2. Pollen analysts usually use Latin
names for pollen types and plants because groups
of related plants sometimes have the identical
pollen. For example, plants like dandelion, hawkbit
and cat’s-ear all have different common and
Latin names, but they have very similar flowers and
identical pollen grains because they are related
– like human races are related because they all
evolved from common ancestors.
Dandelion pollen is called Cichorium
intybus-type by pollen analysts
This is why some of the names on the
pollen diagram say ‘group’ or
‘-type.’ Common names are used for pollen
and plants on this website. A list of the Latin names
is included in case you want to look up details of a
particular plant because some plants have more than
one common name, but they only ever have one Latin
name and you can find these in books on ecology,
botany or gardening.
List
of common plant names and their Latin equivalent
Plants,
like animals and all other life forms (fungi,
bacteria, etc.), are arranged in different
groups depending on how closely they are related.This
reflects evolution over millions of years. So the
names listed below include families (large groups of
related plants), genera (one Latin name with a
capital letter, not followed by the word
‘family’) and species (two Latin names).
Latin names for genera and species are always written
in italics.
For
example:
- Ranunculaceae is
the plant family that includes
buttercups, celandine and columbine.
- Ranunculus
is the Latin name for buttercups – this
is a genus.
- Different types
of buttercup have a species name to
identify them, so meadow buttercup is Ranunculus
acris, while creeping buttercup is Ranunculus
repens. Although we may not recognise the
difference between the two, these are the
different plants we actually see.
Many plants have more
than one common name and the most common one is
listed first in the left-hand column. In the pollen
diagram, if the words ‘type or ‘group’
follow these Latin names, it means that there is more
than one plant producing this type of pollen.
| Common Name |
Latin Name |
| |
Trees
and Shrubs |
| Alder |
Alnus glutinosa |
| Ash |
Fraxinus excelsior |
| Birch |
Betula |
| Bird Cherry |
Prunus padus |
| Elm |
Ulmus |
| Hazel |
Crylus avellana |
| Ivy |
Hedera helix |
| Juniper |
Juniperus communis |
| Oak |
Quercus |
| Pine |
Pinus |
| Rowan, Mountain Ash |
Sorbus aucuparia |
| Willow |
Salix |
| |
Heaths |
| Crowberry |
Empetrum nigrum |
| Heath, bell
heather |
Erica |
| Heather |
Calluna vulgaris |
| |
Herbs |
| Barley |
Hordeum |
| Bog aspodel |
Narthecium ossifragum |
| Buttercup |
Ranunculus |
| Cow-wheat |
Melampyrum |
| Daisy |
Bellis perenis |
| Dandelion |
Taraxacum |
| Dock, sorrel |
Rumex |
| Grass family |
Poaceae |
| Knapweed |
Centaurea |
| Louse-wort |
Pedicularis |
| Marsh marigold, king
cup |
Caltha palustris |
| Meadowsweet |
Filipendula ulmaria |
| Nettle |
Urtica |
| Oat |
Avena - produces pollen identical
to wheat (Triticum) |
| Plantain (e.g. ribwort
plantain) |
Plantago (e.g. Plantago lanceolata) |
| Rose |
Rosa |
| Sedge (family) |
Cyperaceae |
| Sundew |
Drosera |
| Sweet-grass |
Glyceria - aquatic grass which
produces pollen identical to barley (Hordeum) |
| Wheat |
Triticum - produces pollen
identical to oats (Avena) |
| Wormwood |
Artemisia |
| |
Ferns
and non-flowering plants |
| Bog moss |
Sphagnum |
| Bracken |
Pteridium aquilinum |
| Fern class (larger
than a family) |
Pteropsida |
| Polypody |
Polypodium |
Pieces of the puzzle: archaeology,
history and landscapes
But this isn’t all the work that
you need to do – often there is more evidence
that can help you piece together a fuller story of
the landscape and environment. There may be
archaeological signs of where people lived and what
they did in the area in the past. The information
gathered from surveys, excavations and historical
sources make up the National Monuments Record of
Scotland (NMRS). This provides a national database of
archaeological sites and monuments. In most areas of
Scotland there are also council archaeological
services and sometimes also local archaeological or
historical societies which provide more pieces of the
puzzle.
So – what do you have after
all this work?
Hopefully a picture of how the landscape
(including the bog) developed and changed through
time, how the environment might have changed and what
role people played in all of this –how they
lived and how they changed the landscape. By using
archaeological and historical data we can also begin
to understand some of the economic and social factors
which may have made people change their ways. We can
also put different strands of evidence together to
see how environmental changes, such as climate
shifts, affected people, especially how they farmed
that land and used the natural resources.
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