Episode Details

Here is the full botanical name of spreading snake herb: Dyschoriste schiedeana var. decumbens. Someone (Asa Gray?) had fun putting the Greek words together to form the genus meaning difficult to separate, referring to “ the valves of the capsules which adhere tightly to each other.” The specific epithet honors the German physician and botanist Christian Julius Wilhelm Schiede of the early 1800s (Willy, to his friends) who emigrated to Mexico to study the flora and fauna. The variety name decumbens means…hello.. decumbent! That would be a good name for a recliner! “Nap like a botanist in the Decumbent!” The photos…