What Plant Names Tell Us

Visit Scientific and technical culture, Research
July 9, 2026Villar-d'Arène - Lautaret Garden
Check out what the names of plants tell us
From 11 a.m. to 12 p.m. Themed tour of the Lautaret Garden with Carole Chauvin-Payan, Ph.D. in Linguistics and Outreach Coordinator at GIPSA-Lab
Explore The jardin du Lautaret the customs, traditions, beliefs, and legends surrounding its plants. What did our ancestors call these plants—which didn’t necessarily have the same names throughout France? How did they use them? What was their connection to nature? And what have botanists since taught us?
Embark on a botanical journey through ancient civilizations, exploring a dozen plants found in the flowerbeds and rock gardens of the Lautaret Garden.

Carole Chauvin Payan, GIPSA-Lab
Carole Chauvin, who holds a Ph.D. in Linguistics, is an engineer and the head of public outreach and scientific culture at the GIPSA-Lab(CNRS/UGA/Grenoble INP). She is passionate about our oral and intangible heritage. She processes and analyzes linguistic, ethnobotanical, and ethnomycological data. In particular, she creates linguistic atlas maps of France and loves sharing what she has learned about words and the world...
Published on April 1, 2026
Updated on April 1, 2026