Hi Rick,

I don't know of a book that would "fill the bill" for supplying the information that you want about the origins of the common names for plants, but we live in a time when physical books and "brick and mortar" bookstores are becoming obsolete, and are actually passing out of existence. (I miss Border's Bookstores.) The books and encyclopedias are being replaced by online searches and wikipedias. The Internet is replacing our libraries.

I hope that somebody does call a particular book to our attention that does what you say. But I find myself relying more on the Internet and less on books.

ZM

Though the origin of common names for plants may be very interesting, I'm not at convinced that it is 'important'. As you've said, these colloquial names are regional and their use can cause confusion from person to person, let alone country to country!

I've never seen any research regarding common names and frankly, can't imagine what it would look like. Standing Cypress is a good example. What a useless name, don't you think? It was probably first used by some old seed company and the name 'stuck'.

As there can be numerous common names for one plant, there will also be differing interpretations of those names. Research 'Love Lies Bleeding' and see if you can find any one meaning or an origin source.

It's an interesting notion, though, and there are bound to be some great stories. HERE'S an informative website about Capsella bursa-pastoris that you will like.

i think its more a search for knowledge.. a curiosity.. rather than IMPORTANT ...

part of the problem.. is that many of the names are extremely regional ... so i bet and book will fail on some level ... not to mention.. perhaps.. throwing in translations of foreign names ... all that is just going to make a book near impossible to write and yet be all inclusive ....

have fun on your odyssey ...

ken

rhizo_1, it is important to me because it's history that lies as the intersection of the social and the natural, and that's a subject I find fascinating. Call it social-natural history, or call it an anthropology of nature. Your example is perfect: if the name 'Standing Cypress' was in fact given to this plant by a seed company, that should be part of our social history of that plant. I'd love to know that. If such knowledge tells us as much about human beings and human history as about the plant itself, that's great; that would make it something I want to know.

I would imagine you're right: finding a single 'origin source' for the name 'Love Lies Bleeding' would be incredibly challenging but that's only to say that it would be an act of anthropology. Historians do detailed research on long-forgotten subjects that we previously had no knowledge of and then reveal to us startling new stories. Is it possible that the origin point of name "Love Lies Bleeding" is "folk etymology" and would therefore be impossible to uncover? You bet it is, but any book/encyclopedia about plant "common name" etymology that would give it a try would be something I'd love to have on my book shelf.

Thanks for turning me on to botanical.com and its history of Shepherd's Purse -- that's just the kind of thing I'd like to see more of.

Like all linguistic derivatives - dialect, patois, slang, plant common names are a sort of historical and cultural folk language which have an enormous etymological relevance, if not in a botanical/horticultural sphere. I am fully on board with the Linnaean binomial system but find the common names connect to social history. Given the disappearance of numerous languages (and all the understanding which is tangential to their use), I would be deeply sad to refuse to see the significance of these common plant names - they are often witty, creative and even coded semiotic pointers.