biTron,
Hello. Using the Latin names of the plants would help greatly. It
happens that you may have been snubbed by knowledgeable plantspeople who
see ethnic common names (i.e. not binomial nomenclature) and simply look
at each other and roll their eyes.
I just referenced Bailey's 'Hortus Third', alisting of 'all' the plants
currently under cultivation, and confirmed that most of the common names
you listed are not cross-referenced, and those that are could be any of
a number of quite different plants.
Your best bet is to speak with a native speaker of the language in which
the common names you mentioned originate. Preferably this person is a
botanically aware person from the region where the plants you wish to
grow are native.
Second best would be to include some description of what the plants are
used for where they are grown. But then you need to find someone
willing to do a lot of research for a presumably small sale of plants.
One last possibility. Are the plants perhaps Paraguayan as used by the
Indians there for medicine (a guess). If they are, or are from the
region around Paraguay, try doing a search for Stevia serrata (a
sweetening agent used in Paraguay). You will find many commercial herb
sellers. I remember one with a name like Odonne Redonne or something
like that. He was a botanist who was interested in commercializing the
herbal medicines used by the Paraguayan Indians. Perhaps he is your man.
Good Luck.
PS There is a lady named Francesca who works at the New York Botanical
Garden (or did a few years ago, anyway). She both speaks Spanish and is
a botanist. Also the librarian there can be quite helpful. NYBG is
available online by searching for CATALPA which is there online card
catalog.
Ciao e buon fortune,
James Reid
Landscape Gardener
