If you’ve ever struggled to remember that Taraxacum officinale is a dandelion, or Ilex aquifolium is the botanical name for holly, you’re not alone. Professionals prefer to use formal scientific names as they are unique, uniform and universal, meaning all around the world, plant names will be identifiable and follow the same structure. What one person calls a bluebell could mean Hyacinthoides non-scripta, Campanula rotundifolia, or another plant entirely.

How we record the common names of plants

However, these names might not immediately spring to mind. Although specimens are entered into the Herbarium under their botanical names, many of the common (also known as vernacular) names that different species have are also recorded in our BRAHMS botanical database. Our taxonomy experts use a range of sources to compile these, from Mabberley’s Plant-Book and Index of Garden Plants by Mark Griffiths, to assorted titles from our expansive library collection. These names are displayed as part of the Digital Collection specimen data on our website, and you can also search for a herbarium specimen by a common name.

What plants have the most common names?

We have identified which Wisley Herbarium specimens have the highest number of common names logged in our in-house Brahms database. Perhaps unsurprisingly, they are all widely spread wild plants, and our Herbarium holds multiple specimens for each. These were collected by different people from different locations, and even across different centuries, and can all be viewed on RHS Digital Collections.

Galium aparine © Royal Horticultural Society	Digitalis purpurea © Royal Horticultural Society

4^th Place Tie: Galium aparine and Digitalis purpurea (34 common names each)

Common names tend to focus on the most salient features of a plant. For Galium aparine, this is its clinging nature, which is reflected by such names as “sticky willy” or “spring cleavers”. The long, bell-shaped corolla of Digitalis purpurea gives rise to most of its names, from the well-known “common foxglove” to “fairy’s thimbles” to “witches’ bells”.

Arum maculatum © Royal Horticultural Society

3^rd Place: Arum maculatum (42 common names)

The enfolding spathe wraps around the upright spadix, giving visual inspiration to many of the common names of Arum maculatum, the most well-known of which is probably “lords-and-ladies”.  While “parson in the pulpit” is along the same lines, there are some intriguing options which include “Kitty-come-down-the-lane” and “snake's victuals”.

Verbascum thapsus © Royal Horticultural Society

2^nd Place: Verbascum thapsus (43 common names)

Perhaps better known as great mullein, other names are divided between focusing on the large, felted leaves or the erect golden flower spikes. This means there are alternatives such as “old man's flannel”, or the far more glamorous “king's taper”, but a favourite has to be “hare's beard”.

Viola tricolor © Royal Horticultural Society

1^st Place: Viola tricolor (46 common names)

The source for some of the many common names for Viola tricolor can be hard to identify. While “cat’s faces” seems an obvious reference to the whisker-like markings on the petals, the origin of “meet-her-in-the-entry-kiss-her-in-the-buttery” is less apparent. The theme of love and romance holds strong across many of the names, including “heart’s ease”, “love-in-idleness” and “cuddle-me-to-you”.

Common names are a bond with the past

One cannot deny the many advantages of botanical names, even if they sometimes lack the charm and creativity of common names. An evocative common name can stir a smile of recognition, and creates a bond with past generations of nature-lovers. So please do continue to use and share them, to ensure they co-exist alongside scientific terminology for generations to come.