Plant Blindness: Do You See Green?

In My Humble Opinion
1

I was on another message board, with professional gardeners weighing in about their clients not seeing how much work they had done, and one poster gave this link, about the concept of “Plant Blindness”. LSU botanists have coined the term:

To me, it’s hard to concieve of not being aware and discerning of plants. Gotta say, it’s hardwired into my brainpan; I was taught from a young age to be in the field and discern and know the names of all flora and critters, ecosystems and relationship. I thought that was normal, but now see it’s not so much.

I now make my living as a horticulturist, but, even before that, I would see each plant as distinct— a walk in the woods was not a green haze, but an adventure seeing all the different flora and fauna, and understanding their specific virtues. Drop me down in the woods, or desert, and I’m way happier than I am on the Pavement world. That’s the true world, to me. I don’t know what its like to not see that.

The reason I ask, is, I have realized that this is a wonderful aspect of life I was given by my parents, university biology professors. And, this article perplexed me, because I’m blind to not being that way. I teach about plants every day to gardeners, am giving more large group seminar talks, and love it. But, seeing kids get alienated from Nature is making me want to take the DENR State classes to learn to teach children how to appreciate it all.

So, are you Plant Blind? Do you care, or what would you like to learn? What would you like your kids to learn most?

2

Interesting subject. I’m very plant-aware, though I don’t always know the names of plants. When we lived on a small island in Micronesia, I individually recognized just about all the different plants that grew around us. It was neat.

3

I’d like to be able to reliably recognize poison ivy. I like flowers and can often tell the plants when the flowers are blooming. But for the most part it’s all just green.

StG

4

I don’t think it deserves having a term of its own. People notice things that matter to them, and gloss over things that don’t.

5

I’m not plant blind. I am a gardener and pay special attention to plants most of the time, even if it’s just in a planter by the front of a store. But, still, it doesn’t seem like a big deal to me that a lot of other folks don’t pay attention. Being interested in plants is just one of many possible hobbies/interests/passions out there.
I’m sure there are people out there who would be shocked and horrified that I have absolutely no interest in any details about topics like sports, Joss Whedon’s creations, or technical aspects of cars. Different passions for different folks.

I guess I figure you can educate people about why environmental protection matters without requiring everyone to be a nature lover personally.

6

I think plant blindness is a prerequisite for being a roofer (or any number of professions where people climb all over your house to fix stuff). I just had my roof done, and in spite of the contractor pointing out my native plant plots, a whole bunch of stuff was utterly destroyed by the workers. So badly mashed on the first day that there was no point in asking them to stay off, because the plants were just gone. Lost about $200 worth. :frowning:

Fortunately, I anticipated this and have done essentially no landscaping immediately around my house. I’m waiting until all the exterior renovations are complete. The “landscaping” along the front is actually a bunch of weeds–whatever decides to grow. Nobody seems to know that, however, because I have the area separated from the grass with a low retaining wall. Put an edge around it, and it’s landscaping.

Guess what the workers did not step on and destroy? Oh well. The roof is wonderful, and I’ll get more plants someday.

That said, I struggle to identify a lot of plants. I’ve taken two local flora classes–one as an undergraduate, the other as a graduate student. It’s not lack of interest in or love plants. I simply struggle to recognize them. What they look like depends so much on growing conditions, and I just can’t seem to generalize enough to properly recognize them when they have (to me) radically different shapes and sizes depending on location. I also just plain old can’t remember their names. I don’t have this problem with birds (although I struggle with bird calls even more than with plant identification).

In the undergrad course, we were quizzed with specimen sheets. The only reason I got a good grade was that I was good at recognizing the particular specimens, often by how the leaves were arranged, bent, or torn more than by the characteristics of the plant itself. Show me the same plants in the field, and I would have failed.

The grad course quizzes were all in the field, and I did horribly on them. Fortunately, they were a minor portion of the grade, but I had to do really well on the exams and papers to overcome my deficiencies in the field.

Anyway, as others have said, everybody has their own interests. I’m rather glad my neighbors are clueless that I’m using native plants in my yard. I was worried I’d be hassled about it, but I haven’t been. If they see mulch and an edge, they don’t really care.

7

Actually, I agree with GuanoLad.

For me personally, it’s enough to recognize that the different plants have names. I don’t feel the need to necessarily remember what all those names actually are. Same with all the animals at the zoo. I can tell a zebra from a giraffe, but I draw the line at trying to tell if it’s a Grey’s zebra or a mountain zebra or whatever, or which variety of giraffe it is.

8

I’ve noticed how many people can’t distinguish trees. They’re doing good if they can distinguish a maple from an oak, or a pine from a spruce. Since I love trees, I find this kinda sad. But on the other hand, I can’t identify cars…all of them look the same to me. I’m sure someone finds that kind of ridiculous, but why should I care?

9

Interesting answers, and it makes me realize what I lacked in conveying in the OP.

To me, understanding the local flora (and fauna), but the flora is always apparent, is to understand the world lived in, to have a sense of place. As said, I’m uncomfortable with the pavement world, and the natural world is interesting and rich. (Yet, I’m certainly apt with reading on the ol’ computer here.) But, no, I don’t get video games at all, have never been captivated by them. Not that there’s anything wrong with that…

So , different strokes for different interests, but, plant knowledge puts you in a relationship with your specific area, and, in human history, that knowledge was once essential to survival. OK, well, now we are beyond that in our society. It makes me sad, because the natural world is so incredibly beautiful. When I show people on my garden walks at work how the Monarch butterfly chooses Asclepias species because the secondary metabolites of the plant gives the caterpillars an edge in survival, then the adults come and pollinate the flowers = more plants, more butterflies, on and on, good eons of relationship, folks are just amazed at that simple thing.

To me, and the authors of the OP link, have to suppose, it’s amazing that one wouldn’t want to learn about the absolute environment one lives in, and depends on.

That gap is what I’d like to bridge in teaching kids.

10

A tree’s a tree. How many more do you need to look at?"

  • Ronald Reagan
    It’s true that for a lot of people plants are not very visible/important, not to mention being a bunch of inconvenient green stuff on the plate that gets in the way of a steak dinner.

I wouldn’t make too much of what “professional gardeners”/landscapers/garden designers attribute to their customers, though. Lots of these people are not very plant-centered or knowledgeable either, placing their emphasis on “hardscaping” instead.

11

I see pollen. My Native American name is “Runs From Noses”. The only thing I can identify is poison ivy and then only if I’m standing in it. If I back away from it I find nettles. If I back away from nettles I find osage orange trees so you can see my point about nature. It’s to be admired in picture books from the comfort of an air conditioned, bug-free house.

I go camping once a year and after 7 days I’m done. And by camping I mean someplace with porta-libraries and shower facilities.

12

People can still have an appreciation for the value of plants and nature without having the ability to recognize and name each plant. I don’t think there is a black and white division where if you’re on one side of the knowledge spectrum you care, and if you’re on the other end you don’t.

For example, I just had my chimney rebuilt, and the guy who runs the business clearly loves animals and birds. I was worried about the project, because I have chimney swifts nesting in there. As bad luck would have it, it began pouring rain as they finished up, and they had to wrap the chimney in plastic. I came home to see one of the parents frantically dive for the opening then veer off because of the barrier, and I wanted to cry. I love those birds.

At the same time, I’d just spent $2000 for a new chimney, which they told me would be quickly destroyed if they took off the plastic. When I calmly explained to them about the birds and my worry that the babies would starve, the guy immediately said, “Well, then I’d better get here first thing in the morning to remove the plastic.” He did so, and the babies were fine. I’m positive he hadn’t been planning to do so–would have let the roofers who were coming the next week take care of it. I know the trip was an inconvenience for the guy, and all the builders are getting hit hard with gas prices. But he did it, because he loves birds.

In spite of all of that, the guy still can’t remember the name of the birds and in our subsequent conversations, he asks every single time. I still think he’s a saint and someone who cares very much about nature.

That said, I think it’s fantastic that you want to teach kids, and my experience with kids when I was an ecology grad student is that learning about monarchs and their relationship with plants is exactly the kind of thing that gets them excited. Have you ever heard of a program called Monarchs in the Classroom? It’s a fantastic program, and worth exploring.

Ultimately, though, I don’t expect the general public to pick up the same level of knowledge as those of us who are fascinated enough to learn the details. That doesn’t mean people don’t care. And I think that there are people who do know the details who actually turn off the general public by taking the attitude that if you don’t understand all the details there is something wrong with you and you don’t care. There is a balance in there.

13

I’m very aware of flora and fauna in an almost Terminator kind of way: I zero in on something visually, a little label pops up that says (e.g.) “buddleia, black knight variety; butterfly bush, poor man’s lilac; invasive in some areas; see lilac, ceanothus for comparison; what kind of bee is that hovering over the flower?” I thought most people were like this until I told a Hawaiian student of mine that I was looking forward to visiting Oahu and asked if she’s seen fairy terns. She looked puzzled and replied, “I guess there are some birds in Honolulu.”

14

I could have coined the term plant blindness for myself. I consider plants in broad groups: trees, flowers, salad.

I remember my aunt asking for my help bringing some plants upstairs for her one time. She’s all like “bring up the aspidistra and the cymbidium and the dieffenbachia.*” I’m completely like “why on earth do you think I know all of these plants?” Something like “the three on the window ledge” would be helpful.

I’m not completely out of touch with nature. I’m quite attuned to animals and bodies of water, but just don’t have an interest in plants.

15

Not plant blind, but I’m horrible with names. I’d WAG that this is the rough norm.

16

Frankly, I think that coining the term “plant blindness”, as though it were a disease or genetic defect or psychological condition is arrogant, condescending, and no bloody help at all. For heaven’s sake, it’s ignorance, not an inability.

I’ve lived in cities all my life, and the only flowers and plants I knew of were the ones commonly found in gardens because that’s all that was there. It’s only been since my 40s that I’ve gone to more natural spots and paid more attention to the plant and animal life.

I’ve tried using guidebooks and online resources to identify things for myself, but for a beginner like me they’re of marginal usefulness in finding what a plant or animal is.

I’ve been on nature walks and things, and I love knowing what each plant is, and I appreciate the help of the naturalist. But going through a natural area and trying to find out what a particular plant or animal is from a guidebook is very frustrating. And I’m not stupid or unwilling.

It’s amazing to me you would think it was amazing. People don’t think math or spelling or reading or learning their own language are important. Why should they care about plants, which have no immediate impact on their lives? For heaven’s sake, on this very board, anyone who even suggests to person X that Googling could have answered their question is severely criticized. If someone called person X “Google blind”, there’d be hell to pay.

If you called me “plant ignorant”, I’d agree immediately. But “plant blindness”, my foot. The people who would create and use such terms are willfully blind.

17

I’m not as educated as I’d like to be about plants or animals, but I do enjoy observing nature immensely. I was thrilled just a couple weeks ago to see that after three years of only throwing out a tenative tendril or two, the wild white indigo I bought at your place of business, ellele, has FINALLY turned into a full-fledged 3-foot plant with blooms on it! I don’t know what is different this year, but something obviously is. If I was more educated about horticulture, maybe I could figure it out. But maybe part of the reason I can get excited about these things is because there is that bit of mystery to it.

If I had kids, I would want them to know that we all (people, plants, animals) have a relationship to one another, which sounds like exactly that your quoted authors are concerned about. I’m not so sure we’re in so much danger in that regard, though. I think most kids do care and are aware of the natural things around them, at least partly due to the rise of environmentalism over the last 30-40 years. In 1962, Rachel Carson’s Silent Spring was highly controversial. Not so much anymore, and I know there’s much more taught in school now about ecology and environmental protection than when I was in school in the '60s and '70s - it was only just starting to catch on when I was in high school.

Your post made me think of a related topic though - what I call ‘plant snobs.’ You know - those people for whom only cultivated species are considered desirable. Everything else is a weed that needs to go away. Personally I like the ground ivy that covers a large area in my backyard - I love the way it looks and smells, but the more fastidious ‘plant people’ among us might have got rid of that within days of moving into the house. Where would they fall in your estimation? :slight_smile:

18

My husband is a forest service brat (he’s the only person I know who actually says “fir cone” and “cedar cone” as a matter of course) but both of us would like to do a little better on hardwood identification. We were trying to figure out what some big trees at the park were, recently, and couldn’t come to any conclusion.

19

Not plant-blind, but am only recently becoming less plant-ignorant. I’ve become interested in gardening, which means actually learning specifics of annual/perennial, sun/shade, etc. But I’ve always loved seeing flowers, trees, etc.

20

I didn’t read the link before my previous post. I have now, and I see I was correct in my assessment. “Zoo-chauvinistic”. :rolleyes:

As for ways to combat the ignorance, I propose occasional field trips for kids and more hyperlocal guidebooks or web pages. Illustrations are a necessity, as well as ways to distinguish between closely similar plants.