Why use botanical names? Well, herbs have many different local names, for example, the dandelion may be called cocks and watches, devils milk posy, pis-en-lit and so on. Using "official" botanical names makes a common language for herbalists and botanists and avoids mistakes with the identities of plants used in a remedy. The official names give interesting clues about the plant or its use. For example, "alba" means white; "vulgaris" means common; "officinalis" means that the plant is thought to have medicinal properties; "nigra" means black,etc. Plants are also sometimes named after the perosn who first officially described them, or to honour an eminent person, such as Dioscorea, named after Dioscorides
| Astragalus membranaceus |
