I agree that the lack of being able to identify things in the natural world is a symptom of how distant we are to it. I think what is worse is that a lack of knowing or caring seems to come along with a lack of being able to see at all. Not for everyone, but for a lot of people.

Most people I hike with are extraordinarily unobservant. They haven't a clue where they are in the geographical OR biological layer of the Earth. They cannot see the plants, birds and animals. They cannot see the side trails leading off the main one. They can't find their way from week to week hiking the same trails over and over again.

This lack of interest and ability to see their surroundings seems impoverished and limiting to me. I know where I am on the globe even if I don't know the exact GPS spot on the map. I recognize that bush, that rock. I saw that little side trail and have an idea where it probably goes. Maybe I followed it once. I know that bush has great berries on it and I know what month to come back to find them. I know there are mushrooms here and what month. I know I can eat those greens. I can lead you right to a Chocolate Lily in April or a patch of Mission Bells in March. Most people think this is a super-power or something. This totally bugs me. I am not special. We all were born with the ability to know where we are and what shares this space with us.

I don't think it matters if you know the scientific name or even the common name to experience this kind of connection. It's the lack of connection more than anything that diminishes the experience. The flip-side is that phony connection where you walk around all dreamy in rapture with the beauty of nature. Like these hippie kids I met on the trail once with their bare feet and holding a bunch of banana slugs dripping gobs of slime from their fingers. Ew, that's just gross, can't you see the slime is them telling you to leave them alone?

I perfer to look at the macro enviroment and really think about it. Looking at the vegtation in relation to the landscape and contemplating how the area evolved into what it is now. What does the vegetation say about the climate and what wildlife should be around.

I am not to concerned with the names we have given them although i do often debate which flower i am calling indian paintbrush is actually indian paint brush.

The times when I would like to know the names of the plants and animals I see are mostly when I want to describe to others what I have seen. I also enjoy knowing something about the plants and animals that I see. I once went on a backpacking trip with a plant pathologist who knew the names of all the plants we saw, and various tidbits about them ( which I have generally forgotten, of course) it was fun to have him telling us these things as we sat and ate lunch or as we walked along.

nick, in another life I would have loved to know the real native names for all the plants, the names that is, given to them by the people who interacted with them and used them for centuries, based on experience of their qualities.

These names tend to be very accurate and descriptive. The 'scientific names' are pure fictions and mean nothing to me at all. Some guy or woman just made it up on the spot based on some random factors they decided were important at that moment.

Big difference between the two methods. Some things even had inner and outer names, names most people used, and names given for more secret uses. Those names would be even more interesting to know. But I suspect this type of knowing of where you are requires staying around for a lot longer than a quick pass through on a hike. But I would love to be able to read and know the plants around me as well as people used to. The notion of passing by great foods out of pure ignorance, then cooking up a drab dried meal and ignoring all that actual food, is somewhat annoying I have to admit, and not knowing the herbs and healing qualities of plants is likewise pretty annoying, but there's only time for so much in a life I guess.

Fungus are especially fascinating, piper s, The Kingdom Fungi is I think the name of a recent book on them, really solid and enlightening, albeit a bit dry and scholarly, he spends too much time debating what should be applied to what genera etc, gives a good feel for the pointlessness of scientific naming, but after that, it's all fungus action, cool read.

"It's the lack of connection more than anything that diminishes the experience. "

You nailed it, slam dunk. Exactly right. Don't be too hard on those hippy kids though, their hearts are in the right place, way ahead of most. At least they saw that banana slug in the first place, and considered it noteworthy enough to keep pestering it, heh. If I have to pick between some yuppy ul type, or type A overdriven speed hikers, or some clueless hippy kids wandering around thinking how wonderful it all is, I'll take the hippy kids every time.

Edited by hhope on 02/12/2012 19:17:56 MST.

I would like to have more knowledge with plant Identification. Like others have said, not the name, but the function if it has one.

"A rose by any other name would smell just as sweet."

Plants are full of benificial and toxic alkaloids, it is all quite fascinating. Shamans have been close to plants and practicing thien own brand of organic chemistry for thousands of years. A big part of that is identification, but that goes beyond a mere name.

Nick, you wont find any magic mushrooms in the desert, but there are a couple species of cactus containing mescaline and other active compounds used as a decorative plant. Something tells me there are some monsters waiting in the front yards of the coachella valley. Waiting for you specifically to find them, eat them, so you two can interact. The cactus will impart its knowledge to you and vice-versa.

Its amazing the compounds found in plants and fungi are literally like lock and key with receptor sites in our body. Unlocking the psychedelic consciousness, communicating with us, showing us our ignorance and our ego driven waste.

I am familiar with Mr. Mescalito. I prefer this reality, not the other :)

what we call them and what they call themselves will never match so it's anyone's guess as to what is right.

"that's a cool evergreen, and that's a cool non-evergreen. those are cool birds and so are those. i wish i could fly. whoa, that was a snake, don't care if it's poisonous, i'll give him some room just to be safe. oh wow, that was a cool orange salamander. did you all see that reddish brown bush, that was really neat. man, there are so many cool things out here..."

Just knowing the name does not matter, I will agree with you. Knowing the names is useful if you wish to learn more about something. Try looking up "cool evergreen" and see if how long it takes you to find what you think you saw. Names are the tools we use to communicate with one another. The binomial system makes communication quicker . We name things because it is an efficient way to exchange information. We named elements; try talking chemistry without knowing the names of what you are working with.
Not everyone should care, nor is taxonomy necessary to enjoy the outdoors. That does not mean that it does not really matter. It's a personal issue.

to enjoy the beauty of it all i don't need to know the name. i can always come home and look up what i saw to learn more. i don't need to know the latin name of the tree to enjoy the shade and habitat it proves. the tree certainly doesn't know latin.

I said as much already. No, you don't need to know the name to enjoy it.
On the other hand, if you are familiar with a plant and then see it in a different ecosystem and can appreciate how different it looks, how it has adapted, that is cool too.
If you know which plants are native and which exotic, you can imagine the land the way it used to be.
You can definitely enjoy your life without knowing history but you can also appreciate the present through the past. No one is saying you cannot truly appreciate nature without knowing the names; but there is no need to knock or trivialize knowing a little more about your environment either.

I'm with Kat on this one.

I look at a diamond, and it's pretty enough. My mom, OTOH, has spent hours on learning about diamonds -- and I can see quite obviously the deeper thrill / satisfaction she experiences when she see a real gem. OTOH, if I am not terribly interested in going deep on diamonds, then I simply would not have the same reaction toward them -- and it's up to me to find my own interests.

In the above example, both mom and I enjoy looking at diamonds. But it would be absurd for me to argue with her that I get the exact same deep, broad and intense enjoyment as she -- that prior knowledge is irrelevant.

As well, any of us can find perfect enjoyment listening to classical music. But an experienced conductor will likely get a more intense "high" when every note has hit it just right!

There are countless attractions that make a hike rewarding. We don't have to know the names or characteristics of local fauna and flora to have an enjoyable hike. But knowing them will give us a certain different enjoyment too.

i used to really enjoy electronic music - it was cool, faceless, very anonymous. then i started to get into the bands, the equipment, the styles. it stopped being a careful and fun experience - i started analyzing it, picking it apart, basically i became a gear and music snob.

i enjoy running because i know thing about the gear, how to do it, what i should be doing, i simply bought shoes that felt good, some clothes that fit, and i run.

there is a certain amount of ignorance that allows a large amount of bliss.

Personally, I enjoy knowing the names of flowers, trees, types of rocks, and animals that I come across often. I don't devote a huge amount of energy to classifying everything I see, but knowing certain names (sky pilot, granodiorite, whitebark pines, pine marten, etc.) makes me feel a little closer to the thing I'm looking at. Kind of like running into a friend- it brings back other memories when I recognize them again. I find that I look at things closer when I know what they are- otherwise it's just a pretty flower or bird or whatever, I don't necessarily notice what distinguishes it from everything else.

Oh, I get it now. It's either the happy fun ignorance or the geeky,cold, faceless nit picking no fun thing. Glad we got to the bottom of another black and white issue.

Whatever everyone does regarding names, remember one thing: we humans are language driven animals to the extent that what is not named does not exist for us. Then, it can be a formal name or a ready-made one.

While I don't spend a lot of time at it, for me it enhances the experience to know the names of what's around me--not just birds and flowers, but the mountain peaks, too.

A lightening-up sort of tip: with the macro feature on my camera, I can take good closeup photos of flowers and such (be sure to include the leaves as well). I then look them up when I get home. No need to haul along the flower books! It's a lot harder to do this with birds, though!

For me, what is important is to observe and enjoy the details of my surroundings. Naming individual items, on the other hand, is entirely optional. I do it because I enjoy it. What's unforgiveable is not being aware of your surroundings. Thanks, Piper/Diane, for an excellent writeup!

Edited by hikinggranny on 02/27/2012 14:43:25 MST.

"there is a certain amount of ignorance that allows a large amount of bliss."

Steve -- I agree with you on this one. But knowledge can (and often does) bring a different facet or dimension of enjoyment! After all, if you had derived absolutely no different or additional enjoyment getting into bands, styles and equipment -- then what motivated you (and countless others)? It's not just "one-upmanship".

But Steve, you also hit on a second point -- deep, deep studying and analyzing can (and often does) bring about a diminishing return -- and may even sap the original, carefree fun. But this is a different point though, IMO.

And as the apocryphal story is usually told the botany professor says to the class "Please don't expect me to remember your names-I'd have to forget those of several plants and I'm sure you don't want that to happen".
The way I was trained in plant I.D.the final test was to take you into the shade house to see juvenile trees and shrubs , many without leaves . Tough test-you'd better know branching ,bud forms, bark and seed remnants well . But it comes in handy once you start walking through commercial nurseries or in a electric cart i.d.ing plants in rows at 2 or 3 miles per hour.

Edited by Meander on 02/27/2012 17:44:06 MST.