# Translation of a French botanical terminology **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [October 27, 2015, 9:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/translation-of-a-french-botanical-terminology/735903 "2015-10-27T21:17:02Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Gymnopithys](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/fbc32d/32.png) [@Gymnopithys](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gymnopithys)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2015, 9:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/translation-of-a-french-botanical-terminology/735903/1 "2015-10-27T21:17:02Z")
I need the translation into English of a specialized botanical terminology in French describing a plant association or community: _l’alliance de la pelouse mi-sèche continentale_ Can anybody help ? ---
**Author:** ![Kobal2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kobal2/32/20_2.png) [@Kobal2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kobal2)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2015, 9:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/translation-of-a-french-botanical-terminology/735903/2 "2015-10-27T21:32:30Z")
Well, I’m not familiar with botany at all, but a word-for-word translation would be “the alliance for (or of) continental half-dry grass”. Does that help ? ---
**Author:** ![Kobal2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kobal2/32/20_2.png) [@Kobal2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kobal2)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2015, 9:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/translation-of-a-french-botanical-terminology/735903/3 "2015-10-27T21:35:06Z")
(“pelouse” is actually more than just “grass” now that I think about it - it’s specifically manicured/maintained grass, i.e. a lawn.) ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Drake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ad7895/32.png) [@Dr.Drake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Drake)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2015, 10:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/translation-of-a-french-botanical-terminology/735903/4 "2015-10-27T22:55:10Z")
Light googling suggests that mi-sèche (lit. “half-dry”) refers to growing conditions, what might in English be “dry grasses”; an Italian translation is **semiaride**. So: “The Association for Contintental Semi-Arid Grasses” ? Sample species w/ Latin names [here](https://www.infoflora.ch/fr/milieux/4212-pelouse-mi-seche-continentale.html) if that helps. ---
**Author:** ![Gymnopithys](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/fbc32d/32.png) [@Gymnopithys](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gymnopithys)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2015, 9:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/translation-of-a-french-botanical-terminology/735903/5 "2015-10-28T09:06:56Z")
> [@Dr.Drake](#): > > Light googling suggests that mi-sèche (lit. “half-dry”) refers to growing conditions, what might in English be “dry grasses”; an Italian translation is **semiaride**. So: “The Association for Contintental Semi-Arid Grasses” ? > > Sample species w/ Latin names [here](https://www.infoflora.ch/fr/milieux/4212-pelouse-mi-seche-continentale.html) if that helps. Thank you **Dr. Drake**. “mi-sèche” is the word that got me stuck. In fact the Italian abstract of the paper is _alleanza delle praterie semiaride continentali_. I should have read it ! So now my translation in botanical parlance would be: _the continental semi-arid grass association_ It’s a big step forward ! ---
**Author:** ![Mudshark](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f04885/32.png) [@Mudshark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mudshark)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2015, 9:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/translation-of-a-french-botanical-terminology/735903/6 "2015-10-28T09:12:27Z")
Having not used any of my basic French in almost ten years, would “desert grass” be a better translation, at least to convey meaning? The Continental Desert Grass Association ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2015, 11:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/translation-of-a-french-botanical-terminology/735903/7 "2015-10-28T11:45:08Z")
> [@Mudshark](#): > > Having not used any of my basic French in almost ten years, would “desert grass” be a better translation, at least to convey meaning? The Continental Desert Grass Association [Semi-arid](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Semi-arid_climate) and [desert](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Desert_climate) are not the same thing.