Hey plant detectives - win a prize!

Well done Aimee that's a lot of researching you've done :) Well done to everyone else too!

One thing I have found is that there can be a couple of possible meanings to a word or the writer we are reading has mistranslated something so nothing is written in stone unless its glaringly obvious. I spent quite some time on a couple of names I knew part of, it turned out that I wasn't looking at the name as a whole and it meant something different LOL, I realised that I wasn't alone in that as others had done the same. One such name is Diascia, it could come from the words for two sacs, referring to the spurs at the back of the flower or a less often used translation, from the word to adorn. (Sorry Aimee I'm not picking you out particularly, nor saying that its wrong its just one that came to mind, perhaps the similarity of the words came to the authors mind and thats why they chose that name, it happens!)

With a few of the names its going to be close on impossible to tell which meaning is correct because the person naming them was either being very obscure and alluding to a little know word or myth or because they never wrote their reasons down as they assumed people would always have a classical education (how wrong they were). The English language has a very large vocabluary but even then there isn't always a direct translation. This happens more with the genus name, the specific name tends to be a fairly basic translation from Latin/Greek based languages with a few exceptions because they tend to be descriptive of something to do with the plant.

One thing which would really help is checking the spelling is correct on a name. I've made a good few mistakes on my PDB entries and its very easy to do.

Baa, I must confess I am not smart enough to compile such a work. And I am not a good typist, so if someone sees what appears to be an "absurd word" or one out of place, it could be my typing. As for the other points you raise, I offer the credits from the volumes containing the entries I have made thus far. This is what is in the front of each volume of this encyclopedia:

Edited by T.H. Everett, Assistant Director (Horticulture) and Curator of Education
The New York Botanical Garden

With contributions from
Twenty Horticulturists and Authorities in the United States and Canada

Growers, Breeders, Exhibitors, Plantsmen, Writers, Lecturers, Professors, Editors and Superintendents of Famous Estates, who are Experts in all Fields of Horticulture, including Pests and Their Control.

Vols - I got a set of those books last night. It was a "Buy Down" auction for $10. There are still a few more sets on there. Don't worry about me bidding. I love looking at the old garden books for sale. Once in a while you can find some unusual gems. I got an old library book on pods a few weeks ago for a couple of bucks. I guess not many people are into pods - 'cept me - LOL!

Aime - I noticed some of the sets have additional books too. The one I got just has the 14 volumes. But some had addition volumes like - Japanese Gardens, Cottage Gardens ect. They must have been extras they made after the original set. If I ever see the vol.5 I'll let you know.

Poppysue, I think maybe after the initial offering, they needed to punch it up a little to keep interest up each year. It would be nice to have the extra books, but I rather think they aren't actually a part of the set. I would be soooo eternally grateful if you found me a volume 5 all by itself, it truly bugs me everytime I think of that incomplete set. I intend to leave it to my son, the only other gardener in the family, and the second set to my granddarling, my favorite gardening buddy, and it seems a shame to leave one that is imperfect. I am happy for you that you got a set, as I enjoy mine. I have other books, but that is the one I turn to most, except for the ones on Texas Wiidflowers.

Aimee

You took the time and trouble to look them up, there are a number of names we couldn't find that have been listed here, so its a GREAT help! Most knowledge is just a rehash of someone elses work and ideas anyway. I've not known many of the names we have listed and have had to rely on other sources too. I'm not academically intelligent, an ounce of common sense is worth more than a lb of brains anyway (thats my excuse and I'm sticking to it LOL). I know a lovely man with a PhD but he couldn't tie his own shoe laces without an instruction manual and 3 days tuition. So you are more than smart to have looked them up and kind enough to tell us too :)

Aimee, all I can say is bravo! This is wonderful! I'll be working later this morning to get these inserted and formated like the rest of the data I have. If anyone has any more keep 'em coming, please :)

Poppysue, you have the same books I do, go for it!

Okay, here's the list of still-not-sure names (considerably shorter than the last one, thanks to Baa, Aimee and PoppySue!)

Acnistus
Ajania
Amberboa
characias
deglupta
Dicliptera
eglanteria
Emilia - (Aimee, I know you gave some info about its former name, but is there anything to indicate the origin of this newer name?)
Galphimia
Calibrachoa
Dracopsis
Cyanastrum
boenderi
bumalda
bainsei
bergeriana
clandonense/clandonensis
erinus
Cibotium
charantia
farfara

Any other guesses on these? (If there isn't anything to "hang our hats" on, that's okay. These represent less than .05% of the total number of names in Botanary, so having more than 99% of them defined is good 'nuff. But I figure these will give you super sleuths a real challenge to work on ;0)

Thanks so very much for all your help - I'm glad we have such a helpful bunch of members to turn to!

Cibotium is named after Cibot, (possibly Father Pierre Martial Cibot (1700's), French missionary in China and botanist)

Ajania - of Ajan, Eastern Siberia. Associated specific ajanensis

I found this, but didn't submit it because it wasn't on the list as Rosa:
Rosa Eglanteria (rubiginosa) The Sweetbrier or Eglantine is one of the most useful Roses to plant as a closely clipped hedge, the clipping being done in early spring. In addition to the pleasing fragrance of its foliage, which is especially pronounced after rain, the pale pink blooms are followed by red fruits. (atc., etc.)

I looked in a couple of old books on roses, and could find no more than this. Found in an old Webster's New Collegiate Dictionary, the following:
eglantine -n. Also, Archaic, eglatere [F. eglantine, fr. OF. (Old French) aiglent, aiglentier] a. The sweetbrier

I suspect this is a name or classification given to describe the growth habit of this class of roses.

The New Illustrated entry states that the name Cybotium is derived from kibotion, a little chest, a reference to the form of the spore-bearing parts. I didn't read the entire item the first time around, so I missed this. Now, how does one determine if the language was built around Baa's person? It probably can be traced by when the word was first used and compared to when the man lived. Poor fellow, to go down in history as meaning little chest!

Vols - I have one book that says the origin of the genus name Emilia is unknown.

Is that all that's left of the original huge list I received? I feel like I just got started and was looking forward to going through the whole list. I enjoyed it, as far as I got.

Aimee, I thought so when I posted it, but there may be a few more that shake out as I combine a couple more spreadsheets that hold all this info. I'll do another check and post back here around noon CT (have a dentist appt. this morning - ugh!)

And while this will take care of our initial data load into Botanary and the Plants Database, it probably won't be our last - we still have family names to do, plus there's a whole world of plant names out there we haven't yet started on :)

LOL Aimee yes poor chap.

I originally thought Cibotium may have something to do with cibus - food/fodder and indeed Cibotium has an edible core and was considered to be a vegetable lamb. However I arrived at Cibot because I have a couple of references in which an obscure common name is Cibot's Fern but I'm not entirely happy with those sources. I looked up Cibot to see if there was a botanist with the same name and indeed there is, hence my conclusion. Also the pharmaceutical binomial specific epithet is cibotii, a specific ending in; i, ei, ii, ana, orum indicates a persons name, the ending orum is referring to someones wife or other relative. With the Genus its more difficult to tell if it is someones name, and this is what we are dealing with here and the pharmaceutical binomials may follow a different path which might render my idea obsolete.

Now this may be completely wrong because I can find no reference to anyone naming Cibotium after a botanist named Cibot and therefore your greek may be the correct meaning. I don't know :)

Ha, it's Greek to me!

well, it's nearing the end of the week and it looks to me like Aimee is the winner sofar. Hope you get a nice gift for all your work Aimee :)
Way to go!!!

Just for Aimee (who thought my last "clean-up" list wasn't long enough, LOL.) Disregard the one above.

Here's a *slightly* longer one, LOL. There should be something for everybody on this list (a few I know are pretty easy, but it's a long, boring story on why they didn't get researched before now.) If somebody's got the "goods" they might even be able to beat Aimee's lead in this contest! (It'll be hard, though - I think she's got a good headstart ;0)

If you have already posted some of these, just skip 'em, as I know I may have missed a few. I'll be doing a final comparison of what's here vs. my file to make sure all your hard work is accounted for.

Acnistus
Ajania
Amberboa
bainsei
barberae
barberi
bergeriana
boenderi
bonus-henricus
bumalda
calcyinum
calcynoides
calendulaceum
calenduliflora
Calibrachoa
Calibrachoa
cammarum
Carpanthea
cereifolium
characias
charantia
Cibotium
clandonense
clandonensis
claytoniana
clematitis
Cyanastrum
dalmaisiana
deglupta
Dicliptera
Dracopsis
eglanteria
Emilia
Endres
Eranthis
erinus
farfara
Galphimia
gardnerii
Graptopetalum
haageana
haematocephala
hahniana
halepense
halepensis
halicacabum
harveyi
hasslerana
haydenii
hederifolium
helleborine
Heptacodium
herba-barona
herbeohybrida
Herbertia
herbertiana
herbertii
herbstsonne
Hermodactylus
Hevea
hexandra
heyderi
himalayense
hippomanica
Holmskioldia
Homeria
hookeriana
hoopesii
hortensis
hortorum
hubrichtii
humifusa
humistrata
hungaricus
hupehensis
Hyacinthoides
hybrida
Hydrangea
hydrangeoides
Hydrastis
Hydrocleys
Hydrocotyle
hyemalis
Hymenocallis
Hymenoxys
hyoseroides
Hypericum
Hypoestes
Hypoxis
hyrcanicum
hyssopofilia
Hyssopus
iberidifolia
Ibervillea
ida-maia
impetiginosa
Incarvillea
Inula
Inula
Ipheion
Isatis
Ixia
Ixora
jacobaeus
jamaicensis
jamesonii
Jasione
Jatropha
jooi
Jovellana
julibrissin
Kaempferia
Kalimeris
Kalimeris
karvinskianus
kaufmanniana
Kerriodoxa
kewensis
kiku-shidare-sakura
kilimandscharicum
kirkii
Kitaibelia
kiusianum
Kleinia
knappii
Knautia
Kniphofia
kobus
Kochia
Koelreuteria
Kolkwitzia
Kolomikta
koreana
koyamae
lambada
liliputiana
limifolia
Ludisia
Manihot
mariana
Mascagnia
Mazus
metel
monellii
murucuja
nastarana
neviglume
noastraum
norisii
Optunia
pagoda
Petromarula
Phaius
Phalaenopsis
plegmatoides
pliecantha
pulegoides
Remusatia
Rhexia
ritro
rochebrunianum
sabdariffa
saccharata
schafta
Schulmberga
Serissa
siceraria
Spilanthes
Stachytarpheta
tesota
tongolensis
Triosteum
Ursinia
vallea

Thanks again for all your efforts - I couldn't have done it without you-all!

You guys amaze me! Good work! I want to send the winner six of my Alaska Garden Greeting Cards as a prize when you decide the winner...let me know!

Vols

Some on this list are misspellings.

bonus-henricus - good henry
hederifolium - resembling Ivy Leaves
Heptacodium - 7 heads
himalayense - of the Himalayas
hungaricus - of Hungary
Hyacinthoides - Resembles Hyacithus genus
hybrida - hybrid
Hydrangea - Water jar
hydrangeoides - resembling Hydrangea
Hymenocallis - membrane beauty, beautiful membrane
Hypoestes - below house
Incarvillea - named after Pierre d'Incarville
Inula - Old Latin name for Inula helenium
Ixia - bird lime (due to the sticky sap)
Ixora - named after Iswara Malabar deity
Jasione - from the Greek name for these plnts
kewensis - of Kew Gardens UK
Kitaibelia - From the Japanese name
Kniphofia - named after Johann Kniphof
Kochia - named after Wilhelm Daniel Josef Koch
Koelreuteria - named after Josepf Gottleib Koelreuter
Kolkwitzia - named after Richard Kolkwitz
koreana - of Korea
lambada - Variety name, not a specific name
liliputiana - tiny
Mazus - from the Greek, Mazos, teat
pagoda - Variety name not a specific epithet
pulegoides - Resembles Fleabane, Pennyroyal or another plant which repells fleas
Schulmberga - 'Schlumbergera' named after Frederick Schlumberger
Ursinia - named after Johannes Ursinus


This message was edited Thursday, Mar 14th 6:14 PM

Ladies and Gentlemen! May I have your attention please? I think we should all bow before Baa, the Queen of binomial nomenclature. And the heir apparent, Princess Aimee, who is closely followed by Lady-in-Waiting PoppySue.

Ya'll are truly great!!! Thank you so much!

There are a few more names (I think) that still need a definition. If anyone has others to submit, post them here or send them to me by tomorrow (Friday), as I'm finishing the work on the "real" file that Dave will load into Botanary (the one in there right now is still a "draft" version.)

Thanks to the combined work of these ladies, we will have a very unique and special tool in Botanary and a very nice addition to the Plants Database.

And if you are wondering just what makes Botanary so special, I'd challenge you to find any other online source that has 6,000+ plant names defined AND pronounced. As far as I know, such a place doesn't exist, except here at DG. Botanary plus Gardenology gives us 8,000+ botanical and gardening terms. A big pat on the back for everyone who has worked so hard on these two new features!

I'm sorry to barge in and I hope you all don't take this the wrong way but I thought go_vols and Baa were working on this list to begin with and then asked others for help in completion. I feel that Aimee is the winner here as she did not commit herself to doing this in the first place but did offer her assistance in helping out. I don't want anyone to misunderstand me but I just don't think it is fair in a way. That's kinda like a company having a sweepstake but the vice president of the company wins the prize. Don't mean to offend anyone but that's just the way I see it and Aimee worked very hard on this as has poppysue.
I'm going to shut up now

flowox, I guess I didn't state my post very clearly. At this point Aimee has won my little contest, and will receive her choice of a mug or t-shirt (assuming someone doesn't miraculously overtake her in the "home stretch.")

I jokingly dubbed Baa the "queen" because she had done such a tremendous job leading up to this. Hopefully that makes sense, and I apologize if it sounded like I was somehow announcing Baa as the winner - she and I have already talked about this via email ;)

I won???? Really???? Or so far? I was afraid to look, since I was too tired to look up any more. Wow!

Aimee, as of right now you are definitely in the lead :)

I'm leaving it open just in case someone is still working away on some of those other terms and posts them back here today. Then I'll do a final tally and make an "official announcement."

Thanks again for all you've done, and (if it's okay with you) I may pester you with a few other "stragglers" since you have a wonderful set of books with so many obscure names.

woohoo, way to go Aimee!!!!!!!! you may get that mug or shirt you've been wanting yet :)

Well, I am somewhat taken aback. I seem to remember volunteering to help on this project, spending over $75 for two books to assist me in this project, and then spending a couple of days total looking up and providing go_vols with close to 400 names/pronunciations of plants beginning with the letters H-K through searches on the internet and the books I bought.

I thought it strange at the time that I never received word one back from go_vols that she had received the work that I had done, much less any thanks for it. I thought maybe she had somehow not received it so I e-mailed her back to get a confirmation that she had received the spreadsheet with all the work I had done. Here is her response:

I sure did. Thanks!

I have never heard one further word from go_vols after this and now it appears, from these posts, that I apparently didn't do anything on this project.

Your welcome.

Tom, I guess we've had the proverbial "failure to communicate" - since I hadn't heard anything else from you, I figured you had something come up, and taken you in a different direction. I do very much thank you for the work you've done; in fact, in several posts, I've mentioned you and Baa as being very important to this project, which you were.

To get us up to speed, here's what's happened since I received the file of roughly 230 defined terms from you: I took the remaining terms, added to them several more that Dave had sent me from the Plants Database. I worked on this group for about three days myself, then posted this thread to ask for some other "spare hands" to help us wrap it up and get the rest of the terms defined.

I'm very glad to see you're still interested in the project; if you've been quietly working on those other undefined terms, I'd be glad to incorporate them into the final file.

Oh, no! I can't compete with Tom! He will blow me out of the water in no time flat. Oh, well, I had fun looking up stuff, learned more and got re-acquainted with an old friend, this encyclopedia.

LOL, Aimee. Put on your track shoes, you might have to sprint the last lap or so.

Tom, I'll email you later on today to try to clear up the confusion, but please accept a humble and public apology if I dropped the ball - I know that with voluntary projects, sometimes "real life" things come up and the volunteer stuff takes a back seat, but I guess I shouldn't have assumed that was the case here.

Aimee, I am not trying to compete with anyone. When I first found DG's, I thought this was a great site for gardeners to come together and help each other out and wanted to do my part to make this a better place. One of the great lessons my father taught me when I was young - leave a place better than when you found it.

I would have been glad to help further with the project, but as I said before, when I first sent the work I had done, I never even received acknowledgment that it had been received. My follow up e-mail elicited the response I posted previously, and I never heard any more back from go_vols until I read this post that started out with a thank you to Baa and the work she had done on this project, which, by the way, has been considerable and all at DG's owe both her and go_vols a big, heartfelt thanks for the work they have done on the project - she has gone way above and beyond the call of duty and continues to do so. As I first said, I was just taken aback to be reading about all the work done on this project with no reference to anything I had done. I would think folks would understand how I felt.

Tom, I certainly do understand, and I want to be one of the first to thank you for your input. I couldn't have afforded to buy new books for this project, but I am so pleased to know that you did. It shows you are indeed a valuable member here, which I think was already a known fact in your first week. To have just gone out and acquired books on your own to be in a better position to contribute is praiseworthy. I remember well that you offered to help right away, almost from your first day. You, my dear, are a class act, and I am proud to bow to your input.

Copperbaron

Many many thanks for all the hard work and effort put into the project. It truely is a great contribution! :)

Baa

Copperbaron
I want to add my thatnks for all of your work.
Sometimes things fall between the cracks and I sure thsi is one of those times.
I know how time consuming this can be.
THANK YOU!

Paul

Acnistus
Ajania
Amberboa
bainsei
barberae
barberi
bergeriana
boenderi
bumalda
calcyinum
calcynoides
calendulaceum
calenduliflora
Calibrachoa
Calibrachoa
cammarum
Carpanthea
cereifolium
characias
charantia
Cibotium
clandonense
clandonensis
claytoniana
clematitis
Cyanastrum
dalmaisiana
deglupta
Dicliptera
Dracopsis
eglanteria
Emilia
Endres

Eranthis - Native of Europe, belong to the Buttercup family, Ranunculaceae. The name is derived from er, spring, and anthos, a flower.

erinus - Native of Europe, belongs to the Snapdragon family, Scrophulariaceae. Derivation of the name is obscure.

farfara
Galphimia
gardnerii
Graptopetalum
haageana
haematocephala - from the Greek haima, blood, and kephale, head.
hahniana
halepense
halepensis
halicacabum
harveyi
hasslerana
haydenii

hederifolium - from Greek hedra, base, used to denote a geometric figure or a crystal, having a specified form or number of surfaces, and referring to the shape of a leaf.

helleborine - A poisonous crystal occurring in Hellebore, a genus of herbs of the crowfoot family.

herba-barona
herbeohybrida
Herbertia
herbertiana
herbertii
herbstsonne
Hermodactylus

Hevea - From the moist tropical forests of South America, Belongs to the Spurge family, Euphorbiaceae. Name is native Brazilian.

hexandra
heyderi
hippomanica
Holmskioldia

Homeria - Native of South America, belong to the Iris family, Iridaceae. The name commemorates the poet Homer.

hookeriana
hoopesii
hortensis
hortorum
hubrichtii
humifusa
humistrata
hupehensis

Hydrangea - Native of the Himlayas, central and eastern Asia and North and South America. The name is from the Greek hydor, water, and aggeion, a vessel, alluding to the cup-chaped fruits.

Hydrastis - One is native to Japan, the other of eastern North America. Only the latter appears to be in cultivation. Belongs to the Buttercup family, Ranunculaceae. The derivation of the name is presumably from the Greek work hydor, meaning water.


Hydrocleys - Native of South America, belonging to the family Butomaceae. The name means Water Key.

Hydrocotyle

hyemalis - a term used in describing plants which bloom in winter, derived from the Latin hiems, winter.

Hymenoxys
hyoseroides

Hypericum - From Europe, Asia and North America, Hypericum gives its name to the family Hypericaceae, and the name is an old Greek one used by Dioscorides.

Hypoestes - Native of South Africa, belonging to the Acanthus family, acanthaceae. The name derives from hypo, under, and estia, a house, and refers to the fact that the calyx is covered by the bracts.

Hypoxis - Natives of tropical Asia, tropical and South Africa, tropical and NOrth America and Australia. They belong to the family Amaryllidaceae. The name is from hypo, beneath, and oxys, sharp, and refers to the base of the capsule.

hyrcanicum
hyssopofilia

Hyssopus - Native of Europe and temperate Asia, belongs to the Mint family, Labiatae. The name is said to have been used in ancient Greece.


iberidifolia
Ibervillea
ida-maia
impetiginosa

Incarvillea - Native of China and Turkestan, and named after Père Incarville, a Chinese Jesuit who was interested in botany about the middle of the eighteenth century. Belongs to the Bignonia family, Bignoniaceae.

Inula -Native of Europe, Africa, Asia, belongs to the Daisy family, Compositae, and the name is an old Latin one.

Ipheion

Isatis -From Europe and temperate Asia, belongs to the Mustard family, Cruciferae, and the name is ancient Greek or Woad, the dye made from Isatis tinctoria, with which ancient Britons used to dye their bodies.

Ixia - From South Africa, belonging to the Iris family, Iridaceae. The name means birdlime, and refers to the sticky juice of some of the species.

jacobaeus - New Latin and Late Latin, of or pertaining to James I of England, or his reign or times.

jamaicensis
jamesonii

Jatropha - Native of Central America, belong to the family Euphorbiaceae. The name is of Greek origin and refers to the medicinal value possessed by some species.

jooi
Jovellana
julibrissin

Kaempferia - Native of Borneo, Cochin China and other warm countries, belong to the family Zingiberaceae. The name commemorates a German physician named E. Kaempfer.

Kalimeris
Kalimeris
karvinskianus
kaufmanniana
Kerriodoxa
kiku-shidare-sakura
kilimandscharicum
kirkii

Kitaibelia - Native of eastern Europe, belongs to the Hollyhock family, Malvaceae. The name commemorates Paul Kitaibel, of the botanic garden of Pesth.

kiusianum

Kleinia - Native of South Africa, belongs to the Daisy family, Compositae.

knappii
Knautia

Kniphofia - From South Africa, belong to the Lily family, Liliaceae. The name commemorates Johann H. Kniphof, a German doctor. In many gardens, they are still grown under the name Tritoma.

kobus

Kochia - Native of the southern countries of Europe, belongs to the family Chenopodiaceae.

Koelreuteria - Native of China, belongs to the family Sapindaceae and was named in honor of Joseph G. Koelreuter, a professor of natural history at Karlsruhe in the eighteenth century.

Kolkwitzia - Belongs to the Honeysuckle family, Caprifoliaceae, native of China. It was first introduced to gardens in 1901 by the late Dr. E.H. Wilson, who collected seeds on rocky slopes at 9,000 to 10,000 ft. altitude in Hupeh.

Kolomikta
koyamae
limifolia
Ludisia

Manihot- From Brazil, belongs to the Spurge family, Euphorbiaceae. The name is Brazilian.

mariana
Mascagnia

Mazus - Native of India, Australia, New Zealand and the Malayn Archipelago, belong to the Snapdragon family, Scrophulariaceae. The name is frommazos, a teat, and alludes to the tubercled formation of the corolla.

metel
monellii
murucuja
nastarana
neviglume
noastraum
norisii

Opuntia - Native of North and South America and the West Indies, belonging to the Cacatus family, Cactaceae. The name is derived from Opus, a city in Greece, where other plants of cactus-like appearance were grown.

Petromarula

Phaius - or Phajus, orchids from the warm parts of Asia, Madagascar, Ceylon (Sri Lanka), Australia and Philippines. Member of the family Orchidaceae. The name is said by some authorities to mean "shining", but is probably derived from the Greek phaios, dusky, referring to the dusky reddish-brown coloring of many of the flowers.

Phalaenopsis - From the Philippines, Java, the Malay Archipelago and Burma, belonging to the family Orchidaceae. The name is derived from phalaina, moth, and opsis, like.

plegmatoides
pliecantha
Remusatia

Rhexia - Native of North America, belonging to the family Melastomaceae. The name is derived from rhexio, rupture, and refers to the plant's supposed value in curing ruptures.

ritro
rochebrunianum
sabdariffa
saccharata
schafta

Schlumbergera - From Brazil, member of the family Cactaceae, and named in honor of Frederick Schlumberg, an amateur student of botany.

Serissa - Native of southeastern Asia, the name is of Indian derivation. Belongs to the Madder family, Rubiaceae, and is the only member of its genus.

siceraria

Spilanthes - From Brazil and other tropical areas, belongs to the Daisy family, Compositae. The name is derived from spilos, a spot and anthos, a flower and refers to the brown disc flowers of some kinds.

Stachytarpheta
tesota
tongolensis
Triosteum

Ursinia - From South Africa and other parts of the African continent, belongs to the Daisy family, Compositae. The name commemorates John Ursinus, a botanist.
vallea

Well done again Aimee! I couldn't find Spilanthes for love nor money :)

I think I just got lucky on many of these. But the luck was in 1960 when I bought the little set of books I couldn't afford.

Aimee, I didn't think much could tempt me to buy any more gardening books. But my resolve is certainly weakening after seeing some of the good info you have in "them there books" and I may just have to see if I can find a set on eBay. I also have a (read: single, solitary) volume of "The Marshall Cavendish Illustrated Encyclopedia of Gardening" - does anybody know anything about the rest of the set (like how many there are?) It is probably about the same era as Aimee's set, and has some of the same type of info. I picked it up for next to nothing several years ago at an antique store (had to blow a lot of dust off to read the title, LOL) and I'm wondering which set would be better. Any opinions? And Aimee, it appears you have indeed proven yourself to be the deserving recipient of a mug or t-shirt. Please email me with your choice, and the particulars (size of t-shirt, if you want one), address to have it shipped to, etc.

Thanks again to all who participated in the contest; you've definitely helped us define some real "stumpers"!

It probably won't surprise anyone to know I have had a long snooze. But I think I have a new addiction. Does anyone know of a book or books with in-depth information about the people, (mostly men, due to customs which limited women's mobility), who traveled the earth generations ago gathering new plants? Not books with tidbits sprinkled here and there about it, but something with good meaty information, telling about how they came to make the journeys, who financed them, where they went, what they found, how they managed to get the plants back, how they were able to adapt them or their environments. I once took a course, one of those extra-credit things, about just this subject, but it dealt only with the flowers in the south that had been introduced from other countries. It was fscinating, and a little of it still remains stuffed back in my cluttered memory bank. Working on this little project whetted my appetite, and I realized I need to learn and re-learn this information to pass it on to my granddarling along with the gardening we share. Our librarian is running a search for me, and this little town has an amazing stock of garden and plant books, but I thought maybe some of you, (Copperbaron?) might already know some titles. Everyone at the UT offices is out for at least a week, but you know I will be there as soon as a door opens, because there are brilliant plant people on campus. It's possible I might even find an author or two, and they do have a lovely butterfly project. If you have ideas, I would be grateful for your suggestions.