While talking with an orchid/carnivorous/succulent plant grower friend, I
mentioned the recent discussion of capitalizing animal's common names.
This is his return on the issue in his circles: (CP is short for
carnivorous plants)

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i think just about everyone capitalizes common names, even though they
don't 'have' to be, for just that reason (at least, in areas it could be
confusing...) people do get slack and rarely cap. 'venus fly trap',
although then again almost everyone in the CP group calls them VFTs or by
the botanical name. actually, in the CP or orchid or cactus or bromiliad
groups, most people pretty much scorn common names anyway, since they are
either too vague and confusing, or more commonly don't even exsist. every
once in a while, someone new will come along and ask why we don't make up
common names for everything, and the general response is "ugh, WHY??"

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What tickles me about this is that he doesn't capitalize the start of
his sentences. Talk about confusion. :)

Susan Collicott
camel at serv.net
Seattle, WA