Did you grow up calling black and yellow cone flowers by the name Black Eyed Susans? I don't think I have ever known them by any other name. In hind sight, several questions come to mind:
Who was Susan?
Who made up the name? Somebody had to have said "Black Eyed Susan" first and you know he had a specific girl in mind. You don't just name a flower like that out of the blue. What were the circumstances?
Why did she have a black eye? Did she fall down? Was she clumsy? Did somebody hit her?
If her name had been Deloris, would "Black Eyed Doris" have stuck over the years?
Why not a man? I kind of like "Black Eyed Chuck". That is a man's flower to be sure.
Sometimes I lie awake at night thinking of important questions like these. Issues that could change our understanding of the world. I hope you appreciate the work I do for you and the rest of Mankind.
tim mcmurdo 