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ArchivesRe: Editing submitted names
in reply to a message by writing_wrote_and_written
Thank you! This one might be a bit odd but... here it is!
The name correction:
Orchid, a user-submitted name. The error is in the last sentence: "Called such because of their testicle-shaped flowers of beautiful colours." The flowers are not shaped as testicles, to start with, but all sources I have looked up say that the etymology is derived from orchid roots. Apparently, some orchids have testicle-shaped roots, and the name was inspired by this.
https://www.etymonline.com/word/orchid
Personal commentary:
Most Americans are familiar with phalaenopsis orchids, the kind seen frequently in supermarkets. Those species do not have the testicular rootballs, but fleshy-leggy roots instead. Since the Orchidaceae plant family is so vast, there are differences in the root structures from species to species. When the testicle-inspired name was coined, it seems like it must have been inspired by Orchis and Ophrys, possibly other similar ones, as described here: "Some sympodial terrestrial orchids, such as Orchis and Ophrys, have two subterranean tuberous roots. One is used as a food reserve for wintry periods, and provides for the development of the other one, from which visible growth develops."
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Orchis
The name correction:
Orchid, a user-submitted name. The error is in the last sentence: "Called such because of their testicle-shaped flowers of beautiful colours." The flowers are not shaped as testicles, to start with, but all sources I have looked up say that the etymology is derived from orchid roots. Apparently, some orchids have testicle-shaped roots, and the name was inspired by this.
https://www.etymonline.com/word/orchid
Personal commentary:
Most Americans are familiar with phalaenopsis orchids, the kind seen frequently in supermarkets. Those species do not have the testicular rootballs, but fleshy-leggy roots instead. Since the Orchidaceae plant family is so vast, there are differences in the root structures from species to species. When the testicle-inspired name was coined, it seems like it must have been inspired by Orchis and Ophrys, possibly other similar ones, as described here: "Some sympodial terrestrial orchids, such as Orchis and Ophrys, have two subterranean tuberous roots. One is used as a food reserve for wintry periods, and provides for the development of the other one, from which visible growth develops."
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Orchis
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