja species

Bat Pollination

Bats are important pollinators in the tropics. 

Queen of the night, Epiphyllum oxypetalum, bat-pollinated cactus
of the American tropics, now grown all over the world.
 Fitbit mini for scale. Flowers can be 12" long and 12" across

Plant Story--Blue Eryngo, Sea Holly, Eryngium planum

Blue eryngo, Eryngium planum, is the most common garden plant in the genus Erygnium. The eryngiums are a group of some 250 species native from southern Europe to Mexico and South America. They are also called sea holly. 

Eryngium planum, blue eryngo, sea holly

Plants and Tasks of the Past

Diving into the history of plants frequently shows me crafts and professions that I knew little about and that are now largely forgotten. Some have gone from household tasks to highly industrialized and so are out of everyday sight, for example, cloth production. Others, like carriage repair, have been replaced as the technology moved on and exist only for hobbyists. 

early modern loom,
National Wool Museum, Wales

Plant Story--Beautiful Hardy Fuchsia, Fuchsia magellanica

They are beautiful flowers 

Fuchsia magellanica flowers

Fuchsias are a group of some 105 species, native mostly to South America, in the evening primrose family, Onagraceae. 

Another Anniversary

This blog began in February 2013. So it is turning 13. 

Amazing! And I find no shortage of material to write about yet. 

Plant Story--Carnations, the Clove Pink, Dianthus caryophyllus

The familiar, elegant carnation is a plant with a long and interesting history, mostly forgotten, despite its importance as a decorative flower today.

carnations, Dianthus caryophyllus

Carnation is the current common name of plants with the scientific name Dianthus caryophyllus, in the carnation family, Caryophyllaceae. It and virtually all its close relatives are native to Eurasia. A pretty flower usually pink, wild carnations grew all across southern Europe. Long ago they were transferred to gardens and domesticated, moving them all across Eurasia. For example, ancient Rome used flowers lavishly, in celebrations large and small and they grew carnations for cut flowers in great numbers. 

From the Airplane

The view from airplanes is a gift we too often take for granted. C.J. Cherryh wrote, in Visible Light (1986), that when the plane takes off, she thinks of the countless generations of people from before the invention of airplanes who would have so loved to fly. I have remembered that vision for decades. We grow jaded, and we shouldn't.

the world below

Plant Story--Cheatgrass, Downy Brome, Bromus tectorum, Dreadful Weed

 Cheatgrass, also known as downy brome and downy chess, Bromus tectorum (grass family Poaceae) is a very small grass that has become a major weed. Generally we think of problems increasing as plants get bigger. Individual plants of cheatgrass are almost too small to notice. It makes up for that in numbers.

patch of cheatgrass along a trail (red)

Pollination by Hummingbirds

Hummingbirds are a strictly New World group of birds, some 375 species (family Trochilidae) found from Alaska to southern Chile and Argentina. They are the main group of birds that pollinate in the New World. Fast and often brightly colored, people love to watch them. They typically hover while probing flowers for nectar, a fascinating sight. 

hummingbird pollinating Monarda