[Paul]

Some common names are an unreliable mess now, as you point out. It does not need to be that way. By establishing an official system of English common names, giving each plant a unique, unambiguous name, this confusion can be ended. The use of a subscript on the official name would let readers know its unique status.

Birds have an official system of unambiguous English common names that should serve as model for botanists. The recent issue of Fremontia had a story on Guadalupe Island. Think how confused it would have been even for professional botanists if the name of every animal in it had been in the scientific Latin. Botany needs to adopt a rigorous, unambiguous, official system of English common names for plants. How can we pretend to reach out to the general public if we use a difficult Latin system of nomenclature?