We write our plant tags out by hand on discarded vinyl blinds with indelible markers, and there’s always the internal debate of whether it’s better to be informal and recognizable or technically correct (because writing both gets tiresome). Personally I lean towards accuracy rather than approachability because technically correct is the best kind of correct, but even my plant friends think I’m a nerd. Who’s with me?
Interestingly, in my country we seem to use the botanical name (at least part of the binomial) quite frequently by preference over any common English name.
Nasturtium, Rhododendron, Eucalyptus. Convolvulus. Tradescantia. Pinus radiata. Macrocarpa.
Nevertheless I am yet to hear exclamations of “oh, stuff your Brassica oleracea capitata!”
Nasturtium, Rhododendron, and Tradescantia are commonly used in our neck of the woods too. I sometimes wonder what the driver of that parlance is.