The Lady Slipper newsletter, and now blog, of the Kentucky Native Plant Society has been published since the Society’s founding in 1986. We occasionally feature an article from a past issue. In this series of articles, that ran from late 1994 to early 1995, President Landon McKinney takes a look at the origins of some common and scientific plant names. These articles ran in three parts in Vol. 9, No. 4, Vol. 10, No. 1, and Vol. 10, No. 2. If you would like to see these and other past issues, visit the Lady Slipper Archives, where all issues from Vol. 1, February 1986 to Vol. 39, 2024, can be found.

What’s in a Name?

by Landon McKinney

Part 1
V9N4-1994-Nov
I am sure that each of us has wondered from time to time just where a particular common name for a plant came from. The origin of many common names are rather apparent, such as cardinal flower (red colored), Queen Anne’s lace (lacy cluster of flowers), or perhaps buffalo clover (favored by buffalo as forage).

This, the first in a series of articles, will explore some common names that are not quite as obvious. Let’s start with alfalfa. No, this plant was not named after that lovable character from the “Little Rascals”. The name was actually derived from Arabic meaning “best fodder”. The plant was introduced from Arabia to Spain, England, and eventually the United States.

How about pipsissewa? The origin here is from the Cree Indians and means “juice breaks stone in bladder into small pieces”. Needless to say, the Cree believed this plant to aid in the treatment of gall or kidney stones. Now there’s smartweed. Assuming the obvious, I tried eating this stuff but it just didn’t seem to work. Actually, the name refers to the fact that the plant burns (smarts) the tongue when tasted.

Some common names reflect the generic name such as portulaca. This name comes from the Latin word for “little gate” which refers to the lid of the seed capsule which opens like a gate.

I always wondered about ironweed, which merely refers to the hardiness and stiffness of the stem. Goldenseal, which has long been valued for its medicinal properties, has a name that actually stems from the use of this plant as a source of dye. We have curly dock and bitter dock and numerous other docks. Dock refers to the long thick taproot which resembles the solid portion of an animal’s tail. If used as a verb, the word dock commonly refers to the removal of said tail from sheep or certain breeds of dogs.

In closing, let me leave you with a few questions to ponder. Does the royal catchfly catch flies? Does the trout lily in some way resemble a fish and who is Joe Pye, anyway?

Jeff Nelson, KNPS President

As I write this, I am looking out at our woods in southwest McCracken Co., covered in 4″ of fresh snow. I have always loved to walk in the woods in the winter. The deciduous trees have lost most of their leaves and you can see their form and structure more clearly. Most of the herbaceous species have gone dormant but dried stalks with seed heads dot the woods. And if one looks, one will also see many species of native plants still photosynthesizing away throughout any woodland in Kentucky.

There are several species of native plants that take advantage of the extra sunlight reaching the woodland floor to photosynthesize throughout the winter. One of my favorite of these species is cutleaf grapefern (Sceptridium dissectum), which grows widely in our woods. Grapefern is also known as bronze fern for the color the sterile fronds turn after a hard frost or freeze. The bronze color, caused by anthocyanins in the sterile fronds, helps the fern withstand harsh winter conditions and the extra sunlight by reducing the amount of sunlight absorbed, preventing excessive water loss, and other cell damage. Grapefern will photosynthesize throughout the winter, with the fronds usually senescing in the spring. The sterile fronds will reemerge in the summer, with the fertile fronds appearing in late summer.

The Lady Slipper newsletter of the Kentucky Native Plant Society has been published since the Society’s founding in 1986. We occasionally feature an article from a past issue. This article, from 2009, is a look at some of the oldest trees in Kentucky. This article first appeared in Winter 2009, Vol. 24, No. 2. If you would like to see other past issues, visit the Lady Slipper Archives, where all issues from Vol. 1, February 1986 to Vol. 39, 2024, can be found.

Floracliff’s Old Trees: Acorns of Restoration for the Inner Bluegrass Region

By Neil Pederson, Eastern Kentucky University

Old trees are windows into historical events. The science of tree-ring analysis takes advantage of a characteristic common to all trees: no matter how bad things get – an approaching fire, tornado, drought, etc. – trees must stay in place and absorb these abuses. Though each tree is an individual, environmental events like these impact all trees in a similar fashion: events that limit a tree’s ability to gain energy reduce the annual ring width. Scientists interpret patterns of ring widths within tree populations to reconstruct environmental history. To date, tree-ring scientists have successfully reconstructed drought history, Northern Hemisphere temperature, fire histories, insect outbreaks, etc. Tree-ring studies have also enriched human history. Scientists have dated logs from ancient structures that, in turn, triggered revisions of human history. Similarly, tree-ring evidence indicates that a severe drought likely contributed to the failure of The Lost Colony in Roanoke, NC and to the outbreak of a highly-contagious disease and subsequent crashes of the human population in ancient Mexico City. Just a few old trees in a small landscape can shed light into long-forgotten or unobserved events.

By Susan Harkins and Paula Mullins

It’s that time of year, and you’re in luck if a gardener is on your gift list. If you’re the gardener, send a link to this article to all of you secret Santas!

Passionate gardeners are probably the easiest people to please. If you’re close, you might already know that they’re searching for a specific orchid or drooling over a new set of shiny loppers. On the other hand, if you’re not sure, we can help.

Close to the holidays, you can purchase traditional holiday plants most anywhere. Amaryllis, paperwhites, and holiday cacti will show up everywhere and they’re affordable. They’re not natives, and not all gardeners are keen on house plants; if they don’t have any, skip this suggestion.

Tools are personal, but a gardener can almost always use a new set of good hand pruners, a hori knife, or a good pruning saw. A gardener can never have too many pairs of gardening shears, and they come in all sizes. If your gardening friend tends to lose tools (I know I do), a tool apron might be high on their list. It should have lots of pockets in different widths and lengths to corral they’re favorite hand tools.