Hort IQ 10.23.06

I don't know everything. I'm the first to admit it. Most plant people you meet will cheerfully acknowledge that the more they learn, the more they realize they don’t know.

I do hold myself to high standards and expect the same of those who should be "in the know." When major institutions blunder, their highly-edited, fact-checked, professional publications commit an unpardonable faux-pas, oh well--you get the idea.

Weekend reading netted a couple of major bloopers from venerable New York institutions.

The first was in The New York Times Magazine section of October 22. An article titled, “In the Land of the Taliban” had a fairly extensive treatment of the opium trade in Taliban controlled territories and what it meant to the people and government of those regions. A description of the opium harvest read, “…scrapes opium goo from the bulbs….” Ouch. This is The Times!

The “goo” is usually more formally described as latex, but the real kicker is the “bulb.” Even most non-gardeners realize that a bulb is generally an underground plant part more akin to a root than a seed capsule, which is what is clearly visible in the accompanying photo. Every seed capsule qualifies as a “seed pod” which would also be acceptable usage (although not every seed pod is a capsule…).

A even more egregious mistake was made in the Fall 2006 issue of The New York Botanical Garden publication "Garden News" (note that both publications include the article as part of their formal names). In a column about the wonderful shrub Lindera benzoin (Spicebush) and its attributes, the fruit is described as, “the droops” which sounds like a horrible infectious disease.

The correct spelling is “drupes.” A drupe is a fleshy fruit enclosing a hard coated seed, (hence another term, “stonefuit”).

The same article states that butterflies, birds, and bees “…feed on plants…pollinate flowers…and disperse seed,” but who does what is pretty much left to the reader’s imagination. You could be forgiven for thinking that bees lumber around carrying the drupe’s pits….

Before you start chiding me for making sequoias out of dandelions, let’s just remember the reputations these important institutions have and cherish. Come on editors! Sharpen those pencils.

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