Learn to Love Those Latin Names
August 18, 2022
7:00 – 8:00 PM (Via Zoom)
Dr. Ann Willyard
Hendrix College
View the presentation here.
A paperback version of Learn to Love Those Latin Names by Ann Willyard is now available at Amazon.com. Dr. Willyard wrote this book as part of her quest to strengthen collaborations between native plant enthusiasts, amateur naturalists, and academic botanists. Her premise is that the scientific names of plants are critical to our communications about them, largely because there are over 386 thousand currently-accepted species of vascular plants in the world. In her opinion, the recent trend to ignore scientific names has handicapped, rather than helped, the talented folks who work with the species in their region. She thinks that the simple and straightforward explanations in this book will be useful to botanists at many levels, partly by highlighting the problems created by relying only on common names.
From the book cover: "This book will help plant enthusiasts understand and use the scientific names for plants. Because these Latin names are used world-wide, they connect across all languages. Common plant names differ not only by language but also are not unique and not standardized within any language. Learning how to use scientific names will enable you to use all of the resources to identify species and to communicate with those who use other names for the same species. Some cool science tidbits are included because learning to love plant science will enhance your love of plants. There is also a simple overview of how cultivated plants are named."
View the presentation here.
"Learn to Love Those Latin Names,"
by Ann Willyard