English Plant Names

"Plant Names" is a plain English guide to the use of plant names and the conventions for writing them as governed by the International Code of Nomenclature for algae, fungi, and plants and the International Code of Nomenclature for Cultivated Plants. It covers the naming of wild plants, plants modified by humans, why plant names change, their pronunciation and hints to help remember them. The final section provides a detailed guide to web sites and published resources useful to people using plant names.

Old English had a large number of plant names: more than a thousand are attested. These are listed here, including parts of plants and products of plants. In the main list the following kinds of information are provided: the spelling (including spelling variants), the literal meaning, the etymology (native word or loan-word) and word-formation, equivalents in Modern English, in the Linnéan terminology, and in German, as well as the older Latin names. Cross-references to etymologically or semantically related names are also given. It is furthermore noted if the etymology or the identification of the plant is unclear. The main list is made more accessible and is supplemented by several indices and supplementary lists; these collect, for example, those Old English plant names that survive in Modern English, Old English names for fruits and products of plants, tree names, the Latin names according to the Linnéan system, the Modern English equivalents, and the Modern German equivalents.

This book is a reference for botanists and horticulturalists, including an historic account of names and a comprehensive glossary.

This volume provides the origins and meanings of the names of genera and species of extant vascular plants, with the genera arranged alphabetically from A to C.