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| Onoseris sylvatica f. Daisy |
This is not just any plant list. This is Kew Gardens, the Missouri Botanical Garden, New York Botanical Garden and more, all jointly deciding what to name every plant in the world! They’ve agreed on the names of 300,000 species so far and are still working hard. So, the first thing I investigate is what they’ve decided to call the ‘Daisy Family’. Answer:
“Compositae!” I wailed out loud.
Gerald heard me from the office and, wisecracking, pedantic Brit that he is, called out:
“Compositae - the Daisy Family. Every schoolboy knows that!”
Of course, Gerald is English. And, as a Yank, I know full well that we are two nations divided by a common language - and that includes the botanical world too!
As the old (new) song goes:
You say Compositae, I say Asteraceae!
You say Guttiferae, I say Clusiaceae!
Compositae – Asteraceae; Guttiferae – Clusiaceae,
Let’s call the whole thing off!
You say Labiatae, I say Lamiaceae!
You say Malvaceae, I say Tiliaceae!
Labiatae – Lamiaceae; Malvaceae – Tiliaceae,
Let’s call the whole thing off!
But, Oooooooh, if we call the whole thing off, then we must part,
And, Oooooooh, if we have to part, then that would break my heart.
So you say Palmae, and I say Arecaceae
And you say Leguminosae, and I say Fabaceae,
‘Cause they’re all just asters, mints, frijoles, daisies,
So let’s call the calling off off, let’s call the whole thing off!
Nevertheless, all joking aside, the vast majority of accepted names have all been agreed upon long, long ago – at least to the Family. And everybody knows that, if you can’t find Asteraceae, you immediately search for Compositae. There are a few more like that – and we can see in ThePlantList that the lads from Kew Gardens got the accepted name.
