{"id":1429,"date":"2017-03-26T17:29:46","date_gmt":"2017-03-26T21:29:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/vnps.org\/potowmack\/?page_id=1429"},"modified":"2020-10-19T19:53:48","modified_gmt":"2020-10-19T23:53:48","slug":"botanic-names-a-hairy-subject","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/vnps.org\/potowmack\/botanic-names-a-hairy-subject\/","title":{"rendered":"Botanic Names: A Hairy Subject!"},"content":{"rendered":"

How many words does a botanist have to say a plant is hairy? Canescent, ciliate, hirsute, hispid, lanate, pillose, pubescent, tomentose, villose: this is not a complete list, and most of these can be modified\u2026 but to take these in alphabetical order:<\/span><\/p>\n

Canescent indicates enough usually soft, short hairs to give the plant a gray or hoary color. So Desmodium canescens<\/i> is Hoary Tick Trefoil, and Scutellaria incana<\/i> is Hoary Skullcap.<\/span><\/p>\n

Ciliate means with a fringe of hairs. In the case of fringed loosestrife, Lysimachia ciliata<\/i>, that fringe is only found on the leaf petioles. Blephila ciliata<\/i>, Downy Wood Mint is described by The Flora of Virginia<\/i> as having canescent stems, while Desmodium canescens<\/i> has ciliate leaves. Oh, well.<\/span><\/p>\n

Hirsute indicates a thick covering of stiff hairs. There are lots of plants with this name, of varying hairiness: Hypoxis hirsuta<\/i> Yellow Star Grass is pretty visibly hairy; Cardamine hirsutis<\/i> the non-native Hairy Bittercress requires more careful observation to find the hairs.<\/span><\/p>\n

Hispid is like hirsute, but with fewer, stiffer hairs. The invasive exotic grass Arthraxon hispidus<\/i> Joint Head Grass has stiff enough hairs for anyone, while Bristly Greenbriar Smilax hispida<\/i> pushes beyond merely hairy.<\/span><\/p>\n

Lanate means wooly, as in Velvet Grass, Holcus lanatus<\/i> an invasive exotic that is nevertheless very pleasing to the fingers.<\/span><\/p>\n

Pilose means covered with soft, straight hairs. This is sometimes the case with Symphyotrichum pilosum<\/i> var. pilosum<\/i>, which The Flora of Virginia<\/i> describes as having stems that are\u00a0 <\/span>\u201cpubescent to pilose-hirsute or villous.\u201d Now all we need are definitions of pubescent and villous. Onward!<\/span><\/p>\n

Pubescent means covered with short, soft hairs. So if you feel the stem or leaves of the downy yellow violet, Viola pubescens<\/i>, or examine them with a hand lens, you may detect the hairs there. If those hairs are lacking, you may have a smooth yellow violet, Viola pensylvanica<\/i>, instead.<\/span><\/p>\n

Tomentose describes densely matted wooly hairs, like those on the undersides of leaves of Princess Tree, Paulownia tomentosa<\/i>, or Mockernut Hickory, Carya tomentosa.<\/i><\/span><\/p>\n

Villous hairs are similarly long and may be shaggy but not matted, as on Hairy Alumroot Heuchera villosa<\/i> or Carolina bushpea Thermopsis villosa.<\/i><\/span><\/p>\n

Add in all the diminutives, like hirtellum, hirsutula, hispidulum, or puberulum, and the superlatives like villosissimum, and you have a topic that could be described as not just hairy, but tomentose!<\/span><\/p>\n

Margaret Chatham<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

How many words does a botanist have to say a plant is hairy? Canescent, ciliate, hirsute, hispid, lanate, pillose, pubescent, tomentose, villose: this is not a complete list, and most of these can be modified\u2026 but to take these in alphabetical order: Canescent indicates enough usually soft, short hairs to give the plant a gray…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":18589,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","template":"tpl-sidebar.php","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-1429","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"yoast_head":"\nBotanic Names: A Hairy Subject! - VNPS Potowmack Chapter<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/vnps.org\/potowmack\/botanic-names-a-hairy-subject\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Botanic Names: A Hairy Subject! - VNPS Potowmack Chapter\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"How many words does a botanist have to say a plant is hairy? Canescent, ciliate, hirsute, hispid, lanate, pillose, pubescent, tomentose, villose: this is not a complete list, and most of these can be modified\u2026 but to take these in alphabetical order: Canescent indicates enough usually soft, short hairs to give the plant a gray…\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/vnps.org\/potowmack\/botanic-names-a-hairy-subject\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"VNPS Potowmack Chapter\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/vnpspot\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2020-10-19T23:53:48+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@vnpspot\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/vnps.org\/potowmack\/botanic-names-a-hairy-subject\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/vnps.org\/potowmack\/botanic-names-a-hairy-subject\/\",\"name\":\"Botanic Names: A Hairy Subject! - VNPS Potowmack Chapter\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/vnps.org\/potowmack\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2017-03-26T21:29:46+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2020-10-19T23:53:48+00:00\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/vnps.org\/potowmack\/botanic-names-a-hairy-subject\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/vnps.org\/potowmack\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/vnps.org\/potowmack\/\",\"name\":\"VNPS Potowmack Chapter\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/vnps.org\/potowmack\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Botanic Names: A Hairy Subject! - VNPS Potowmack Chapter","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/vnps.org\/potowmack\/botanic-names-a-hairy-subject\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Botanic Names: A Hairy Subject! - VNPS Potowmack Chapter","og_description":"How many words does a botanist have to say a plant is hairy? 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