Is it me or is there a mistake in this weeks garden news crossword.
I have completed all but 9 across which is left

g-i-e-s

clue
"Species name meaning grey.

I always believed glauca meant grey, well blue grey anyway. Is there a
name for specifically 'grey' ?
I have looked in all the RHS books I own but can't find the answer, also
on the web each answer seems to be glauca

janet
--
Janet Tweedy
Dalmatian Telegraph
http://www.lancedal.demon.co.uk

On 12/9/04 12:45, in article , "Janet Tweedy"
wrote:

Is it me or is there a mistake in this weeks garden news crossword.
I have completed all but 9 across which is left

g-i-e-s

clue
"Species name meaning grey.

I always believed glauca meant grey, well blue grey anyway. Is there a
name for specifically 'grey' ?
I have looked in all the RHS books I own but can't find the answer, also
on the web each answer seems to be glauca

Try 'griseus'.
--
Sacha
www.hillhousenursery.co.uk
South Devon
(remove the weeds to email me)

On Sun, 12 Sep 2004 12:45:20 +0100, Janet Tweedy
wrote:

Is it me or is there a mistake in this weeks garden news crossword.
I have completed all but 9 across which is left

g-i-e-s

clue
"Species name meaning grey.

I always believed glauca meant grey, well blue grey anyway. Is there a
name for specifically 'grey' ?
I have looked in all the RHS books I own but can't find the answer, also
on the web each answer seems to be glauca

Janet: I checked my Latin dictionary, which gives cinereus (grey);
glaucus (blue-grey) or canus (grey with age) (glauc-a- would be the
feminine form of glaucus). Then I checked an American book I have
called "Gardener's Latin", and that offers"griseus: gray (sic "). I
suspect therefore that your answer should be "gris" (like the French).
Could your second letter be an -r- rather than an -i- ?


--
Sally in Shropshire, UK
bed and breakfast near Ludlow: http://www.stonybrook-ludlow.co.uk
Reply To address is spam trap

In article , Janet Tweedy
writes
Is it me or is there a mistake in this weeks garden news crossword.
I have completed all but 9 across which is left

g-i-e-s

clue
"Species name meaning grey.

I always believed glauca meant grey, well blue grey anyway. Is there a
name for specifically 'grey' ?

griseus

(Think French - grise - which comes from the latin)

Latin glaucus means specifically blue/grey-green, at least it did when I
was flogging through Virgil for O-level.


--
Kay
"Do not insult the crocodile until you have crossed the river"

On Sun, 12 Sep 2004 12:45:20 +0100, Janet Tweedy
wrote:

Is it me or is there a mistake in this weeks garden news crossword.
I have completed all but 9 across which is left
g-i-e-s
clue
"Species name meaning grey.

We also have "acer griseum". Are you sure the last letter is s?

Pam in Bristol

In article , Pam Moore
writes
On Sun, 12 Sep 2004 12:45:20 +0100, Janet Tweedy
wrote:

Is it me or is there a mistake in this weeks garden news crossword.
I have completed all but 9 across which is left
g-i-e-s
clue
"Species name meaning grey.

We also have "acer griseum". Are you sure the last letter is s?

No reason why it shouldn't be. Botanical Latin makes some attempt to
follow latin grammar. All nouns in Latin are one of three genders, male,
female or neuter, and the adjective has to match the ending. So a neuter
Acer is griseum where as a masculine Ceonothus is griseus and a feminine
Avena sativa variety is grisea.
--
Kay
"Do not insult the crocodile until you have crossed the river"

On Sun, 12 Sep 2004 17:16:21 +0100, Kay
wrote:

No reason why it shouldn't be. Botanical Latin makes some attempt to
follow latin grammar. All nouns in Latin are one of three genders, male,
female or neuter, and the adjective has to match the ending. So a neuter
Acer is griseum where as a masculine Ceonothus is griseus and a feminine
Avena sativa variety is grisea.
--
Kay

I did do Latin but you remember the technicalities better than I do!

Pam in Bristol

In article , Sacha
writes
On 12/9/04 12:45, in article , "Janet Tweedy"
wrote:

Is it me or is there a mistake in this weeks garden news crossword.
I have completed all but 9 across which is left

g-i-e-s

clue
"Species name meaning grey.

I always believed glauca meant grey, well blue grey anyway. Is there a
name for specifically 'grey' ?
I have looked in all the RHS books I own but can't find the answer, also
on the web each answer seems to be glauca

Try 'griseus'.


Thanks Sacha and to everyone else that has sent me the answer.

Maybe I couldn't see for looking but the RHS books didn't list it and
neither did the web sites I visited.

I had thought of griseum but possibly that's a specific gender ending
for one species of plants? I was beginning to suspect I'd imagined it!
I did have a book with all the Latin meanings but couldn't remember
which one it was.

Thanks to everyone!

janet
--
Janet Tweedy
Dalmatian Telegraph
http://www.lancedal.demon.co.uk

In article , Pam Moore
writes
On Sun, 12 Sep 2004 12:45:20 +0100, Janet Tweedy
wrote:

Is it me or is there a mistake in this weeks garden news crossword.
I have completed all but 9 across which is left
g-i-e-s
clue
"Species name meaning grey.

We also have "acer griseum". Are you sure the last letter is s?

Pam in Bristol


That's what I thought Pam! Isn't it annoying when you get stuck on
something that you KNOW you should be able to work out!

Janet
--
Janet Tweedy
Dalmatian Telegraph
http://www.lancedal.demon.co.uk

In article , Kay
writes

No reason why it shouldn't be. Botanical Latin makes some attempt to
follow latin grammar. All nouns in Latin are one of three genders, male,
female or neuter, and the adjective has to match the ending. So a neuter
Acer is griseum where as a masculine Ceonothus is griseus and a feminine
Avena sativa variety is grisea.


Yes, I read somewhere in my search Kay, that most plant names are
feminine and just a few are masculine or neuter.

Makes you wonder how we get the words at all !

janet
--
Janet Tweedy
Dalmatian Telegraph
http://www.lancedal.demon.co.uk

In article ,
Janet Tweedy writes:
| In article , Kay
| writes
|
| No reason why it shouldn't be. Botanical Latin makes some attempt to
| follow latin grammar. All nouns in Latin are one of three genders, male,
| female or neuter, and the adjective has to match the ending. So a neuter
| Acer is griseum where as a masculine Ceonothus is griseus and a feminine
| Avena sativa variety is grisea.
|
| Yes, I read somewhere in my search Kay, that most plant names are
| feminine and just a few are masculine or neuter.
|
| Makes you wonder how we get the words at all !

It's more than a few. A couple of points that haven't been made,
as far as I can see.

Latin was the official language of the Roman Empire for something
like 500 years, and changed significantly over that time. It was
then the lingua franca of European intelligensia for another
millennium, and the official language of various groups (e.g. the
Roman Catholic church and botanists) for another 500 or so.
While it was less volatile than English, remember that Chaucer was
writing modern English just 600 years ago.

Most biological terminology uses Latin nomemclature, but the official
language of botany is Latin. A plant isn't officially named until
it has been described in grammatically correct Latin.


Regards,
Nick Maclaren.

"Nick Maclaren" wrote in message
...

In article ,
Janet Tweedy writes:
| In article , Kay
| writes
|
snip
Most biological terminology uses Latin nomemclature, but the official
language of botany is Latin. A plant isn't officially named until
it has been described in grammatically correct Latin.


Regards,
Nick Maclaren.

can't argue with the first part but I am not sure the second is still
correct, It is now seems to be accepted that a good description in your
native language using correct terminology ( stamens brown, leaves ovate,
etc.) in a freely available and widely circulated publication will suffice
(I have now done this 4 times) which is just as well as I could not have
managed the Latin. It may well be that a new species would have to be
described only in Latin, but I think cultivars have had the rules relaxed it
recent years.

--
Charlie, gardening in Cornwall.
http://www.roselandhouse.co.uk
Holders of National Plant Collection of Clematis viticella (cvs)

While it was less volatile than English, remember that Chaucer was
writing modern English just 600 years ago.

Twaddle! Chaucer was writing in the Middle English period. Modern English
followed hundreds of years later.

In article ,
"Peter Crosland" writes:
| While it was less volatile than English, remember that Chaucer was
| writing modern English just 600 years ago.
|
| Twaddle! Chaucer was writing in the Middle English period. Modern English
| followed hundreds of years later.

Chaucer is generally reckoned to be the first author who wrote
in modern English. Most literary readers can read Chaucer; few
can read Middle English.


Regards,
Nick Maclaren.

In article ,
"Charlie Pridham" writes:
|
| Most biological terminology uses Latin nomemclature, but the official
| language of botany is Latin. A plant isn't officially named until
| it has been described in grammatically correct Latin.
|
| can't argue with the first part but I am not sure the second is still
| correct, It is now seems to be accepted that a good description in your
| native language using correct terminology ( stamens brown, leaves ovate,
| etc.) in a freely available and widely circulated publication will suffice
| (I have now done this 4 times) which is just as well as I could not have
| managed the Latin. It may well be that a new species would have to be
| described only in Latin, but I think cultivars have had the rules relaxed it
| recent years.

Yes, but that's horticulture not botany :-)


Regards,
Nick Maclaren.