weeds and wildflowers (was Re: Eggcorn?)

Tue May 17 18:18:01 UTC 2005

On May 17, 2005, at 11:07 AM, Wilson Gray wrote:

> ... I was hurt to see my beloved Southern
> honeysuckle derided in a Northeern news article as an "invasive weed."
> On the other hand, I was shocked to see that no less a company than
> Burpee sells morning-glory seeds. There are people willing to pay for
> *morning-glory* seeds?! What's next? People buying jimson-weed seeds?!

well, there are lots of things called "morning glory", in at least
the genera Ipomoea (which includes most cultivated morning glories,
among them Ipomoea tricolor, with its gorgeous, and best-selling,
variety 'Heavenly Blue') and Convolvulus (which includes the ghastly
wild bindweed Convolvulus arvensis, with its nearly ineradicable
underground runners).

as for jimsonweeds, there are many cultivated species of Brugmansia
(also known as Datura), with gorgeous flowers, many with wonderful
fragrance.  i used to grow some of them in ohio.

arnold