|
Silence the knowalls in your horticultural club; settle bar-room disputes; win bets; or just help out customers when they come to you for a plant they know only by an obscure 'common' name.
This pocket-sized book is a godsend, listing the common and botanical names of more than 30,000 species of plants from Europe, North America and beyond. To make things easier still, these are listed under 14 recognisable categories – everything from alpines and aquatics, through to cacti and carnivorous species, herbs and houseplants.
Earlier versions of botanical names, where applicable, are given too.
Very helpful is an 'Epithets' section giving the meaning of scientific names and roots of mainly Latin words applied to plants – themselves a clue to the characteristics, uses or appearance of many species. For example, 'albus' means 'white', 'officianalis' means 'used in medicine' and 'foetida' means 'foul-smelling'. You have been warned!
Garden Trade News
April 2001
|
