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INTRODUCTION TO THE PLANT NAMES WEBSITE
 Purpose of Plant Names.com
The purpose of this web site, both originally in it's
book form and as now revised and coverted for the web,
was and is to make it easier for home gardeners to
pronounce and understand the true names of plants.
Who Names Plants?
There is an almost frightening disagreement among authoritative
reference works as to the spelling of botanical names
of plants, as to their derivations and meanings and,
above all, as to their pronunciation. In the realm
of "common plant names", there is sheer chaos. Throughout,
it has been our effort to follow, in all instances,
what seemed the soundest authority on plant names and, if necessary,
to set up our own. To that end, many source books,
several of them available to gardeners generally, were
consulted. For the spelling of the botanical plant names,
the chief authority has been Hortus Second, compiled
by L. H. Bailey and Ethel Zoe Bailey. For the derivation
or detailed significance of the generic plant names, as well
as for their pronunciation, the chief authority has
been Webster's New International Dictionary, Second
Edition. For the names of species, L. H. Bailey's Standard
Cyclopedia of Horticulture and Hortus Second have been
referred to about equally as guides to plant names with occasional
references to more recent authorities laying fair claim
to dependability.
Spellings and Sounds of Plant Names
The phonetic spellings of plant names used throughout are our own and are designed solely as keys to the sounds it is necessary to make in order to transfer the written words into intelligible speech. In every aspect of the preparation of this website on plants names we have endeavored to interpret in a common-sense way the prevailing weight of horticultural acceptance. Where we have deviated from the sources just mentioned, we have done so to achieve directness and to avoid confusion.
Plant Names Site Map
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