THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT 
              Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: Sunday, March 10, 1996                 TAG: 9603080106
SECTION: HOME                     PAGE: G3   EDITION: FINAL 
SOURCE: BY ROBERT STIFFLER GARDENING COLUMNIST 
                                             LENGTH: Short :   49 lines

LATIN NAMES ARE GREEK TO MOST GARDENERS

``NEVER USE A Latin name for a plant unless you happen to be the pope,'' cautions the new humorous book ``White Trash Gardening.''

Gardeners have argued for centuries over the system of identifying plants by Latin names - their proper botanical names.

Botanists insist on using a system of identifying plants by a Latin genus and species, difficult for the average home gardener to understand and practically impossible for most to remember how to spell.

And lately things have become more complex. In numerous instances, researchers have decided that certain plants had a different origin than once believed. So a new name is assigned. For example, taxonomists used to lump about 200 species of plants into the genus Chrysanthemum.

Now that grouping has been modified and regrouped into several smaller genera, and the plants most gardeners think of as chrysanthemums have been reclassified as Dendranthema x grandiflorum. Shasta daisies, another member of the genus Chrysanthemum, were renamed Leucanthemum x superbum.

Even the nursery professionals find it confusing.

But it's sort of like nicknames vs. full names for people. There may be a dozen John Does in a community but only one Johnston Thaddeus Doe IV. So even with the handicaps of the botanical naming system, there are times when it's smarter to learn and use the Latin name.

Many plants are known by different names in different regions. A single plant can have many common names.

For example, the new catalog from Nichols Garden Nursery offers ``Kiss-me-over-the-garden-gate'' (Polygonum orientale), which it describes as a hardy annual, bearing drooping spikes of red flowers and large heart-shaped leaves. Also known as Princess Feather.

But, in the January/February issue of Home Garden magazine, Roy Wyatt of Atlanta writes: ``Blooms to delight us in mid-winter are the cream-colored blooms of winter honeysuckle. It is entrancingly fragrant and also bears the common name of kiss-me-at-the gate (Lonicera fragrantissima).'' So, whether you kiss me at the gate or over the gate can make the difference between two different plants.

So the next time you fuss about using Latin names for plants, remember there are reasons for doing so.

KEYWORDS: WEEDER'S DIGEST by CNB