Re: Lasthenia
- To: Mediterannean Plants List <m*@ucdavis.edu>, t*@xtra.co.nz
- Subject: Re: Lasthenia
- From: T* &* M* R* <t*@xtra.co.nz>
- Date: Sun, 14 Feb 1999 21:13:13 +1300
- References: <36cb541d.2781805@mail.u-net.com>
Tim Longville wrote:
>
> Ok, here's a really silly one, to while away the
> catalogue-contemplating season, before gardening proper really gets
> under way. Can anyone tell me why the Calif. daisy genus, Lasthenia,
> is named after (as the
> always-full-of-fascinating-if-useless-information seed-catalogue of
> Chilterns, Bortree Stile, Ulverston, Cumbria, UK, tells me it is) a
> girl who attended the philosopher Plato's lectures by dressing as a
> man? Is this another of those weird taxonomists' jokes? Are Lasthenia
> in some way botanical cross-dressers?
>
> And if there are innocents among us who think THIS sounds too weird to
> be possible, even for taxonomists, look up sometime the reason why the
> genus Scaevola is so called...
>
Tim
You have really whetted my curiosity over Scaevola. DO tell!!
Moira
--
Tony & Moira Ryan <theryans@xtra.co.nz>
Wainuiomata, New Zealand
