: Re: Pretty flowers with clunky Latin names I am writing a fantasy novel set in the Middle East. For multiple reasons related to both plot and atmosphere, I'm using flowers and flowering trees a

@Kaufman555

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Disclaimer: I'm a reader, not a writer.

I live on a rural island in Netherlands. Unless you have been here, I bet you have only a vague idea of what it looks like over here. Flat farmlands, probably? And beach? Yeah, but not a tropical beach like you see on tv. I'll tell you a little about my favourite vegetable, zeekraal.

Zeekraal grows in the wild here. Sometimes I will search between the rocks in the marsh during low tide for this elusive little herb. I love its slightly salty taste in a salad. I'll have to be quick though, because I must be out of the marsh before the tide comes rolling back in.

Now you know a little about my favourite vegetable, my knowledge of local vegetation and what my locale looks like. Zeekraal actually has an English name: glasswort, since it grows in certain areas of that nation just across the English Channel too, but I would avoid using it in this case. Glasswort is not very well-known and has a particular old-English sound to it, setting an entirely different vibe. It most likely has a Latin name too, but I wouldn't know that. I probably wouldn't even be able to remember it as a reader. Just like you probably don't know much about where I live, I don't know anything about where your protagonist lives.

Using the local name signals the following to the reader:

That the author acknowledges that the reader may not be familiar with it
That the reader does not need to look up what it is to enjoy the story
The extend to which the protagonist is familiar with it and locale culture

You can chose to describe the things in question or leave it out. I would decide this on a case by case basis, based on one simple question: is any aspect of the look of this plant relevant to the story?

Use whatever fits your story and its target audience best and from what it sounds like, that is usually the local name, unless you're talking about something you can safely assume the reader knows, for example potatoes.

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