An easy-to-read introduction to the world of plant names and how to write, pronounce and remember them.

First compact dictionary to combine definitions of botanical names in general usage with information on their derivation and guides to pronunciation. A monumental index provides a cross-reference from some 1,800 common plant names to corresponding botanical ones. Combines thoroughness, botanical rigor, and interesting facts and lore — all leavened with touches of humor.

Names are important elements to handle the diversity of items in daily life - persons, objects, animals, plants, etc. Without such names, it would be difficult to attach information to such items and to communicate information about them, and names are usually used without giving them much thought. This is not different for plants. When dealing with plants, however, it soon becomes apparent that the situation is somewhat more complex. Botanists use Latin names to bring order into the vast diversity, while everyday usage resorts to vemacular or "popular" names. As practical as these vernacular names are (it is not suggested that you should ask your greengrocer for a kilo gram of Solanum tuberosum or Musa paradisiaca subsp. sapientum), their most important draw back is the fact that they vary widely, not only from one language to another but also from coun try to country, even from region to region within a large country. More importantly, vemacular names in any given language are usually only available for the plants growing locally, or for plants of some special importance, such as crops and vegetables, medicinal plants, or important garden plants. For all other plants, the Latin names used by botanists and other scientists have to be employed. Such names often appear complicated or even awkward to the ears of those not accustomed to them.

The list contains accepted names for genera, species, subspecies, and varieties, authors of plant names; family names; and symbols for scientific names, source manuals, plant habits and regions of distribution.

Languages of common names cited: African dialects, Arabic, Aztec, Chinese, Danish, Dutch, Egyptian, English, French, German, Greek, Hindu, Indian, Italian, Japanese, Latin, Malay, Maya, Persian, Phillipine dialects, Polish, Portugese, Romanian, Russian, Spanish, and Swedish.

Containing thousands of entries of both vernacular and scientific names of Great Plains plants, the literature that informs this exhaustive listing spans nearly 300 years. Author Elaine Nowick has drawn from sources as diverse as Linnaeus, Lewis and Clark, and local university extension publications to compile the gamut of practical, and often fanciful, common plant names used over the years. Each common name is accompanied by a definitive scientific name with references and authority information. Interspersed with scientifically-correct botanical line drawings, the entries are written in standard ICBN format, making this a useful volume for scholars as well as lay enthusiasts alike. Volume 1 presents, in alphabetical order, all the historical common names of plants recorded in Great Plains flora, herbaria, and botanical collections, together with the scientific names of species to which those common names have been applied.

Covers scientific and common names of plants and weeds used for food, spices, medicine, drugs, forage, or lumber.

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