Re: plant names

**C* E* <c*@catrionatudorerler.com>**

Unless I'm giving the full botanical name (genus and species), I opt for lower case and no italics as anything else makes the text look busy and I think is more confusing to read.  Same for lilac and sweet potato vine.  Walt Whitman did not write "When Lilacs last in the dooryard bloom'd."  Lilacs is not a proper name.

Catriona
On Feb 25, 2013, at 7:51 AM, Jo Ellen Meyers Sharp <hoosiergardener@sbcglobal.net> wrote:

> I have a question about common names. Think print, in newspapers and magazines, most of which have an aversion to too much fancy stuff in text:
> 
> Should common names be capitalized, such as Lilac or Sweet Potato Vine? I say no, because these are not proper names.
> 
> Next, what if you are writing about Hosta or other plants, where the scientific and a common name are the same. Should all hosta, petunia, impatiens, etc., references as a common names be cap or cap and Italics or can they be lower case?
> 
> 
> jems
> ____________________
> Jo Ellen Meyers Sharp
> Director, Garden Writers Association
> hoosiergardener@sbcglobal.net
> http://hoosiergardener.com
> Phone: (317) 251.3261
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Catriona Tudor Erler
965 Pintail Lane
Charlottesville, VA 22903
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Catriona@CatrionaTudorErler.com
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