The Names of Trees 



first gave the name. " Linn." is frequently noticed, for Linnaeus 

 is authority for thousands of plant names. 



Two sources of confusion make common names of trees un- 

 reliable: The application of one name to several species, and the 

 application of several names to one species. To illustrate the 

 first: There are a dozen iron woods in American forests. They 

 belong, with two exceptions, to different genera and to at 

 least five different botanical families. To illustrate the second: 

 The familiar American elm is known by at least seven local 

 popular names. The bur oak has seven. Many of these are ap- 

 plied to other species. Three of the five native elms are called 

 water elm; three are called red elm; three are called rock elm. 

 There are seven scrub oaks. Only by mentioning the scientific 

 name can a writer indicate with exactness which species he is 

 talking about. The unscientific reader can go to the botanical 

 manual or cyclopedia and under this name find the species 

 described. 



In California grows a tree called by three popular names: 

 leatherwood, slippery elm and silver oak. Its name is Fremontia. 

 It is as far removed from elms and oaks as sheep are from 

 cattle and horses. But the names stick. It would be as easy to 

 eradicate the trees, root and branch, from a region as to persuade 

 people to abandon names they are accustomed to, though they 

 may concede that you have proved these names incorrect, or 

 meaningless, or vulgar. Nicknames like nigger pine, he huckle- 

 berry, she balsam and bull bay ought to be dropped by all people 

 who lay claim to intelligence and taste. 



With all their inaccuracies, common names have interesting 

 histories, and the good ones are full of helpful suggestion to the 

 learner. Many are literal translations of the Latin names. The 

 first writers on botany wrote in Latin. Plants were described 

 under the common name, if there was one; if not, the plant was 

 named. The different species of each group were distinguished 

 by the descriptions and the drawings that accompanied them. 

 Linneus attempted to bring the work ot botanical scholars to- 

 gether, and to publish descriptions and names of all known 

 plants in a single volume. This he did, crediting each botanist 

 with his work. The "Species Plantarum," Linnaeus's monu- 

 mental work, became the foundation of the modern science oi 

 botany, for it included all the plants known and named up to 



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