Why should I identify?

In my brief and rather unsuccessful study of lichens this winter, I started to wonder if it was important to be able to correctly name a particular organism. Even if I managed to figure out that this grey, flaky lichen was Peltigera malacea (since many lichens don't have common names), what difference does it make? Maybe I could just call it 'The Grey, Flaky Lichen', so I could tell it apart from 'The Orange Speckled Lichen'.

Identification is the first step in nature study, perhaps in all fields of learning. Our brains need to attach a name to what we are looking at in order to store details about that particular object.

Last spring I took a 2 week trip to Japan. I could not read any Japanese, but even during that short time period I started to notice some symbols appearing regularly and began to deduce their meaning in the context they were placed. It didn't take too long to figure out that the following symbol meant 'exit'.

Tokyo National Museum Gardens, Japan, March 2007

I think that identifying a species in nature study has a similar effect. Once you are able to give a name to a particular bird or tree, all of a sudden you start to see it everywhere. It doesn't seem to happen the same way if you have not learned the name of the object. I don't find myself thinking "Oh look, there is another one of those trees that I saw in my neighbour's front yard with the pink flowers". Even if I did, my brain has still given that tree a name (The Tree In My Neighbour's Front Yard With the Pink Flowers) in order for me to be able to think about it. Once I identify that tree as a Redbud tree, I can then mentally start to attach more information to that label. I can also look online or in books to learn more about the Redbud tree.

Even common names can get confusing. In one area this plant is called the Trout Lily, but elsewhere it is known as the Dog-Toothed Violet. That is why we have the latin, scientific name for an organism. The scientific name for that plant is always Erythronium americanum, no matter where you are in the world.

Trout Lily Erythronium americanum
Photo taken May 2005

One of my weaknesses in nature study has been that I would identify an organism and leave it at that. Birdwatchers are particularly susceptible to this. We see our bird and check it off the list and go on to look for a new bird we have not seen before. I could identify many birds, but I couldn't tell you very much about them because I had not stopped long enough to observe and learn about them.

My original question to myself was 'Can I skip the identification stage? Can I observe and learn the habits, behaviors and characteristics of an organism without knowing its name?' I think the answer is no, I can't. If it is difficult to identify, such as the lichens, I can make up a name for it, but I cannot learn and think about a species without a name.