Lamiaceae

[Finn N. Rasmussen]

Richard Jensen wrote:

> So, this Danish American  votes for "herbaceous Lamiaceae" as a
> succinct way to convey just what is meant.
> Richard J. Jensen      |   E-MAIL: rjensen at saintmarys.edu

-- And so do the real Danes. More interestingly, Danish Botanists
have adopted the French way of making singular forms out of the latin
family names, like "en Lamiace'"  (with accent aigu over the last e)
for a single member of lamiaceae. This is very convenient in
conversation with fellow taxonomists. E. g., you can say: "I think
this is a Lamiace'" which is shorter than "I think this is a member
of the Lamiaceae". I have heard English-speaking botanists saying "I
think this is a Lamiaceae", but this usage feels like being
grammaticaly incorrect.

FinnR

                      Finn N. Rasmussen
                      Botanical Laboratory, University of Copenhagen
                      Gothersgade 140, DK-1123 Copenhagen K., Denmark
                      Phone: +45 35 32 21 55   Fax: +45 33 13 91 04
                      Web homepage: http://www.bot.ku.dk
                      Email: FinnR at bot.ku.dk