Auspicious Crown, Wild Waves, Silver Moon, Emperor Shakti Sky, Groups of Jaspers, Sunset Reflections, Flower Moon Night, Purple Stars, Child Holding Lotus, King Jade Bead Curtain, Green Halo, Spring Oriole's Song, Ningho Jade, Hoshi Otome, Tsutsuba Kagetsu, and Haru Moe. The names of succulents are really beautiful. Just hearing the name will make people think of various things...
Then you may also think that the names of succulents are interesting. Among the smaller species like Thor, it is called Princess Thor. Adding brocade after the species name indicates that it is a brocade species of that species, such as Princess Thunder God brocade.
As your interest becomes more intense and you become more confused, you will find that the name of succulent plants is very deep. Everyone can be familiar with some of the more classic breed names. Some new breeds, or the names of breeds that have not come into people's sight often cause confusion. There is even no serious name, and one name has multiple uses, or There are situations where many introduced species do not have names in Chinese characters and only have Latin scientific names (Japanese scientific names are expressed in katakana), etc. This situation occurs, firstly, because there are many varieties of succulents and new varieties are constantly being introduced, and secondly, there is no unified standard for naming.
Let’s see how experts explain the origin of the names of succulents
The names of succulents in my country have never been uniform. For example, the common species Kalancboemarmorata in the Sedum family is called Sedum sedum in the north, and in the south it is called Sedum sedum. In Shanghai, the Japanese name is Edo purple. Another example is SedumdasyphylluM. It is called Jade Sedum in the north and Lingzhu Grass in Shanghai. The reason is mainly due to the vast territory of our country and the different introduction channels in different places. After the introduction, you will have a preconceived idea. Once a name is familiar, it will be difficult to change it.
Leaving aside the names made up by some people, there are two main ways to name succulent plants in my country. Professionals represented by Professor Xu Minsheng use my country's orthodox plant nomenclature, that is, naming according to the meaning of the Latin scientific name itself (morphology, personal name, place name), such as Twelve Volumes of Truncate, Twelve Maohan Volume, Argentine hairy style, etc. This is undoubtedly the most scientific. It can not only make people familiar with scientific names and classifications, help people remember, but also facilitate the naming of succulent plants into a unified track. However, this nomenclature is not currently used across the country. Mainly because there are so many types of succulents, some Latin scientific names themselves have no meaning; while some scientific names are different, but the translated meanings (mainly shapes) are the same. As for the use of personal names and place names, they will not be repeated in some small genera with few species, but it is a different matter in large genera with hundreds of species, so it has its own limitations. In addition, the introduction of species (including pictures) in publications has long lagged behind the cultivated species, which is also a reason.
Therefore, another method is more popular, which is to directly use the Chinese character names in Japanese books and periodicals (or make small changes, such as changing pills to balls, etc.). In fact, many of Mr. Xu's personal writings used Japanese names, which led to mild criticism from some old scholars. So can Japanese names not be used or can they be copied completely? Can it solve the whole problem of naming? We might as well take a look at the characteristics of Japanese names for succulents:
The names of succulents in Japanese books can be anything. Some borrow animal names, such as Turtle Dove, Flying Bird, Giant Vulture, Giant Whale, Luan Feng Jade, Spider Pill, etc.; some reflect the form, such as Dou, Liethorn Jade, Daping Pill, Hair Knot, Silver Wave Brocade, etc.; there are two Some have both, such as Chifeng (red thorn) and Longtonyu (wide thorn). In addition, some use building names, such as skyscrapers, pagodas, Yellow Crane Towers, Pyramids, etc.; some use place names.
Such as Musashino, Narashino, Kumano (all Japanese place names), etc.; some use the names of artistic works, such as Qinghai Wave, Return to the City, Kanshin Tent (Japanese musical), Kinokawa (Japanese novel), etc.; some use the names of religious works The names above include Prajna, Myoho Rengewan, Tathagata, Laughing Budai, Sleeping Budai (Budai is one of the Seven Lucky Gods in Japan, resembling Maitreya Buddha), etc.; some use ancient names, such as Yang Guifei, Xiang Yu, Bai Letian, Murasaki Shikibu, etc.; Some use the names of people in literary works, such as Copper Pot, Unpicked Flower, Yugao, Kaoru Admiral in the Cactaceae family, and Dainagon, Nakanagon, Ukon, Shidian, and Chunhime Gai in the Apricotaceae family (from Japanese classical novels "The Tale of Genji").
Another way is to directly translate the Latin scientific name. Some names are based on their meanings, such as Echinofus sulocactus pentacanthus, E. multicostus, E. grandicornia, Ferocactus peninsulae, F. robustus, and Mammillaria polythele. ); some use transliteration, such as Mammillariajaliacana, M.fraileana, M.columbiana, Coryphanthapulleineana, lithopstuned, Ljulii )wait.
It can be seen from this that some of the Japanese names are very good, consistent with the meaning of the scientific name, and the reflected form is very appropriate. For example, the sleeping bags of the Cucurbitaceae family (previously translated into Chinese as cloth sleeping bags, obviously not as appropriate as them). Its enlarged, rounded stem resembles the belly of Maitreya Buddha. Another example is Ctassula argentea F. variegata, a mosaic and leaf variety of the Crassulaceae family, named Sunset Goose. Its inwardly curved opposite leaves do indeed resemble flying bird wings, while the yellow leaves and red leaf edges resemble the afterglow of the sunset. Reflected on the wing scale, it is both vivid and poetic. Another example is Echeveriachihuahusensis, which according to our country’s nomenclature is called Chihuahua Echeveria (Chihuahua is the name of the Mexican state of Colombia), which is certainly not bad. However, Japan cleverly uses the transliteration to call it Chihualian, which more vividly reflects the characteristics of this kind of pink makeup and jade. There are also many types of names that reflect the different cultural backgrounds of China and Japan. For example, there are many types named after dragons and phoenixes; and some building names and ancient names are also Chinese. For example, Qinghai Bo and Huancheng Le are the names of dance music or military music of the Tang Dynasty; in addition, the names of some sects can be found in them. Very familiar too. Therefore, it is difficult to say who uses whom. At least there are quite a few types of names that we can continue to use.
But copying them all will not work. Because some Chinese characters in Japanese have different meanings from ours, and we don’t have some characters yet. There are also many with the same name, even appearing in the same department. For example, there are two species in the Cactaceae family, one is Mammillaria roseo-alba, and the other is Lobivia arachnacantha; there are also two Ruozi, one is M. armillata, and the other is Lobivia arachnacantha. One is Rhipsalianevea-annondii. There are many others with the same name appearing in different families. For example, there is Yamatojin in the Sedum family, and there are also such names in the Cactaceae family. There are angels and Anzhen in the Apricotaceae family, and there are also such names in the Cactaceae family. There are also very few names that have the same name as other plants in my country, such as white sandalwood. Some names may not have the same name but only differ by one word, which can easily cause confusion. For example, the species Echinomastus johnaonii has the scientific name Echinomaatus johnsonii in many places in my country, but this is very wrong. The Chinese scientific name of Echinomastus johnsonii should be English crown, which is a rare species native to North America, with red thorns and red flowers. The Latin name of British crown jade should be Notocactua (Eriocactus) magnifcus. It is native to South America and has yellow flowers. It has long been popular in our country. Therefore, the use of some Japanese names requires further consideration.
Taking a step back, even if the names given by Japan are problematic, can we completely solve our problem of naming succulents? The answer is no. We must note that new varieties (including cultivated varieties) are constantly being introduced, but there is almost no increase in the Chinese character names in Japanese books and periodicals, and they are basically the same as those in the 1970s. In December 1996, Japan's rising expert Tsutomu Sato published his illustrated cactus book, introducing 3,006 species. It is unprecedented to have so many cacti species in one volume. Unfortunately, there are only 1,540 species with names in Chinese characters. As for succulents from other families, according to statistics from the "Photobook of Original Color Succulents" compiled by the Japan Succulent Plant Association in 1981, among the 910 species introduced (812 species with pictures), 396 species do not have Chinese names. Japan is currently publishing a new succulent plant atlas, but it is estimated that only about half of them have names with only Chinese characters, and there are many species without Chinese character names that are highly ornamental.