Jim, Stern's dictionary of plant names says "evergreen trees and shrubs, named in honour of Bacchus". Perhaps the botnist who named the plants was recovering from or still under the influence of a convivial evening!
Gary Dunlop More on Baccharis: I took a look to see what my classical Latin and Greek dictionaries had to say about Baccharis. Although Baccharis in the modern botanical sense is a new world genus, the word baccharis (bacchir was evidently the same thing) was used in ancient times (when the Baccharis of modern botanists would not have been known) to refer to several different plants: a valerian, a cyclamen and to Asarum europaeum are mentioned. I don’t think the word has anything to do with Bacchus – am I wrong? Jim McKenney
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