Lasthenia - Again

Ok. Next episode. (You didn't think you'd get off THAT lightly, did
you?) This is only an interim 'holding' episode. There may be more to
come in a while. Dr Robert Ornduff is the expert on  Lasthenia. This
is what he kindly told me:

The only information I have as to the identity of Lasthenia is that
she attended Plato's lectures dressed as a man, but why that was
necessary (or if it is true) I don't know. The genus Lasthenia, a
member of the sunflower family, is exclusively American with most
species in western North America and one in central Chile and adjacent
Argentina. The genus was named by Lessing in 1834 in his Opusc.
Phytol. to accommodate the Chilean species.  I assume he did not
explain why he applied the name. I suspect because the plant is so
pedestrian-looking Lessing was hard-pressed to come up with a
descriptive name so instead he chose the name of a very obscure Greek
woman. But then we have no clear idea why Endlicher chose to name a
tree genus Sequoia, except that he was an amateur linguist. Neither he
nor Sequoyah, who invented an alphabet to accommodate the Cherokee
language, ever saw a living redwood.

However, Dr Ornduff also said that while he hadn't time to check
further at the moment, being just about to leave on a trip, he would
try to find time to on his return. Hence my 'there may be more to
come.'

I bet you can hardly wait....

I just hope Dr O and I haven't just combined to start a new thread
about the naming of Sequoia...
Tim Longville
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