This is the 15th year of continuous daily publication for 365Caws. All things considered, it's likely it will be the last year as it is becoming increasingly difficult for me to find interesting material. However, I hope that I may have inspired someone to a greater curiosity about the natural world with my natural history posts, or encouraged a novice weaver or needleworker. If so, I've done what I set out to do.
Saturday, August 27, 2022
Saussurea Americana, American Sawwort
Day 318: By now, I am sure most of my long-term readership will have figured out that words are my favourite toys. I enjoy finding out where they came from, what they're connected to, how their meanings have changed over time. To look at American Sawwort (a plant endemic to the northwestern states including Alaska and Montana), one might think that its common name was a logical extension from the toothy margins of its leaves ("-wort" means "plant"). Whether that is the case, I can't honestly say, but what fascinated me about its etymology is that its botanical name is Saussurea americana which, to my ear, is far too "saw-ish" a term to be coincidental. In trying to track down its taxonomic roots, I discovered that the Saussures (father Horace and son Nicolas) were both scientists of some renown in the late 1700s and early 1800s respectively, and that Nicholas in particular had a penchant for botany. In fact, he laid the groundwork for our modern understanding of photosynthesis. Is there a linguistic connection between "sawwort" and "Saussure?" Inquiring minds are itching to know.
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