Thursday, July 23, 2009

Plant names

Among other things, my gayfeather are blooming.  Gayfeather, you say?  Yes, that's the now-fading name for liatris.  Probably some product managers got worried about the marketing appeal of the name gayfeather and decided its botanical name was more appealing.  (As if "liatris" is an appealing name -- sounds like a gastro-intestinal disorder.)  I no longer see plant labels with "gayfeather" on them.

Working at a garden center, I'm amused by all the ridiculous names of plants, especially the hybrids.  My favorites are the Anglophilic/aristocratic-sounding ones:  princess this and duchess of so-and-so that.  Of course, like aristocracy horticulture is all about "good breeding," though quite unlike aristocracy, horticulture advances by hybridization.  

No comments:

Post a Comment