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Re: plant names

How poetic!

Susan McCoy
Garden Media Group
Office 610-444-3040
Cell 610-220-8400



On Feb 25, 2013, at 10:45 AM, "Catriona Erler" <catriona@catrionatudorerler.com> wrote:

> 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
>> P.O. Box 20310
>> Indianapolis, IN 46220-0310
>> Co-author, Indiana Gardener's Guide
>> Author, The Visitor's Guide to American Gardens
>> Great Garden Speakers
>> 
>> 
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> 
> Catriona Tudor Erler
> 965 Pintail Lane
> Charlottesville, VA 22903
> 434 953-6780
> Catriona@CatrionaTudorErler.com
> www.CatrionaTudorErler.com
> 
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