What’s in a Name?

The importance of taxonomy

Bronwen Scott
6 min readJul 20, 2024
A row of handsome, cinnamon-coloured ducks with dark caps. Most are preening but the second duck from the right is curious about the camera.
Wandering Whistling-ducks, Hasties Swamp/Nyleta Wetlands, Far North Queensland. © Bronwen Scott

I had this conversation the other day.

Me, pointing at a weedy plant with pale flowers: This is Jessamine.

Other person: Jasmine.

Me: Jessamine.

Other: It’s pronounced Jasmine.

Me: This is Jessamine. It’s a garden plant gone feral.

Other: Jasmine.

Me: It’s a Cestrum. Jasmine is Jasminium.

Other: I can’t be bothered with those Latin names.

And most of the time neither can I. They can be confusing, especially when they change, but they are often much less of a problem than common or vernacular names.

In this botanical version of Monty Python’s argument sketch, we were both right — and we were both wrong. Jessamine (Cestrum, Solanaceae, Americas) is completely unrelated to Jasmine (Jasminium, Oleaceae, Africa to Oceania). But a lot of unrelated species bear the name Jasmine, including the jessamine Cestrum nocturnum a.k.a. Night-flowering Jasmine.

So Latin names are difficult to learn, but so are common names.

In a previous career, I was a taxonomist. Part of that job is to name new taxa — species, genera, even families (although I wasn’t quite that brave) — but most…

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Bronwen Scott
Bronwen Scott

Written by Bronwen Scott

Zoologist, writer, artist, museum fan, enjoying life in the tropical rainforest of Far North Queensland. She/her. Website: bronwenscott.com

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