Botanical names
 

The two statements below seem to be in conflict to me. Does anyone have a
favorite site for tracking down the origins of Botanical names? Thanks ,
John

The genus name Hypericum means "above a picture", referring to the fact that
in
some ancient cultures, it was hung above pictures to ward off evil spirits.
....
www.desert-tropicals.com/Plants/ Clusiaceae/Hypericum_calycinum.html - 9k -
Jul 12, 2005 - Cached - Similar pages

Hypericum - HOMEOPATHIC REMEDIES: AN ILLUSTRATED GUIDE Presented ...
The word Hypericum means "sub-heather" (?p? and ??e???), indicating its
manifest
relation to the heaths, which at once leads us to think of Ledum. ...
www.homeoint.org/illustr/h/hyper.htm - 5k - Cached - Similar pages

I always check Liberty Hyde Bailey's, Manual of Cultivated Plants
(Macmillan).
He says Hypericum has "obscure meaning."

You can also try searching for: hypericum etymology

The following webpage favors the first derivation of "above a picture"
and says Linneaus favored that meaning.
http://www.healthy.net/scr/article.asp?ID=915

David R. Hershey

Like Freud would say: Sometimes a name is just a name!

Don't try to read too much into it.


"John & / or Maryln" wrote in message
...
The two statements below seem to be in conflict to me. Does anyone have a
favorite site for tracking down the origins of Botanical names? Thanks ,
John

The genus name Hypericum means "above a picture", referring to the fact
that
in
some ancient cultures, it was hung above pictures to ward off evil
spirits.
...
www.desert-tropicals.com/Plants/ Clusiaceae/Hypericum_calycinum.html -
9k -
Jul 12, 2005 - Cached - Similar pages

Hypericum - HOMEOPATHIC REMEDIES: AN ILLUSTRATED GUIDE Presented ...
The word Hypericum means "sub-heather" (?p? and ??e???), indicating its
manifest
relation to the heaths, which at once leads us to think of Ledum. ...
www.homeoint.org/illustr/h/hyper.htm - 5k - Cached - Similar pages

"John & / or Maryln" wrote in
:

The two statements below seem to be in conflict to me. Does anyone
have a favorite site for tracking down the origins of Botanical
names? Thanks , John

The genus name Hypericum means "above a picture", referring to the
fact that in
some ancient cultures, it was hung above pictures to ward off evil
spirits. ...
www.desert-tropicals.com/Plants/
Clusiaceae/Hypericum_calycinum.html - 9k - Jul 12, 2005 - Cached -
Similar pages

Hypericum - HOMEOPATHIC REMEDIES: AN ILLUSTRATED GUIDE Presented
... The word Hypericum means "sub-heather" (?p? and ??e???),
indicating its manifest
relation to the heaths, which at once leads us to think of Ledum.
... www.homeoint.org/illustr/h/hyper.htm - 5k - Cached - Similar
pages





I wouldn't trust a homeopathic reference to be accurate, and the
formation of the word doesn't make sense, wouldn't below-heather
come out to hypoerica? Most of the Hypericums that I have seen tend
to be a bit taller than heath anyway.

This page: http://www.healthy.net/scr/article.asp?ID=915 indicates
that the genus was named by Linnaeus, who used a classical name,
meaning that he didn't create a new name for the plant, he used an
old Greek name. He preferred to use classical Greek or Latin names
when he could. Apparently he mentioned his suspicions in the work he
described the plant in. I would use that authority before the other.

Sean

"Sean Houtman" wrote in message
news:1121572330.1f805d9a6f819696bfe384218e9fc54e@t eranews...
"John & / or Maryln" wrote in
:

The two statements below seem to be in conflict to me. Does anyone
have a favorite site for tracking down the origins of Botanical
names? Thanks , John

The genus name Hypericum means "above a picture", referring to the
fact that in
some ancient cultures, it was hung above pictures to ward off evil
spirits. ...
www.desert-tropicals.com/Plants/
Clusiaceae/Hypericum_calycinum.html - 9k - Jul 12, 2005 - Cached -
Similar pages

Hypericum - HOMEOPATHIC REMEDIES: AN ILLUSTRATED GUIDE Presented
... The word Hypericum means "sub-heather" (?p? and ??e???),
indicating its manifest
relation to the heaths, which at once leads us to think of Ledum.
... www.homeoint.org/illustr/h/hyper.htm - 5k - Cached - Similar
pages





I wouldn't trust a homeopathic reference to be accurate, and the
formation of the word doesn't make sense, wouldn't below-heather
come out to hypoerica? Most of the Hypericums that I have seen tend
to be a bit taller than heath anyway.

This page: http://www.healthy.net/scr/article.asp?ID=915 indicates
that the genus was named by Linnaeus, who used a classical name,
meaning that he didn't create a new name for the plant, he used an
old Greek name. He preferred to use classical Greek or Latin names
when he could. Apparently he mentioned his suspicions in the work he
described the plant in. I would use that authority before the other.

Sean

Thank you all, John