In message , Nick Maclaren
writes

In article ,
K writes:
| Stewart Robert Hinsley writes
| In message , BoyPete
| writes
|
| Yes, I understand that now. Still, it's very off-putting to the
| likes of me
| to see all that Latin in a post, and I tend to skip them.....possibly
| missing some useful info.
|
| Botanical names are no harder, in principle, to cope with than
| vernacular names. All you have to do is not let them intimidate you.
|
| And learn some of the meanings - not too hard for us english since so
| many english words are derived from lain roots. A lot of plants are
| given descriptive names - eg maculatum = marked or spotted, striatum =
| striped, alba = white, sylvatica = living in woods

But don't trust them too far - and ESPECIALLY never trust ones that
indicate a geographic origin. They are more reliable than English
names, but not wholly reliable, and ones that imply a location are
misleading as often as not.

For example, I'm told that the Cuban Lily, Scilla peruviana, is a
Mediterranean plant.


Regards,
Nick Maclaren.

--
Stewart Robert Hinsley