"P van Rijckevorsel" wrote in message
...
Gene Royer schreef
What a silly thing to say in a public forum.
Do you ever stop to think before you hit the send key?
You're as silly as an .Anseranas semipalmata

+ + +
Actually it does not require thinking to repeat an established truth.
Vernacular names are only useful in a limited social context.
If social context is not specified it is a guessing game what the
vernacular
name applies to. IIRC it is not that hard to find vernacular names that
refer to as many as a hundred species. Vernacular names often are worse
than
useless because people assume that they adequately name a plant when they
give a vernacular name. Old stuff, especially in a public forum.
PvR


A public forum such as this where anecdotal information is mixed with
Google-gained knowledge is a "limited social context". Some of you may
elevate your diction in order to present a more erudite demeanor, but this
is still a Mickey Mouse public forum composed of pseudo intellectuals and
amateur botanical dabblers. Get unstuck on yourself.

More plants (and indeed species) are referred to in general identifications
by their vernacular nomenclature than are so by scientific names. Crabgrass
is crabgrass, loblolly pines are loblolly pines, and pin oaks are pin oaks.
An exception, of course is Anseranas semipalmata, which is always called by
that name.

--Genoglad I could clear that up for youRoyer