Hello! First post!

After ages of looking through lists and lists I've figured out which plant it was I was trying to Identify but I'm really bad at remembering latins so I was wondering if any of you know the common name for Sisyrinchium striatum?
Or any other name they have for it just to help me remember it!

In future hopefully I'll be able to afford a digital camera and you lot can help me identify things a lot easier!

Gratefully

Jess

Jess N writes

Hello! First post!

After ages of looking through lists and lists I've figured out which
plant it was I was trying to Identify but I'm really bad at remembering
latins so I was wondering if any of you know the common name for
Sisyrinchium striatum?
Or any other name they have for it just to help me remember it!

It really is best to try to remember the latin. It's the one name that
will identify the plant without ambiguity, so you and whoever you're
talking to both know exactly what you are talking about. For example,
Gillyflowers can be either pinks or wallflowers depending on the
speaker. And one of the Sisyrhinchiums is known as 'blue eyed grass'
which is plain silly because it certainly isn't a grass!

Also the latin tells you a lot about the plant, because it tells you
which other plants are related to it, and therefore what characteristics
and growing preferences they may have in common.

It helps to remember the latin if you start to learn what some of it
means - especially since taxonomists often name plants to describe some
significant feature - the 'striatum' bit refers to the striped leaves.

Sisyrhinchium I grant you is a bit of mouthful. According to wikipedia,
the rhinchium bit is 'nose' (think of rhinoceros or rhinitis) and the
sis is pig - pigs like to grub the roots.
--
Kay

"Jess N" wrote in message
...

Hello! First post!

After ages of looking through lists and lists I've figured out which
plant it was I was trying to Identify but I'm really bad at remembering
latins so I was wondering if any of you know the common name for
Sisyrinchium striatum?
Or any other name they have for it just to help me remember it!

In future hopefully I'll be able to afford a digital camera and you lot
can help me identify things a lot easier!

Gratefully

Jess

http://www.californiagardens.com/Pla...m_striatum.htm
claims "Rush Lily"

but then it also claims "Satin Flower", but that has several other species
sharing the same name - which is why the botanical name is worth learning

Sometimes called "pale yellow eyed grass" in the US. I find it easier to call it the large Sisyrinchium.

In message , K
wrote

It really is best to try to remember the latin. It's the one name that
will identify the plant without ambiguity,

Are not the so called experts reclassifying plants and their outdated
Latin names?



--
Alan
news2009 {at} admac {dot} myzen {dot} co {dot} uk

On 2009-11-04 00:49:38 +0000, beccabunga
said:


Jess N;868569 Wrote:
Hello! First post!

After ages of looking through lists and lists I've figured out which
plant it was I was trying to Identify but I'm really bad at remembering
latins so I was wondering if any of you know the common name for
Sisyrinchium striatum?
Or any other name they have for it just to help me remember it!

In future hopefully I'll be able to afford a digital camera and you lot
can help me identify things a lot easier!

Gratefully

Jess

Sometimes called "pale yellow eyed grass" in the US. I find it easier
to call it the large Sisyrinchium.

If people learn the proper names they can discuss plants with anyone,
anywhere in the world. But if I try to discuss a mimosa with people in
some parts of USA, we'd be talking aout two entirely different things.
--
Sacha
www.hillhousenursery.com
Shrubs & perennials. Tender & exotics.
South Devon

Some, yes - as a speaker said the other night, they have to find something to do with their time. "Outdated" is a matter of personal opinion.

Horticulture tends to go with the old and much used names.

Alan writes
In message , K
wrote

It really is best to try to remember the latin. It's the one name that
will identify the plant without ambiguity,

Are not the so called experts reclassifying plants and their outdated
Latin names?

The latin name reflects the hierarchy of the evolution of plants. As we
learn more about the evolution, it is seen that some plants were wrongly
considered to have descended from one branch rather than another. So the
latin name has to be changed to reflect the new knowledge.

Of course, in this age when 'celebrity' is the thing (or being famous
for being famous), knowledge and expertise increasingly becomes the
subject of scorn.
--
Kay

"Jess N" wrote in message
...

Hello! First post!

After ages of looking through lists and lists I've figured out which
plant it was I was trying to Identify but I'm really bad at remembering
latins so I was wondering if any of you know the common name for
Sisyrinchium striatum?
Or any other name they have for it just to help me remember it!

In future hopefully I'll be able to afford a digital camera and you lot
can help me identify things a lot easier!

Gratefully

--
Jess N


Hi Jess,

Welcome to the group.

As the others have said, the use of latin names are really essential. It's
all very well calling your plant "Aunt Flo's yellow flower" when you're
talking to yourself or Aunt Flo but, since many 'common'or 'English' names
are little more helpful than that, you really need a naming system that all
gardeners understand.

Do persist with learning the latin tags, but make the job a little simpler
for yourself as you begin. For instance, don't struggle with Sisyrinchium
striatum in full; just refer to your plant as 'Sisyrinchium' (the genus
name) for now. Most gardeners will understand and, if they want to know
more, will ask for the detail and, perhaps a description. You will be
surprised how quickly you will gain the confidence to add the 'striatum'
(the species, or specific name) and, eventually the cultivar name. Cultivar
simply means 'cultivated variety'.

Also have a look in your local library or bookshop for a dictionary of
horticultural latin. It will teach you a lot about the structure of hort.
latin and may even help with pronunciation. However, even the (language)
experts argue about how to pronouce it, so just be brave and have a go! :~)

Incidentally, the only common name I know for Sisyrinchium is 'Blue-eyed
Grass', which has been mentioned and, as has been said, Sisyrinchium is not
a grass - nor are all the flowers blue; some are cream, yellow or purple.

Enjoy the learning curve *and* your gardening.

Spider

Thanks evryone!

I promise I'll remember the latin I just need a other name to say only to myself in my head so I know what I'm talking about!

I wish I had had latin lessons when I was in school. Quite alot of the names are descriptive but the only ones that make any sense to me and ones like alba and niger etc..

I'll pick it up one day, got ages!

Thanks again.

On 2009-11-04 21:17:24 +0000, Jess N said:


Thanks evryone!

I promise I'll remember the latin I just need a other name to say only
to myself in my head so I know what I'm talking about!

I wish I had had latin lessons when I was in school. Quite alot of the
names are descriptive but the only ones that make any sense to me and
ones like alba and niger etc..

I'll pick it up one day, got ages!

Thanks again.

I understand your wish for a common name but to be honest, it will be
easier for you to learn the botanical names first. It probably doesn't
seem that way when you're struggling with them but it really does get
it into your memory if that's how you learn it in the first place. I
did one term of Latin, so I'm not exactly a scholar but because I had
parents in law who gardened quite seriously, I learned a lot from them
and they always used the Latin names for plants, so for me, it became
second nature. That isn't to say that I don't also very much enjoy the
'olk names for some of our native plants - they're very imaginative!
And for what it's worth, I've never heard of Sisyrinchium as blue eyed
grass, so that wouldn't have got me too far in trying to help you.
Many of us know the surname of a plant e.g. Sisyrinchium but don't know
it's forename, e.g. Sisyrinchium striatum. That's where the
conversation with other gardeners comes in. "I have this Sisyrinchium,
do you know which it is?" etc. etc.plant forenames and surnames being
- obviously - like those called off on the school register "Jones,
Jeremy" ;-)
--
Sacha
www.hillhousenursery.com
Shrubs & perennials. Tender & exotics.
South Devon

Jess N writes

Thanks evryone!

I promise I'll remember the latin I just need a other name to say only
to myself in my head so I know what I'm talking about!

As long as it's only in your head, you could use the translation -
"stripey pig nose" ;-)

I wish I had had latin lessons when I was in school.

I'm really grateful that I did. It's not just useful for gardening, it
also helps with english spelling and makes spanish, portuguese and
italian much more accessible.


--
Kay

"Jess N" wrote in message
...

Thanks evryone!

I promise I'll remember the latin I just need a other name to say only
to myself in my head so I know what I'm talking about!

I wish I had had latin lessons when I was in school. Quite alot of the
names are descriptive but the only ones that make any sense to me and
ones like alba and niger etc..

I'll pick it up one day, got ages!

Thanks again.

Jess N

Must admit it is not the easiest habit to adopt if you are surrounded by
people who use the common/trivial names for plants. Don't bother about
Foxgloves and Hollyhocks where the majority of even the best Haughty
cultureless use those names:-)

On 2009-11-04 21:17:24 +0000, Jess N said:


Thanks evryone!

I promise I'll remember the latin I just need a other name to say only
to myself in my head so I know what I'm talking about!

I wish I had had latin lessons when I was in school. Quite alot of the
names are descriptive but the only ones that make any sense to me and
ones like alba and niger etc..

I'll pick it up one day, got ages!

Thanks again.

The most important bit to get hold of is the 'surname' which, unlike
people is the first bit of the name. After you've got that you can
look the rest up, learn it later or even do a Google image search for
the one you know/have got/have seen. There's a pocket sized dictionary
of botanical terms but I doubmany people really find they have the need
for that!
--
Sacha
www.hillhousenursery.com
Shrubs & perennials. Tender & exotics.
South Devon

Well! After all that I will DEFINITELY remember Sissyrinchium striatum!

( I don't think I'll tell anyone that I'll be calling it 'blue eyed grass' in my head though!
I might get told off!)

Thanks!!