genus species?

If your into gardening fairly well this information probably wont be new to you but just for those interested, plants have two different types of names botanical and common.

Common names are names that are given to plants in terms that people can commonly understand and usually have something to do with the appearance of the plant like Floss Flower like in the picture or ghost gum because of its pale colured bark. The problem with common names is anyone can make them up and the same name can be used to describe several different plants.

Botanical names on the other hand can only be used once and have to be registered. All plants will have two names eg Ageratum houstonianum which is the genus (Ageratum) and species (houstonianum). There is actually i think 5 names in the botanical naming of things but 2 are the more specific and anyway two are hard enough to say without having to try and say five. If anyone wants me to go into naming more feel free to ask.

Chances are if you only see one name it is the genus which is less discriptive than the species and is a group of similar plants eg eucalypt and grevillea are both types of genus and is being used because the species is unknown, hence in the photo it is only ageratum as i am not sure of the species, it is however most likely a houstonianum cultivar. Cultivars and hybrids we can get into another day.

If you can have both a common name and a botanical name when you go the the nursery to buy plants thats fantastic, or alternativley bring in a piece of the plant, being able to see it is easier for identification than trying to figure it out from a description.