Plant Names: A Guide to Botanical Nomenclature 4th Edition

Plant Names is an invaluable guide to the use of scientific, commercial and common names for plants and the conventions for writing them. Written by horticultural botanists at the Royal Botanic Gardens Victoria, this book covers the naming of wild plants, plants modified by humans, why plant names change, their pronunciation and hints to help remember them, along with updated sections on trademarks and plant breeder’s rights. The final section provides a detailed guide to resources useful to people using plant names.

This fourth edition is based on the recently updated International Code of Nomenclature for Algae, Fungi, and Plants and the International Code of Nomenclature for Cultivated Plants. It makes this technical information readily understandable to a range of readers, including botanists, publishers, professional horticulturists, nursery workers, hobby gardeners and anyone interested in plant names.

Contents

Acknowledgements
Preface
Introduction
Codes of plant nomenclature

Part 1 – Wild plants
Common names
Latin names, the binomial system and plant classification
The International Code of Nomenclature for Algae, Fungi, and Plants (ICN)
The botanical hierarchy
Name changes

Part 2 – Cultivated plants and cultigens
The International Code of Nomenclature for Cultivated Plants
Marketing names (trade designations)

Part 3 – Using plant names
Writing plant names
Pronunciation
Remembering names
Recommended format for nursery plant labels

Part 4 – Plant name resources
Books and websites to help with plant names

Appendix
Glossary and abbreviations
References
Index