Using the Internet wisely to search for plants!

Discussion in 'Plants: Identification' started by photopro, Jun 25, 2007.

  1. levilyla

    levilyla Active Member

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  2. photopro

    photopro Well-Known Member

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    Beautiful Impatiens sp. I don't collect Impatiens but I have done a great deal of research on Impatiens psittacina. Photos of that one have been floating around in email for well over a year now. Someone cloned it the "Rare Thailand Parrot Flower" since it bears a strong resemblance to a small parrot in flight. And it truly is very rare.

    Balsams from that part of the world (India, Thailand, Indonesia, Burma) are quite unique. Most people don't think of them as "impatiens" since they bear little resemblance to the small plants we grow in our yards. Impatiens psittacina can grow to 6 feet tall! As a result of my research on that species I've come in contact with quite a few rare Impatiens collectors from the eastern U.S. and Europe. Seems to be a lot of people interested in the rarer plants from that genus.

    Just in case you haven't received the email on "The Rare Thailand Parrot Flower", here's the link to my main page. I've got several pages of photos up now. People from northern Thailand have sent me lots of interesting photos of the plant. Crazy thing is lots of people think it is a hoax! It has been known to science since 1901. But don't waste your time trying to buy one. So far, I've found only two people outside Thailand that have grown the species!

    http://www.exoticrainforest.com/Rare Thailand Parrot Flower SP.html
     
  3. Michael F

    Michael F Paragon of Plants Forums Moderator 10 Years

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    Although from that part of the world, Impatiens glandulifera is actually the most widely familiar species in the genus in Britain at least (and probably most of Europe), as it is so common and conspicuous an invasive weed. Gets up to 2m, occasionally 2.5m tall, and is far commoner than the native I. noli-tangere.
     
  4. photopro

    photopro Well-Known Member

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    Man, have I been besieged with photos of that one. Seems a ton of people think that invasive plant is truly the flower in the Rare Thailand Parrot Flower photos. Most don't understand there are well over 500 species of Impatiens, and may are very rare. But not that one!

    All the reading I've done on I. glandulifera would make me quickly understand I don't want it any where near my collection! Although a pretty flower, all you have to do is sneeze in the vicinity and you've got enough seeds flying around to need several gallons of weed killer to kill off! You won't ever find me growing, or recommending, that one!
     
  5. photopro

    photopro Well-Known Member

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    I'm guilty of taking this thread on a wild goose chase! If you'd like to discuss impatiens or related balsams I began a thread some weeks ago on Impatiens psittacina. Post your comments on that one (find it via the search engine at the top of this page). I'll gladly comment to the best of my ability. But perhaps we should let this thread go back to the discussion at hand.
     
  6. Michael F

    Michael F Paragon of Plants Forums Moderator 10 Years

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    They do pull out by hand very easily - no real need to resort to poisons!

    Of course the species is relevant to this thread . . . stick one of its sillier folk names into google image search, and the first hit is this . . . http://www.fotosearch.com/PHD359/os44022/
     
  7. photopro

    photopro Well-Known Member

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    I swear! Your night job is a standup comic!
     
  8. Michael F

    Michael F Paragon of Plants Forums Moderator 10 Years

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    Just a scourge of all things unscientific!
     
  9. levilyla

    levilyla Active Member

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    well the first time I googled turtlehead it came up with a rock band (guitar etc) and the second time also...then the third time it came up with chelone! Go figure.
     
  10. newgardenerpilgriminthisland

    newgardenerpilgriminthisland Member

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    so is there not one site that converts the commn name to the scientific name? That would be real helpful.
     
  11. levilyla

    levilyla Active Member

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    I think the point is that there are many common names that are the same or similar. However I am sure there are sites that do this. I have books that list the "common" name along with the botanical name.
     
  12. photopro

    photopro Well-Known Member

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    It would have to be a very large book, or site. Depending on who you believe there are anywhere between 500,000 and 2,000,000 species. Fortunately, not all have a common name. But if only 10% have common names that book or site would have to list between 5,000 and 20,000 name conversions. That would be a formidable task, especially considering that many plants have multiple common names.
     
  13. Michael F

    Michael F Paragon of Plants Forums Moderator 10 Years

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    This does for British species, listing the scientific names and the official English names:
    http://www.bsbi.org.uk/BSBI2007.xls
    produced by the Botanical Society of the British Isles.
     
  14. M. D. Vaden

    M. D. Vaden Active Member 10 Years

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    Thanks for posting.

    I noticed similar in my webstats, and scratch my head sometimes. "Ask", previously "Ask Jeeves" seemed to be one of the most wordy sources. Probably because the name practically encourages people to ask questions.
     
  15. photopro

    photopro Well-Known Member

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    One additional thought recently came to my attention regarding to using the internet well to search for plant information.

    I used to use Google exclusively all the time. Still use it all the time! I almost never used any of the other search engines thinking they were all basically the same. I received an email from someone who read my post on Philodendron xanadu on this board and was asked why my information could not be verified on Google, since Google did not list any of the scientific information I had been provided by the botanical authors. That email came via my own website. In the case of this species, most of the information on the internet is not scientifically accurate. I'm not certain why, but the general belief on the internet is that plant originated in Australia. Botanically, that is impossible since the genus Philodendron (according to the world's top two aroid botanists) is found only in tropical America and the West Indies. I didn't know the answer why the information could not be found on Google.

    So I did a search on Google and the information I posted on my own website, which was provided by the botanical authors, did not appear in the top 100 links. As you are likely aware, most people don't read past the 1st page. So the scientific information (or at least an understandable version of the scientific information) was not easily found.

    So I checked MSN and my website information came up on page 1. Then I checked several others and it came up on the first page again. I asked an experienced web designer that question. What I learned was Google normally gives priority to sites that are selling the item, scientific and purely informative information often falls down the list. Sometimes, way down. Some of the other search engines don't appear to share this policy and frequently give the informational sites priority while only listing paid advertisers near the top.

    I know, some are going to say my site must not be properly formatted so Google can find the information. Well, it is done by a professional website designer, a site map is updated often, and all the information that needs to be in the blind header for the search engine to find is there! Besides, MSN and Yahoo found it.

    I have no way of verifying if this is Google's policy! But it does make sense. I've checked several other pages on my site and found it appears to be consistent. MSN finds it, Google often does not.

    I'm not recommending you not use Google! I'm simply recommending you might consider using several search engines when you are looking for information rather than a plant to purchase. I've now modified my own search pattern accordingly.
     
    Last edited: Aug 3, 2007
  16. Liz

    Liz Well-Known Member 10 Years

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    Interesting. I will also try it in my line of work. Searching books and audio visual items for cataloguing. This information I am also going to pass on to my relevant lists as internet searching is a very important part of my working life.

    Thankyou
    Liz
     
  17. Michael F

    Michael F Paragon of Plants Forums Moderator 10 Years

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    Didn't know this, but it doesn't surprise me after what happened when I googled this . . . here's a printscreen of the result . . .

    Pssst . . . Anyone want to buy an elephant? Fantastic low prices on eBay!!
     

    Attached Files:

  18. photopro

    photopro Well-Known Member

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    Actually Michael, I had noticed very similar results! I was often surprised when I would search for some very rare plant and up it would supposedly pop at the top of the Google screen as available on eBay. But I never could actually find one!

    I wonder how much they want for those elephants? Bet the shipping would be expensive!
     
  19. photopro

    photopro Well-Known Member

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    I just had the one of the most interesting questions ever asked on a search engine pop up on my daily report! In case you don't know, any search query you type into any search engine is logged and reported to the websites which received the referral. If the person who asked this just happens to log on to UBC I'd really like to know what they were trying to find. Here's the question:

    "on what plant will you way the least"

    I've been trying ever since this one was logged to figure out what the searcher was trying to learn! I'd love to know. You can easily find my email address on the homepage of my website.
     
  20. Eric La Fountaine

    Eric La Fountaine Contributor Forums Moderator 10 Years

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    I am guessing they misspelled planet.
     
  21. photopro

    photopro Well-Known Member

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    Thanks Eric! I never considered that one! I thought perhaps they misspelled "weigh".
     
  22. levilyla

    levilyla Active Member

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    Jupiter
     
  23. photopro

    photopro Well-Known Member

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    Well, I guess that answers that!
     
  24. Michael F

    Michael F Paragon of Plants Forums Moderator 10 Years

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    Mercury! (assuming one goes with the ruling that Pluto isn't considered a planet any more)

    Jupiter is the one where you'll weigh the most ;-)
     
  25. Michael F

    Michael F Paragon of Plants Forums Moderator 10 Years

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    What really worries me is the breach of privacy against the person making the search . . .
     

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