In trying to make distinct and unique names, the scientific world relies on a system of binomial nomenclature, or two-word names, to bring order and standardization to the naming of species. Still, even in this restrictive world, scientists have found many opportunities for fun. If anyone could take this appearance-of-nonsense and use it to full effect, it would be artist and poet Edward Lear, the grandfather of nonsense. In several of his nonsense books, he created charming sketches of made-up plants, with matching scientific names that were every bit as silly as the drawings.
There has hardly been another plant collector as intrepid as Ynes Mexia, a Mexican American former rancher and social worker who collected more than 145,000 specimens despite starting her pioneering botanical career only in her mid-50s.
