Name that bloom

Writer Ann Japenga is not alone in having problems with all those plant and animal names [“The Tangle of Taxonomy,” March 22]. Still, there are reasons to know the commoner ones.

First, it’s human nature; it helps in teaching what’s edible, what’s poisonous, etc. Second, the names are fun. The willet, a shorebird, rejoices in the name of Catoptrophorus semipalmatus inornatus, “the not-very-ornate mirror bearer with halfway-webbed feet.” But the real reason to learn species names is so you can look the critters up and find out all the cool things they do.

Gene Anderson

San Bernardino