Anita’s Blog — You say Prickle, I say Thorn

Is terminology important? After all, I’m a Master Naturalist, not cramming for a Ph.D. in botany, ecology or zoology.

The first thing they taught in journalism school was that every word has its own distinct meaning. They said don’t rely on the vocabulary you grew up with. Look it up, even if you think you know.

For instance, don’t use eminent, if you mean imminent. Don’t use burglary when you mean robbery; premiere, premier; effect, affect; and then there’s the Chile, chili, chilly and their, there, they’re trios. You get the picture.

As a communication professional, speaking to vast groups of people with an even greater array of backgrounds, we were taught to tailor (not taylor) our information in various ways so that everyone in the audience had a chance to get the gist (not jest) of the information being imparted.

So, what brought all that up about words? Well, TMN Frank Wiseman, my plant guru, and a recommended book: James Harris and Melinda Harris. Plant Identification Terminology, An Illustrated Glossary. 2nd ed. Utah: Spring Lake Publishing, 2001. Print.

Frank is very good at starting educational conversations. Once a teacher, always a teacher — So, with thorns, prickles and spines, it’s all about the epidermis.

• Thorn: A stiff, woody, modified stem with a sharp point.
  • Granjeno, Celtis pallida, and ebony, Chloroleucon ebano, trees have thorns
• Prickle: A small, sharp outgrowth of the epidermis or bark.
  • Roses and Wright’s catclaw, Acacia wrightii, have prickles
• Spine: A stiff, slender, sharp-pointed structure arising from below the epidermis, representing a modified leaf or leaf-like appendage.
  • Cactus, especially Texas prickly pear, Opuntia engelmannii, have spines — numerous spines!

If you’ve just joined the RGVCTMN Class of 2016, don’t be intimidated by vocabulary. There are a number of professionals teaching your various classes — if you aren’t familiar with their discipline’s terminology, ask them to explain.

In the plant world, you’ll probably hear words like, inflorescence — it’s simply the flowering part of a plant; flower cluster. And rachis, the main axis of a compound leaf or inflorescence (stem that holds leaves or flowers).

Dioecious – the staminate and pistillate (reproductive organs) flowers borne on different plants

Monoecious – the staminate and pistillate flowers borne on same plant

Why is this important? Well, for instance, Chapote, Texas persimmon, Diospyros texana, is dioecious — you need a male tree and a female tree in order to get fruit. Some crotons are monoecious, which really doesn’t matter because crotons are host and nectar plants for butterflies.

In the avian world, arboreal is a tree-dwelling bird like a mockingbird or green jay; not a ground-dwelling one like common pauraque.

Diurnal birds are ones that feed and are active during the day (grackles); as opposed to the nocturnal ones that feed and are active at night like owls, and again, a common pauraque — if you’ve not heard a common pauraque, it’s run-to-the-house time if you’re by yourself in the still, dark of night and it lets off its near-human-in-distress call.

Pelagic – birds that spend most of their time at sea and rarely are seen from shore.

Passerines – generally, birds that can sing and have three forward-pointing toes adapted for perching. More than fifty percent of the world’s birds belong to the order Passeriformes.

Each field of study has its own jargon and uses words defined in that discipline’s use. If you want to know the material, ask for explanations.

In the end, it’s only important to use the correct word when you want someone else to know exactly what you are talking about. Like, my pet peeve, communications vs communication. Were I Director of Communications, I’d certainly want the equipment in tip top shape so the Director of Communication could impart information.