Adam Hunt of Urquhart & Hunt demystifies Latin plant names, exploring both the origins and meanings
FEATURE ADAM HUNT (URQUHART & HUNT)
THE naming of plants is a fascinating and even enlightening subject, it seems to reflect our eternal conversation with the natural world and the plants we cherish. Down through the ages plant names have been based on folklore, healing properties, location and more recently scientific classification.
There is a beauty and magic to some of the old country names of plants and yet sometimes they are confusing, too. A well-known example being that the plant often known as a bluebell in Scotland is called a harebell in England, with the English bluebell being a completely different plant. This problem was well known in the 17th century when it was especially difficult for scientists to know what plant or animal they were discussing with fellow scientists from other localities or countries who knew them by different names. Though there were many who worked on developing an infallible naming system, the most famous was a Swedish biologist called Carl Linnaeus, sometimes called the ‘father of taxonomy’. Linnaeus developed a two-name classification system called binomial nomenclature for all living organisms published in two books, Species Plantarum (1753) and Systema Naturae (1758), which are still in use today.
Applying the system to the issue of the bluebell harebell, we find that in Scotland the bluebell can either be Campanula rotundifolia or Hyacinthoides non-scripta. Whilst in England the harebell is Campanula rotundifolia and the bluebell is Hyacinthoides non-scripta. Looking further into the issue, there are several more plants known as bluebells which goes to show how useful binomial nomenclature is. Accordingly, the use of Latin in horticulture is ubiquitous and essential, and it is a delight to hear the Latin names confidently rolling off the tongue of an experienced gardener or nurseryperson. As you can imagine, it is even more important in the medical world where using the wrong plant could be dangerous. However, I also worry that the use of Latin can be a barrier to some. I know several extremely experienced and capable horticulturists who find it difficult to come to terms with Latin, due to dyslexia or confidence and feel the lack of it, yet they are still excellent growers and have no less love of their craft.
Given the ecological focus of many of our projects, one of the books we use most in our studio is the Collins Wild Flower Guide. It documents every flower known to have been found growing wild in Britain and Ireland. The book is full of information with beautiful botanical hand drawings of each species (always much better for identification purposes than a photograph) as well as distribution, habit and whether the plant is native, introduced or a garden escapee. A
