We write our plant tags out by hand on discarded vinyl blinds with indelible markers, and there’s always the internal debate of whether it’s better to be informal and recognizable or technically correct (because writing both gets tiresome). Personally I lean towards accuracy rather than approachability because technically correct is the best kind of correct, but even my plant friends think I’m a nerd. Who’s with me?
I’ll use common names in conversation, but I prefer taxonomic naming when labeling things. Some things have no common names, some have many, and some share common names with other things. to me that’s reason to avoid them for identification
That’s always fun.
“Hey, check out this binomial name!”
“Uh, can I get that in English?”
“… I dunno”
I may or may not have a tray of some Plectranthus amboinicus that has a different common name on each plant… Cuban oregano, Mexican mint, Spanish thyme, Indian borage, Caribbean oregano, broadleaf thyme, and all the same plants!