On 9/20/09, Amit Ray <amitranjan...@gmail.com> wrote: > > It is all very well to identify flora by their Latin names, but to a lay > person like me it makes a lot of sense to know the English common names. To > convey the identity of a particular flower if I say "this is nasturtium" > rather than "this is Tropaeolum majus" it makes a whole lot more sense to > the lay world, particularly when we are talking about "taking knowledge to > the masses". Vernacular names are a great help if one can provide the names > in most of the major Indian languages. I do not intend to spoil your fun, > but just think about the situation. Regards. > > -- > Amit Ray > 25B Central Road > Kolkata 700032 > India > URL: http://wildlifeindia.freehostia.com > Phone: +91 033 24136034 > Mobile: +919433715107 > Email: > 1) amitranjan...@gmail.com > 2) amitranjan...@yahoo.co.in > 3) amitranjan...@hotmail.com > 4) amitranjan...@myway.com > 5) amit...@dellmail.com > 6) amitranjan...@lavabit.com > 7) amitranjan...@aol.in > 8) amitranjanra...@rediffmail.com > > > > Amit ji No one is contesting the importance of common, local or vernacular names and in fact whenever we visit a new place, the first thing that we ask the local persons is the local name of the plant and what importance plant has in their daily life. The only point to consider is that a given species may have several common names but a single accepted scientific or say marker in the database, when all information (its various local names, description, images, uses, etc.) regarding this species is stored electronically. Let there be no confusion that there are two groups one wanting scientific names and the other common names. What we want is a properly stored data, which can be accessed by local name, habit (tree, climber, herb), scientific name or any other variable. I think Flowers of India is the best website to depict that approach. Our aim is to see that this data is accurate and easily accessible. Let us together propagate the information about plants, and Garg ji and Tabish ji are providing the necessary lead.
-- Dr. Gurcharan Singh Associate Professor, Department of Botany, SGTB Khalsa College University of Delhi, Delhi-110007 Res: 932 Anand Kunj, Vikas Puri, New Delhi-110018 Phone: 011025518297; Mobile: 9810359089 http://people.du.ac.in/~singhg45/ --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "indiantreepix" group. To post to this group, send email to indiantreepix@googlegroups.com To unsubscribe from this group, send email to indiantreepix+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.co.in/group/indiantreepix?hl=en -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---