HI Linda, Max, and Alberto, On page 13 of The Color Encyclopedia of Cape Bulbs, there is a paragraph retelling how Nerine sarniensis received it's specific epithet to commemorate Sarnia, the Latin name for the isle of Guernsey where the bulbs naturalised "after a Dutch ship returning from Japan in about 1655 with bulbs in her cargo" apparently lost some and washed ashore. It goes on to say that, "The names of several other Cape bulbs described in the 17th century make wildly inaccurate allusions to their purported places of origin, among them Albuca canadensis ( = A. flaccida), Brunsvigia orientalis, and the Malgas (Madagascar) lily, Cybistetes longifolia." From what other accounts I've read it seems that bulbs were collected at different parts of the world on a ships' single voyage and that often the collection would get jumbled up by the time it arrived back in Europe. One can only imagine the confusion with which Linnaeus and other taxonomists we beset with when naming some of the first Cape bulbs. Aloha, Jacob Knecht Honolulu, Hawai`i On Tue, Mar 25, 2008 at 9:36 AM, Alberto Grossi <crinum@libero.it> wrote: > According to Stearn's Dictionary of Plant Names, canadensis is, beside from Canada, a word us by earl writers also to cover the north-eastern US. > > Alberto > > > ---------- Initial Header ----------- > > >From : pbs-bounces@lists.ibiblio.org > To : pbs@lists.ibiblio.org > Cc : > Date : Tue, 25 Mar 2008 15:22:46 -0400 > Subject : [pbs] canadensis > > > > > > > > > > > Hi Linda and Max, > > > > I agree with Max that Cañada is a spanish word that describes small valleys in the South of Spain. Nevertheless I have had a look at my french-latin botanical dictionnary and I could not find any other meaning than "from Canada" when it comes to canadensis... among a long list of examples I can think of: > > > > > > Branta canadensis, Canada Goose > > > > Castor canadensis, American Beaver > > > > Cervus canadensis, Elk or Wapiti > > > > Lynx canadensis, Canadian Lynx > > > > > > > > and when it comes to plants - Allium canadense, Amelanchier canadensis, Anemone canadensis, Aquelegia canadensis, Cornus canadensis, Dicentra canadensis, Linaria canadensis, Sambucus canadensis, Sanguinaria canadensis, Stipa canadensis, Taxus canadensis, Viola canadensis, etc. > > > > It would be useful to go back to the original description by Linnaeus to know what is the derivatio nominis of the name. > > > > Keep in mind that many plants have been first described with inacurate names (in terms of geography) such as Scilla peruana (a mediterranean species) or Cereus peruvianus (that grows in Brazil). > > > > Will look more and try to finf the original description... > > > > Best regards, > > > > Luc > > _______________________________________________ > > pbs mailing list > > pbs@lists.ibiblio.org > > http://www.pacificbulbsociety.org/list.php > > http://pacificbulbsociety.org/pbswiki/ > > Alberto Grossi > Italy > > > > > _______________________________________________ > pbs mailing list > pbs@lists.ibiblio.org > http://www.pacificbulbsociety.org/list.php > http://pacificbulbsociety.org/pbswiki/ > -- see my botanical photography at: http://www.flickr.com/photos/morabeza79/