A Thorn Bush by Any Other Name
by Mary Adams
“What’s in a name? That which we call a rose by any other name would smell as sweet.” Juliet’s proclamation of love for Romeo is a question for all time. For gardeners, what is in a flower’s name? Like Juliet, surely we would love our favorite flowers as much, no matter what they are called. Or would we?
The ‘Louis Philippe’ heirloom rose grows easily in Florida. Photo by Mary Adams
The Oswego Indians of New York made tea from the dried leaves of Monarda didyma. Oswego tea, with its shaggy, mop-like flower heads, has at least ten other common names, including bee balm, horsemint and Indian nettle. After the Boston Tea party, this was the tea of choice for the American colonists. It is a cousin of Florida’s native horsemint (M. punctata).
Bee balm was used medicinally by Native Americans, and as a tea. Photo by Mary Adams
It was typical for Native American plant names to be changed by European settlers. Then, eager to break their ties with England, American colonists would change the name again.
No wonder Carl Linnaeus (1707-1778) developed a system of naming plants using a specific genus and species. Scientific names help gardeners communicate, especially in a place like Florida, with a constant influx of new residents from all sorts of gardening backgrounds.
Scientific classification aside, the stories behind common names remind us that many of our garden flowers have a long history. From Greek mythology to the botany boom in the 1800s, the origins of common names vary as much as the plants themselves, ranging from the obvious to the obtuse and even the obscure.
Guess why these are called cat whiskers. Photo by Mary Adams
A visual resemblance to something — yellow bells, cat whiskers, shrimp plant or bottlebrush — make a common name easy to trace. Equally evident are names like morning glory, four o’clock and night-blooming jasmine that refer to the general daily bloom time. The hurricane lily (Lycoris radiata) blooms during hurricane season.
The tropical shrub, “yesterday today and tomorrow,” (Brunfelsia spp.) has flowers that start off purple, fade to lavender and ultimately to white. The blooms on ‘Mutabilis’ antique rose “mutate” from yellow to apricot, orange, pink and crimson, with all colors on the bush at the same time.
The name “alyssum” comes from the plant’s ancient medicinal reputation; it was thought to be a cure for rabies. In Greek mythology, Lyssa was the spirit of rage, frenzy and rabies in animals. Alyssum means, “not rabies.”
Alyssum was once believed to be a cure for rabies. Photo by Mary Adams
Iris was the Greek goddess of the rainbow, the messenger between the mortal and immortal worlds. Legend tells us that during the Middle Ages, a French army was trapped by a river. The wild iris growing on the embankment signaled an area shallow enough to cross and escape. For this reason, King Louis VII of France (1120-1180) used the iris as a symbol on his banner. Later it became known as the “fleur-de-lis.”
Louisiana iris may have been named for the state where it was identified, but it could just as easily been called Florida iris, because it is also native to the Sunshine State. Like King Louis’ iris, it likes wet feet and tolerates standing water.
“Aster” comes from the Greek word for “star.” Zoom out from earth for a minute, all the way to outer space. Another word with that Greek root is “asteroid.” “Gardenia” is an English word that simply means “garden flower.” On the opposite end of the fragrance spectrum, “nasturtium” comes from the Latin words, nasus (nose) and tortus (twisted), likely due to their pungent smell.
Quite a few plant names originate with either a mythical being, a botanist or a lay person affiliated with the plant. But time can obscure their origin.
The antique rose, ‘Louis Philippe’, introduced during the reign of its namesake and nicknamed “cracker rose,” is one of the easiest roses to grow in Florida. Teddy Roosevelt’s favorite heirloom rose, ‘Duchesse de Brabant’, with salmon pink cabbage blooms and great fragrance, is another good rose to grow here.
Magnolias are named for French botanist, Pierre Magnol (1638-1715). Southern magnolia (Magnolia grandiflora), the classic tree of the South, can reach heights of 60-80 feet. A smaller cultivar, ‘Little Gem’, with a mature height of 15-20 feet, might be more appropriate for urban landscapes.
Although Marie du Plessis was The Lady of the Camellias in the novel by Alexander Dumas (known in English as Camille), she is not the namesake of that flower. This credit goes to Georg Josef Kamel (1661-1706), a Jesuit missionary and botanist. Linnaeus changed the “K” to “C,” and the genus and common name, Camellia, were born.
Zinnias were considered ugly before hybridization. Photo by Mary Adams
Zinnias are named for Johann Gottfried Zinn (1727-1759), a medical professor who published the first book on the anatomy of the eye. In its native Mexico, zinnias were called mal de ojos, because prior to hybridization, they were considered ugly.
Poinsettias honor Dr. Joel R. Poinsett (1779-1851), a U.S. Minister to Mexico who introduced the plant to the United States. In Florida, these holiday plants can be grown outdoors, but artificial light at night will inhibit blooming.
Devil trumpets (Datura) point up from the netherworld. Photo by Mary Adams
Religion plays a part in the names of many plants. “Marigold” merges the words, “Mary” and “gold,” a reference to the Virgin Mary. And the “passion” in passion flower is not a romantic attribute, but rather a reference to the Passion of Christ. Almost every part of the flower represents something about Christ’s last days — the tendrils (whips), the radial filaments (crown of thorns), the 3 stigma (3 nails) and 5 anthers (5 wounds), just to name a few.
Flowering plants with unique characteristics generate fanciful anecdotes. Angel trumpet flowers are supposedly long trumpets held by celestial beings dangling from the heavens, while devil trumpets sharply point upward, from hell.
Impatiens get their name from their exploding seed pods. Photo by Mary Adams
The name “impatiens” (Latin for “impatient”), comes from this plant’s explosive seed pods. With barely a squeeze, the seeds go flying, sometimes as far as 20 feet from the parent plant! Milkweed gets its name from the milky latex that drips from a broken stem. The yucca plant is named for an insect, the yucca moth, that braves the spikes to deposit eggs on the bloom. Not to contradict Juliet, but somehow a 21st Century version of Romeo and Juliet with the line, “A yucca by any other name would smell as sweet,” just doesn’t work. The word “rose” and the plant it refers to seem very special. Shakespeare must agree, as reportedly the word “rose” appears at least 70 times in his plays and sonnets. A line from his last play, The Two Noble Kinsmen, states, “Of all Flowers, me thinks a Rose is best.”
Mary Adams earned her degree in Environmental Horticulture from the University of Florida, Gainesville.
© 2012 Mary Adams. Originally published in Florida Gardening, Jun / Jul 2012. Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.