Most of the binomials mentioned give some information about 

the plant or where it grows

•

But there are no rules about whether the scientific name is 
meaningful or appropriate, so we end up sometimes with 
names like…

•

Eschscholzia californica

(California poppy), a plant from 

California named to honor Mr. Escholz

•

Cassiope mertensiana

(white-heather) named for a goddess 

and honoring Mr. Mertens

•

Dudleya brittonii

(Britton’s dudleya) honoring both Mr. Dudley 

and Mr. Britton

•

Names like these are hardly descriptive of the plants, making 
it much harder to memorize the names

•

A great number of specific epithets honor explorers and 
collectors such as Brewer, Menzies, Douglas, and Kellogg