Disclaimers

Herbs or Medicinal Plants

Rainy Side Gardeners at Rainyside.com does not endorse or make any recommendations for use of herbs or medicinal plants. We only report what plants are used for or what their use was in history. Before using any plants for medicinal purposes or any purpose for that matter, check with your doctor or health practitioner and follow their advice for use. Many medicinal plants can be dangerous, if not deadly, if used incorrectly.

 

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The trend of using trademarked names instead of the botanical names in the nursery trade can be confusing to the average consumer. Like common names, a trademark name can be used for several different plants. Tony Avent, of Plant Delights Nursery explains it as follows:

“Legally, trademark names should not be the name of the product itself, only to designate origin of the product. A classic example is Tylenol®. If you look through a drug store, you will find that the company had registered Tylenol® as a trademark. The produce that you purchase, however is not TYLENO®, but instead one of many products, such as TYLENOL® Cold and Sinus Medicine, or TYLENOL® Pain Relievers . In most of these products, the generic name is acetaminophen. This is akin to putting the cultivar name in single quotes beside the marketing name. Trademark names cannot not belong to a particular item or plant, no matter how many times the owner of the trademark tries to convince you otherwise.”

Using trademark or common names may lead to confusion, you the consumer may end up with a plant you didn’t set out to purchase. Therefore, when buying plants, just as you do with your pain medications or any other product, we strongly recommend that you check the botanical name on tags to insure you purchase the right plant. Always insist on the real name; where the trademarked name is prominent on the plant tags, in most cases you will find the botanical name in small print somewhere on the label.

Here at Rainy Side Gardeners, we will use trademark names only as a means to help those who are looking for a plant by that name, just as we do common names. However, trademark names most times will be marked with either a ™ or ® followed by an asterik* and a link to this page. The plant will always have its botanical name in our listings or articles. Using its proper name will insure you receive the right plant, whether it has a trademark name, or not.

For more information on trademarks, read Tony Avent's excellent article, The Trademark Myth (When is a Name Not a Name).