The names of things are as complicated as language itself.

I would guess the common name vs. the false common name is a chicken-and-egg situation: The common name came first, then the false name, as the confusion between two similar plants became "commonly" problematic.

There are many "true" names also.

"False" naming might be better than "fool's" as in iron pyrite equalling "fool's gold". I can't at the moment think of any "fool's" plants.

"Fool's false poison oak" would be one plant I would avoid.

European plants got first crack at the common names. East Coast native plants got second crack. West Coast natives are johnny come latelys in the English-language common name game.

Lily of the Valley is a Eurasian plant. It got named first. False lily of the valley looks like it, but got its English name much later. You can bet the local Indians don't call it false anything, it is what it is.

Solomon's seal is an East Coast native. It got its name first. False Solomon's seal is a West Coast native and got its English name later. Far as I'm concerned, it's the real Solomon's seal, and the East Coast one is the false one. All a matter of perspective and I'm a West Coast native myself.

Fool's huckleberry is one 'fool' plant name. It looks like a huckleberry in leaf, but it doesn't have berries.

It's a very provincial practice, yes, to name things 'false'. Even in the Latin names - doug fir is named 'false hemlock' in Latin, Pseudotsuga. The early explorers couldn't come up with an original name for it. Well there were a lot of new plants to name. I'd have adapted one of the local Indian names myself, if it were at all pronounceable in English.

It would be interesting to know if native Indians used the equivalent of "false" in naming certain plants; they must have had a larger everyday plant vocabulary than us and were fooled less easily. Perhaps their word translated to "similar", or even "fool".

Thanks for the Fool's Huckleberry, forgot that one.

...and thank YOU, larry_gene, for the fun double negative for a quick Monday morning mental exercise.

Smiling,

Rain