Repost from @nybooks (from @susanebarba “Language of the Field,” from the introduction to her edited anthology American Wildflowers: A Literary Field Guide. This book was a dream to illustrate, painting with @torontoinkcompany inks. Read more at link in bio.) • “The language we use to describe people and plants often overlaps, with taxonomies that divide and place value on those divisions, words that actively discriminate. In the scientific literature and in common use, flowers are referred to as ‘native’ (like sunflowers) or ‘alien’ (like bluebells); they can be ‘naturalized’ (like clover) or ‘invasive’ (like purple loosestrife). There are ‘migrants’ and ‘exotics,’ ‘escapes’ and ‘refugees.’ The language expresses a position, it reveals a stance toward a species, it grants a plant its liberty or sanctions its eradication. The best writers closely observe not only the plant but our words in relation to it, and in doing so they focus our attention and clarify our intentions.” ... #flowers, #wildflowers, #wildflower, #garden, #gardening