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18:19 Jan 8, 2011
French to English translations [PRO] Science - Botany
French term or phrase:licmi
From a description of the plants growing in the gardens of Versailles. Help???
On y voit des *licmis*, des pivoines, des flocs, des cléomes, ce sont des plantes qui étaient typiques des plantations du temps de Louis XV.
-------------------------------------------------- Note added at 10 mins (2011-01-08 18:29:22 GMT) --------------------------------------------------
although it's probably Lychnis coronaria - Rose campion - I have 100s of these all over my garden
Jerusalem cross is Lycnis chalcedonica
-------------------------------------------------- Note added at 15 hrs (2011-01-09 09:19:48 GMT) --------------------------------------------------
Yes, the French common names are much closer to the botanical names than in English. However, I'm not sure whether this is referring to rose campion or Maltese cross. They both could well have been present in a 16th century garden.
Common name(s)
Maltese cross, Jerusalem cross, common rose campion, Constantinople campion, cross of Jerusalem, fireball, flower of Bristow, flower of Constantinople, gardener's delight, gardener's eye, great candlestick, knight's cross, London pride, meadow campion, none-such, red Robin, scarlet lightning, scarlet lychnis, tears of Christ
I do wonder about the "common rose campion" though, since this is the usual common name for L. coronaria.
I truly appreciate all of your help with this, and did go for 'lychnis' in the end to preserve accuracy, especially since the text went on to describe the King's love of botany (making a botanical term sound more appropriate to me). 4 KudoZ points were awarded for this answer
Yes, good points by SJLD - here's another useful site - http://apps.rhs.org.uk/rhsplantfinder/ - and re the cleome, it's just that I didn't happen to know it had that common name;-)
Of course you need to have the Latin name, which is easy enough when the French is spelt correctly!
Re common names - I agree with Rachel that since they are not universal, they are best avoided. I don't know most of the British ones myself since I'm not British and I garden in French :-) Always remember too that an English language text is not necessarily for people with English mother tongue. If the visitors are interested in plants, they will perhaps be more familiar with the botanical names. If not, many will probably not even know the common names.
Thank you for your insight! My only issue with the word lychnis is that the audience (tourists visiting Versailles) will probably have no idea what it means. I do take your point, though, and Rachel's in her notes, so may well stick to 'lychnis' in the interests of accuracy. Appreciate your help!
No, I don't think you should use 'campion', which refers to the wild variety in either red or white. Most English speakers who are familiar with thebother plant names in your list will also be familiar with lychnis.
Automatic update in 00:
Answers
5 mins confidence: peer agreement (net): +2
lychnis
Explanation: Maltese/Jerusalem cross
-------------------------------------------------- Note added at 10 mins (2011-01-08 18:29:22 GMT) --------------------------------------------------
although it's probably Lychnis coronaria - Rose campion - I have 100s of these all over my garden
Jerusalem cross is Lycnis chalcedonica
-------------------------------------------------- Note added at 15 hrs (2011-01-09 09:19:48 GMT) --------------------------------------------------
Yes, the French common names are much closer to the botanical names than in English. However, I'm not sure whether this is referring to rose campion or Maltese cross. They both could well have been present in a 16th century garden.
Common name(s)
Maltese cross, Jerusalem cross, common rose campion, Constantinople campion, cross of Jerusalem, fireball, flower of Bristow, flower of Constantinople, gardener's delight, gardener's eye, great candlestick, knight's cross, London pride, meadow campion, none-such, red Robin, scarlet lightning, scarlet lychnis, tears of Christ
I do wonder about the "common rose campion" though, since this is the usual common name for L. coronaria.
SJLD Local time: 07:45 Works in field Native speaker of: English PRO pts in category: 28
Grading comment
I truly appreciate all of your help with this, and did go for 'lychnis' in the end to preserve accuracy, especially since the text went on to describe the King's love of botany (making a botanical term sound more appropriate to me).
Notes to answerer
Asker: THANK YOU, very helpful!! Do you think I could use 'campions' as my translation (or possibly 'pinks'??) I want to be accurate, but don't think 'lychnis' is a word the audience will understand.
Asker: Thanks for your advice! It's frustrating for me not to have the visuals which go with the text I'm translating (commentary for a documentary film) as that would resolve the issue. Will avoid 'pinks' and think about campions some more!!
7 mins confidence:
lychnis
Explanation: not sure, just a possibility
-------------------------------------------------- Note added at 17 hrs (2011-01-09 11:31:42 GMT) --------------------------------------------------
commenting here, as more room:
In general, I'd avoid using "common names" here - sometimes these can be confusing, as usage varies from place to place and may also be unknown to many; could be one or more of several garden varieties of lychnis; in any case, it's always safer to include the scientific name or part of it, as in cleome (I don't know them as spider flowers)
Lychnis
Lych'nis noun [ Latin , a kind of red flower, Greek lychni`s ; confer ly`chnos a lamp.] (Botany) A genus of Old World plants belonging to the Pink family ( Caryophyllaceæ ). Most of the species have brilliantly colored flowers and cottony leaves, which may have anciently answered as wicks for lamps. The botanical name is in common use for the garden species. T …
Found on http://www.encyclo.co.uk/webster/L/72 http://www.encyclo.co.uk/define/Lychnis
Rachel Fell Local time: 06:45 Specializes in field Native speaker of: English PRO pts in category: 28
Notes to answerer
Asker: Thank you, Rachel: looks like I will have to stick to the botanical names in the interests of accuracy (I take your point about common names varying by region). Again, very helpful references here; you are such a great source!!
The translation workplace 
peer agreement (net): +2
