Botany Quiz: Saintpaulia (African Violet) was named for whom?

It wasn't named for anyone – it was named after Baron Walter von Saint Paul-Illaire.

i.e., in his honour, not at his request. An important grammatic distinction that too many people appear to have lost.

Resin

I got it right!! I love African Violets - think they are all so very beautiful. I am not very good at keeping them healthy so I've learned to adore them at a distance.

Resin, your point is well-taken, however I think this is a stylistic preference rather than a grammatical mistake.

The word "for" is defined as "in honor of" (as well as "as a result of" and "because of")

http://www.answers.com/for

while "after" is similarly defined as "with the same or close to the same name, in honor or commemoration of"

http://www.answers.com/after

I just guessed and was wrong. But resin - do you just love the book "Eats, Shoots and Leaves"? Imagine a best seller on the subject of grammar!

So .... both "for" ( in honor of ) and "after" ( in honor, or commemoration of ) are correct, but in the grand scheme of things, it doesn't matter to me. I grow African Violet's and didn't vote because I didn't have a clue as to the correct answer! I love the voting booth, it's a lot of fun and I learn something along the way! As for "important grammatic distinctions .... in the grand scheme of life .... it doesn't matter to me.

Oooh, boy, there is an absolutely hilarious passage in "Eats, Shoots and Leaves" about ... heh heh ... semicolonic irrigation. You gotta read this book if you is a grammar or, punctuation stickler.

Hi Terry,

I checked with a professor of English language, and he said that 'for' is definitely an error in the honorific sense.

Resin

Yeah - but is that "English" english or "American" english? LOL!

LOL Yankee Cat! My thoughts exactly! But, then again .... in this country, we have different forms of "English" in most every state ... and all the different accents to go along with it!

Resin, I'm with you, but it's a battle only martyrs will fight, since the rest of the world doesn't care. Your best hope for sanity is to take refuge with other sticklers. That's Lynn Truss's motto, in fact: Sticklers Unite! "Eats, Shoots & Leaves" is very funny in the wonderful British way, and it's about punctuation, not grammar. Some of the jokes will be understood only by sticklers. Here's a good one for you that I saw at the local gym:

Womens' Only Area
(Poor women! Why can't they go in the rest of the gym?)

I'm confused - a little off track, but was this a grammer test or a voting booth trivia question?!

It's both! Always a chance to learn something new and unexpected at DG! (OK - I'll stop now - but I was having such fun -sorry Resin, but I know you are used to it by now!)

Got it! There's a lot of named - for to know and learn.

I dunno...Maybe Paul Simon?

I guessed wrong--I guessed Saint Paul....but then I looked it up on Wikipedia, and they say it's spelled "Hilaire" not "Illaire"... so thaire...LOL

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/African_Violet

And I half wondered if it was named for a brand of beer...but I guess the plant came first, huh?

This message was edited Jul 9, 2007 1:49 PM

Oh, I was sooo wrong. The "correct" answer wasn't even my 3rd choice when I was narrowing down my guess! Now, I am enlightened. :)
Deb

I realise this is not of paramount importance, but I have to agree with Resin about the usage of after versus for.

Terry cites answers.com's definitions of the words, however their website's entry regarding African violet states, "The genus is named after Baron Walter von Saint Paul Hilaire..."

http://www.answers.com/topic/african-violet

Grammar notwithstanding, I have to question Wikipedia's factual basis for their definition. Looking through my references, I find no other reference spelling the honoree's name as "Hilaire".

I suppose my natural tendency to use "for" stems from Dr. Stearn's work since I tend to consult it frequently, as he also used "for" rather than "after" in his descriptions ;o)

I found the man's name in an article on African Violets in my old set of World Book Encyclopedia, spelled "Illaire", so that's gotta be right. Wikipedia is evidently written by volunteers, and it can be corrected by anyone. Do you know how to do that, Terry? If not, I can try.

I did a google search for "Hilaire", and that was a real name, so that must be how they got confused. Interesting!

How can I sleep if this diction crisis remains unresolved??? Tomorrow will be known as Day 2.

We now know what next week's poll question should be.

Diction crisis *LOLOL*, Victorg, what a riot!
It's not really, though. If you pronounce "Hilaire" in French, the "H" is silent. (So maybe der Baron und his ancestors just couldn't agree on the spelling of their French name.) Schlafen gut, everybody.

LOL, picante--I think it's hilaireous....sorry, couldn't resist.

Gotta love any discussions on this site starts out one way and you never know where it's going to end up!

i was wrong but if i had been given 2 chances i would have gotten it right. although i go out of my way to talk and write southernese i have a secret love for words and their meanings. and flowerjen, we CAN get sidetracked, can't we? lol.

Checked in RHS Dictionary of Gardening; that gives his name as Baron Walter von Saint Paul-Ilaire, so 'I' not 'H' is correct, but also just one 'L', not two.

Edit: google search doesn't support this, and has Walter von Saint Paul-Illaire (or unhyphenated, Walter von Saint Paul Illaire) as the overwhelming spelling.

Resin


This message was edited Jul 10, 2007 10:55 AM

Wonder who's right? Who do we ask? Does anyone caire? This whole thing is getting in my haire...

"southernese"--LOL, mamajack!

Too Funnie!

The genus is named after Baron Walter von Saint Paul Hilaire (1860-1910), the district commissioner of Tanga province who discovered the plant in Tanganyika (now Tanzania) in Africa in 1892 and sent seeds back to his father, an amateur botanist in Germany. Two British plant enthusiasts, Sir John Kirk and Reverend W.E. Taylor, had earlier collected and submitted specimens to Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew in 1884 and 1887 respectively, but the quality of specimens was insufficient to permit scientific description at that time. The genus Saintpaulia, and original species S. ionantha, were officially described by J.C. Wendland in 1893.

That's the Wikipedia article I posted a link to yesterday.

I didn't vote as i didn't even have a hint or clue??????? The apostle Paul would have been my guess!!!!!!!
I used to visit a site on line.....called Mary's Garden.........which told of so many flowers dating back to biblical times.......i studied for a year and don't remember any of what I thought i learned.............
This was a good question........congratulations.........

Yes

Does Dave make up the questions?

Terry does ;o)

I am glad we have google :)

I dont look educated, but I are!
Still answered the question wrong though!

chris

No cheating, now, Maria! LOL, Chris!

And thanks for thinking up such fun, informative questions, Terry!

I think it's already been established that Googling before answering is not cheating. LOL

Good, 'cuz I may have done that in the past.... :0