If you're talking to your kin in the Blue Ridge Mountains, that's fine. On a forum with contributors from other US regions and lots of international contributors, it's a disservice unless the topic is specifically about local plant names. Case in point, if I said I had a deciduous juniper in my yard that was 50' tall, would you know what I was talking about?

Sigogglin - crooked, skewed, or deviating from a straight path.

Ever since Bill ran into the tree with his John Deere, it's been a little sigogglin.

Wonder what ever happened to Pineresin? He used to be one of the "anchors" here in this forum, but I haven't seen him for a long, long time. He is one person I always wished I knew just a little more about, but never really got to know.

Another case in point. Suppose I told you about my Rose of Sharon woes, which plant am I talking about?

My constant battle...well, maybe that's a bit too strong a word...in any case, Resin never liked the common name northern white cedar. Yes, yes, I know it's not a true cedar, not a member of the genus Cedrus. Regardless, everyone, including pro foresters, use that name for the native plant (in these parts) Thuja occidentalis. Oh sure, if one is writing a scholarly study, one would use the Latin name and likely this "official" common name as well. Truth is, I get what he was saying-actually understood this dichotomy perhaps 30 or 40 years ago!-but nevertheless found it often to be tiring to read his tirades against what is 100% common practice. Nobody-not one single person who is tree-aware-would fail to understand what plant is being discussed.

Nevertheless, a great mind when it comes to the vegetation of the world. That's saying something.

Weirdly, many gardeners, while being perfectly scrupulous about using the correct Latin binomial system for perennials, relax into colloquialisms for both trees and weeds...and I really don't know anyone who uses Latin for vegetables.

Loud, crashing noise, my Pinocchio nose hit the computer screen when I said I missed pineresin's lectures LOL.

Lycopodium clavatum, one of my all time favorites, can still be found in undisturbed forested areas. Running Pine/Ground Pine is not a pine at all but instead a spore bearing, trailing woodland native. Myrtle Beach is named for the Wax Myrtle trees which are abundant there. There are scores of shrubs/trees/ground covers with the common name of myrtle. Who is to say one is right and the other is wrong?

I always considered Resin to be a very good resource and almost always correct. However, some of his reasoning, regarding this very subject, was just plain faulty IMO.

Anyone care to guess what "farewell to summer" is? Here they bloom late August. I get kinda melancholy thinking about them, both for what they represent, the change of summer to winter, and the people, now gone, who called them by that name.

'Tulip tree', to me, is Liriodendron tulipifera. But in some quarters, it's what they call Magnolia x soulangeana.

Some years back, I was invited in to speak to my son's third-grade class about trees... discussed Kentucky's 'Heritage Tree', the KY Coffeetree, Gymnocladus dioicus - which was, at one time, the State Tree, and the current State Tree... Liriodendron tulipifera, which is also the state tree of two adjoining states - TN & IN. Teacher pulled down the big above-the-blackboard academic map of the state of KY... and there it was, in the margins, with state fish, flower, rock, etc... the state tree, the Tulip Tree....with a photo of M. x soulangeana in full pink bloom! Grrr.

Tulip tree for saucer magnolia appears to be rather frequently used - and seems more apt than when it is applied to Liriodendron.

Official common names for plants, in the manner of what was done with birds - where there is one approved name that everybody uses - seems to be kind of a British tendency, with certain references originating there actually listing a single common name for each as "correct" - and dismissing all others. In other words the same thing Michael was trying to enforce here.

Meanwhile the online R.H.S. Horticultural Database continues to include collections of often quite fanciful seeming common names for wild plants in its listings. Sometimes whole paragraphs of them. So I guess not everyone over there is of like mind on this subject, by any means.

Here stands the lonely Sassafrak in all its spring glory.

It took me a long time to understand what my neighbor was talking about, when she referred to her 'piney bushes'.

Beautiful grain, Sam. I just bought Sassafras albidum for my woods.

Elsewhere I've seen people press for more use of scientific naming on forums, but such use is only as precise and accurate as the care of the person using it. Someone who uses the wrong common name may well use the wrong scientific one. I was taught that Latin was chosen for scientific naming because it's a dead language - one not in common use by a living people group.

Look at the varied animals one might call a 'ground hog.' If you get people using a scientific name for one, how long till it's misused for another?

There's worth in mentioning both; some people recognize the common name only. As someone mentioned earlier, the scientific name might be useful for people abroad, if the common name isn't widely used.

Richard.

To play devil's advocate...sometimes scientific names are more precise then our information. I may see a tree in the park and know it is a cedar or crabapple, without having any idea on the species. If I gave a Latin name I'd be guessing. Saying "A cedar is growing on the embankment" gives some information...the Latin name would give more, but I may not have that information to give.

FWIW, I think both have their purposes. As it is, if I ran about yelling Acer rubrum there are some folks who would have no idea what I was talking about. So to be able to communicate effectively (and prove how worldly I am), I better say Red maple eventually.

Now in the future as the world gets smaller maybe the Latin will become more commonplace. I rather hope so.

It all comes down to, who are you talking to, local folk or plant geeks?

Since we are such a diverse group I think we should use both terms more frequently and try to use more Latin for the benefit of all.

I have bought US books (the last was Texas Native Plants) which fail to use the binomial system at all...and have had several heated arguments over in perennials. However, I would be deeply sorry to lose the folk language of common names...and some of them speak poignantly of a harsh battle against an unforgiving environment - rattlesnake master, cowpen daisy, chokeweeds, pokeweeds and strangleweeds by the ton. I like language...and truly think there is room for colloquialisms as well as scientific rigour. In these days of instant google access, I see no reason to be irate about a failure to be scrupulously accurate. Theophrastus followed a long-winded descriptive naming method - 'the silver leaved plant with dentate leaf and short petiole' was a common form of denomination before Linnaeus arrived at the abbreviated binomial system...and yet botanists still managed to achieve communication and understanding. Language is endlessly adaptable and imaginative...a glance at some of the signing languages reveals playful, witty usages which might not lead to instant clarity but certainly adds to the sum of human joy and delight.

This one we call Partridge-berry or Mitchella repens. Interesting how the flowers are always in pairs. They produce an occasional red berry which AFAIK is not edible to humans. Here's my question, what exactly is Partridge-berry jam? I see it in the imported section, clearly some other plant altogether.

Wikipedia page on Mitchella repens says

The scarlet berries are edible but rather tasteless, with a faint flavour of wintergreen, resembling cranberries (to which they are not closely related). They are often confused with the Newfoundland "partridgeberry" which is actually a relative of the lingonberry.

The problem with using scientific names is you are often giving more information then you actually have. I may know that the neighbor's tree is a pine without knowing if it is a pinus nigra or Pinus thunbergii. If I gave a Latin name I would be making stuff up.

LOL..."Pinus sp." has always been the solution for that.

I try to familiarize myself with multiple names when a tree, shrub, or plant is called different things. I tend to use colloquialisms when talking about them, but only the Latin if I need to (a) identify the plant to a landscape professional (aka find it at a nursery), (b) distinguish it from variant plants if I am out on a nature walk with like-minded people, or (c) have the official name on a plant label. In my neck of the woods, tulip poplar, tulip tree, yellow poplar, and poplar all reference the same tree, but Tulip Poplar seems to be the most....popular (he he he.) On the other hand, musclewood, ironwood, and hornbeam seem to all reference the same tree, but no one colloquialism seems to be the dominant term. To compound it, there are terms that Native American tribes used to reference certain plants and trees, and people sometimes (not often, but often for certain plants) use those words. The US southeast has one of the most biologically diverse forests in the world, so I appreciate that there is a diversity in language that describes it as well.

Campanula, one of my favorite folk names for a plant is “doghobble" because it commonly grew so thick that it tripped up hunting dogs.

Yinz people don't know that Florals Rose of sharon is a form of hardy Hibiscus? Can you guess what city I was raised near?

Syracuse?

No, sorry Mike. I'm a Yinzer, but, I live about 60 miles or more from Pittsburgh, Pa. I guess our area has gotten used to saying that word even though we are not super close to Pittsburgh, Pa.

My other choice was Althea, NY. Never heard of Yinzer.

Poaky1, you have beautifully exemplified the whole problem with common names. 'Rose of Sharon ' in the UK is not Hibiscus syriacus. It's used for Hypericum calycinum and other shrubby Hypericums. Common names are interesting and often quaint but for precision we need to use botanical names.

When I was a kid, and first got into trees, it took me about two years to figure out that the tree in my yard that I was told was a "red Maple" was actually a Crimson King Norway maple, and the "Sugar Maple" was actually an Acer rubrum. The neighbors had an actual Acer saccharum, that my parents said was a Norway!

Common name(s) althaea frutex;rose of Sharon;shrubby althaea;Syrian hibiscus;Syrian mallow

http://apps.rhs.org.uk/horticulturaldatabase/hortdatabase.asp?id=40530&crit=hibiscus%20and%20syriacus&genus=Hibiscus

OK, so Rose of Sharon may sometimes be used for Hibiscus syriacus (until recently a fairly rare sight in UK gardens.) But..... Hypericum calycinum.

This just supports my point. Use botanical names if you want to be sure.

Here 'Bloodgood' Japanese Maple is often called red maple.

"OK, so Rose of Sharon may sometimes be used for Hibiscus syriacus (until recently a fairly rare sight in UK gardens.)"

So, what is the common name for ROS in the U.K.? I purchased a double-flowered one on clearance yesterday and the tag said "althea". I have never heard anyone call rose of sharon "althea" before, nor have I heard it referred to as such online.

I also hear people refer to rhododendrons as laurels, or laurels as rhododendrons. I'm neither one of those. I refer to azaleas and rhododendrons alike as "rhododendron". Mountain laurel is of no relevance to rhododendrons. I have never heard kalmia latifolia called "red stemmed ivy" either. Of course, it doesn't grow readily where I live, but if you drive 2 hours up to the blue ridge parkway they're everywhere.

I've seen in many plant catalogs the Rose of Sharon being the Hibiscus named above, that may be east coast of US catalogs like Michigan bulb Burgess seed and plants.
AS far as Rhododendrons, I thought that "mountain laurel" was what the wild Rhodies were that are up our mountains. I found out later that mountain laurel was a different plant than the Rhododendron Maximum which was what i wanted to purchase. I have 6 of them growing in my yard now in all shade. I do want to try a mountain laurel now after seeing them at Coopers rock in Wv. I got some pics.

rhodies in top 2 pics

I posted all the pics because I think they're nice, maybe others will like them. I took them the end of May. Coopers rock near Morgantown Wv

'What is the common name for Rose of Sharon in the UK.'

They are usually sold as Hibiscus syriacus. Since they are the only kind of Hibiscus which is hardy here they are often simply referred to as Hibiscus. But I have seen the fanciful and unhelpful 'tree hollyhock' from some companies.

I knew a tree climber from North Carolina that called rhododendrons Ivy. Sure surprised me.

I think Althea is an old term for Hibiscus syriacus. Locally, they are called Rose of Sharon by most people. They bloom when the Sorbus has it's berries and makes a nice combination. Sorbus is known as a Mountain Ash here and as a Rowen in Great Britain. I knew early on that I had to learn the Latin names if I was going to have any thing to do with plants.

@ Mike, I believe Sorbus would be "rowan", not "rowen".

@ sam_md, I can't say I've ever heard "sassafrak" for sassafras. Is it more of a local usage in your area?

Okay if Seattle people call the Althea Rose of sharon too, it's not just an eastern coast nickname. I guess "Michigan bulb company" may be in the midwest also, I don't know where they are. Never heard of sassafrak either here. My neighbor asked me if I ever heard of a plant called "snakebite". It's a perennial wildflower, hows that for a colloquial name? I don't know what that is.

ArborDave, you're right! Thanks for the correction. Always appreciated.

I would call it Hypericum. I usually reserve St Johns Wort for the perennial herbaceous wildflower members of the genus. Just a personal tic.