What's In a Name: The Binomial System of Names

Did you ever wonder how a plant gets its scientific name? If you have, then you’ll enjoy reading the Master Gardener Foundation’s discussion of Plant Names. This well written and easy to understand article explains the Binomial System of Names, why we have it, and how it works.

I recently came across this site while I was researching one of the plants in my garden, Timeless Rose. I knew the botanical name was Rosa x JACecond, but it wasn’t until I read this article that I learned that the small ‘x’ between the genus and species name means that this is a hybrid rose.

This article is a great way to get your feet wet in the area of plant names before going on to some of the more complicated references.

Whatch-a-ma-call-it

Probably the most important thing you can know about a plant is…the name. I guess that seems like an obvious statement. But, I can’t count the number of times people have walked through my garden and said “Hey…that’s really pretty…what’s it called”, and I say “Um…I can’t remember”. I’ve heard other gardeners say the same thing so I guess it’s a fairly common problem.

My memory definitely seems to be getting worse, but maybe the real reason I can’t remember the names of all of my plants is that I just have too many (at which point all of you gardeners out there should say “bite your tongue…you can never have too many plants”).

I guess it’s not that important to keep the plant name in your head. But, it’s really important to have it written down somewhere because at some point you’re going to want to learn more about the plant so you know how to take care of it, and without the name, you’re sunk. So, before you throw out the plant tag or nursery pot, be sure to write down the name on a GardenScribe Plant Detail page.

As you research your plant, some of the sources that you’ll use will be organized by botanical name and some by common name, so it’s helpful to know both. If you’d like to learn how to pronounce the botanical name, FineGardening.com has a tool that actually speaks the Latin name for you. How cool is that! Just go to the Fine Gardening Pronunciation Guide for Plants and select a Plant Name. You’ll hear a nice lady speak the name.

I think I spent at least 10 minutes selecting different names just to hear the weird pronunciations. While you’re at the Fine Gardening website take a look around. The site has a lot of great features.