bonnet, cow lily, spatterdock	Nuphar advena

COMMON NAMES
In most of Florida, the floating-leaved plant known scientifically as Nuphar advena is also known by several common names: bonnet, cow lily, and spatterdock. This species is known by anglers to be attractive to a variety of fish. Think how confusing it can be to discuss fishing if the plant's common name varies from county to county and state to state. Think how confusing it can be if you and your neighbors on the lake all have different names for the same plant.

It gets worse. In some places, our cattails are called bulrushes. Our bulrushes are their club rushes; their rice grass is our cut grass. And often the same common name is used for different plants.

And what about sawgrass. Sawgrass is not a grass - it's a sedge. And bald-rushes, beak-rushes, bulrushes, club-rushes, lake rushes, spikerushes and star-rushes are all sedges! (In fact in Florida, the only true rushes we have are the bog rushes of the genus Juncus.)

Common names vary in other ways too. Plant nurseries, garden centers, aquarium shops and other plant retailers often assign their own common names to plants they sell. It's easier to sell "heaven plant" than "snot bonnet", a more common common name for the gelatenous-sheathed Brasenia schreberi, at left.

SCIENTIFIC NAMES
A scientific name is a name used by botanists, growers, plant managers and other interested citizens to help avoid the confusion caused by the use of common plant names. Professionals assign a unique scientific name to each plant. The naming system was set up by the Swedish botanist Linnaeus in the 1700s.

Scientific names are usually based on Latin or Greek words and are written in italics or are underlined. For example, the aquatic plant whose common name in Florida is maidencane has the scientific name Panicum hemitomon or Panicum hemitomon.

A scientific name has two (or sometimes more) parts. The first part is called the genus name and the second part refers to the species. For example, Potamogeton floridanus is the scientific name for a species of pondweed. Potamogeton is the genus and pectinatus is the species. Potamogeton illinoensis is a different species of pondweed. By using scientific names, containing both genus and species, scientists can be very specific.

The term Eleocharis spp. refers to all 150 species in the Eleocharis genus.

Naming may become even more complex by further classification according to subspecies and varieties.

TO CAPITALIZE or not to capitalize
In common names, the words are not capitalized, unless a word is a proper noun. In other words, common plant names are the same as common object names: they are not capitalized.
Such as: maidencane; bulrush; water hyacinth; Florida pondweed; duckweed; hydrilla...

In scientific names, the first word (genus) is capitalized and the following words (species, subspecies, etc.) are not capitalized.
Such as: Pistia stratiotes (water lettuce); Scirpus americanus (American bulrush); Saururus cernuus (lizard's tail)...

PRONOUNCIATION
Almost everyone, professional and layman alike, pronounces the Latin and Greek scientific names incorrectly. Don't worry about it, just say it. Nobody will (or can) correct you!

(But if you really want to know how to speak scientific names perfectly, we suggest you read the 600 page book on plant naming: Botanical Latin - History, Grammar, Syntax, Terminology and Vocabulary, by William T. Stearn. 1995. Timber Press, Portland, Oregon. And when you know exactly how to pronounce every Latin name, will you please let us know?)