What’s in a Name, or Muscari armeniacum

I’m confused about the potential depth of my blossoming relationship with local flora. I understand that gardens form an important component of urban nature, and that they can also attract more nature in the form of birds, butterflies, and other insects. But, all I knew about the grape hyacinths my husband planted along our gateway path was that I liked them. This flower appears early—good for the impatient naturalist (see earlier post)—, grows well in difficult conditions, and smells good (although, really, am I going to kneel down on the cold concrete to smell them? And, we have too few to use as cut flowers.). Then things got more difficult. When I began researching them, I ran into orders, families, species, and genera, which made me wonder exactly what’s in a name? I’ve been content to ignore the larger implications of studying plants. Do I need to know the scientific name of the chokecherry tree, for example, to know that birds forage the berries? I want to know the function of plants, shrubs, and trees, especially in relation to wildlife. Isn’t that sufficient?