Fun with Genera!
Jul. 27th, 2006 08:05 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
ruOver the course of the summer, I've been working part time in the herbarium at the uni. For those of you who came in late, an herbarium is essentially a repository of dried plants--a plant reference library, if you will, generally stored in large cabinets.
Anyway, I've been looking through the cabinets for a project I'm working on, which means seeing lots and lots of genus names. While I have to resist the urge to look through every single genus, I have been entertaining myself with the names themselves.
There are times when taxonomy can be downright amusing. As this site shows, there are some very interesting names out there (the vampire squid from hell holds a special place in my heart. <3 ). Animals have most of the fun, but I saw some plant genus names today that made me giggle. Here are a few, with my own personal speculations on what sort of plants belong in the genus (at least in Ru-world, anyway).
Phyllospadix: A plant whose main reproductive part (the spadix) is made out of a light, tasty pastry, which can be used as a substitute when making baklava.
Crossandra: A form of wheat which can be used to make bread that tells the future.
Elegia: Mispelled due to a glitch in the naming. Plants in this genus have multicolored foliage--blue, green, and yellow, produce daisy-like flowers, and have a thing for curses and fashionable clothing. (Word to the Underhill people! <3 )
Aaah, names are fun. <3 <3
Anyway, I've been looking through the cabinets for a project I'm working on, which means seeing lots and lots of genus names. While I have to resist the urge to look through every single genus, I have been entertaining myself with the names themselves.
There are times when taxonomy can be downright amusing. As this site shows, there are some very interesting names out there (the vampire squid from hell holds a special place in my heart. <3 ). Animals have most of the fun, but I saw some plant genus names today that made me giggle. Here are a few, with my own personal speculations on what sort of plants belong in the genus (at least in Ru-world, anyway).
Phyllospadix: A plant whose main reproductive part (the spadix) is made out of a light, tasty pastry, which can be used as a substitute when making baklava.
Crossandra: A form of wheat which can be used to make bread that tells the future.
Elegia: Mispelled due to a glitch in the naming. Plants in this genus have multicolored foliage--blue, green, and yellow, produce daisy-like flowers, and have a thing for curses and fashionable clothing. (Word to the Underhill people! <3 )
Aaah, names are fun. <3 <3