A classic primer for learning grammar, syntax, punctuation, and vocabulary, as well as fascinating information on Latinate geographical names and color terms.

An essential resource to the International Code of Nomenclature for Algae, Fungi, and Plants.
The Code is the set of internationally agreed rules and recommendations that govern the naming of algae, fungi, and plants. The scientific naming of plants, algae, and fungi has deep historical roots. A major landmark was the publication in 1753 of Linnaeus's Species Plantarum. The first Code of nomenclature was Alphonse de Candolle's Lois de la Nomenclature Botanique (1867). The system of naming organisms is the first truly global scientific standard, predating even standard calendars and units of measurement. The Code is amended every six years at an International Botanical Congress (IBC).

This fourth volume of The Cross Name Index to Medicinal Plants lists more than 12,000 common names in 100 languages, dialects and regions for over 1900 plants used in Indian medicine. Both scientific and common names of medicinal plants are cross indexed to each other. Languages of the common names are included. The Cross Name Index to Medicinal Plants, Volume IV, stands alone; it does not repeat any of the common names of the previous volumes and it references all scientific names for the plants without recourse to the previous volumes. The need for this book was prompted by the diversity of the common names of the plants. Each language, and sometimes each country with the same language, may have a different name for a given plant (and often many names for the same plant). This difference in terminology has caused confusion and inhibited the scientific study of plant medicinals. This volume was compiled as a tool to help unravel the medical botany literature and to aid researchers in their quest to tap into the vast literature which records pragmatic experimentation in botanical medicine, whether medical, folkloric or magical.

New species are discovered every day--and cataloguing all of them has grown into a nearly insurmountable task worldwide. Now, this definitive reference manual acts as a style guide for writing and filing species descriptions. New collecting techniques and new technology have led to a dramatic increase in the number of species that are discovered. Explorations of unstudied regions and new habitats for almost any group of organisms can result in a large number of new species discoveries--and hence the need to be described. Yet there is no one source a student or researcher can readily consult to learn the basic practical aspects of taxonomic procedures. Species description can present a variety of difficulties: Problems arise when new species are not given names because their discoverers do not know how to write a formal species description or when these species are poorly described. Biologists may also have to deal with nomenclatural problems created by previous workers or resulting from new information generated by their own research. This practical resource for scientists and students contains instructions and examples showing how to describe newly discovered species in both the animal and plant kingdoms. With special chapters on publishing taxonomic papers and on ecology in species description, as well as sections covering subspecies, genus-level, and higher taxa descriptions, Describing Species enhances any writer's taxonomic projects, reports, checklists, floras, faunal surveys, revisions, monographs, or guides. The volume is based on current versions of the International Codes of Zoological and Botanical Nomenclature and recognizes that systematics is a global and multicultural exercise. Though Describing Species has been written for an English-speaking audience, it is useful anywhere Taxonomy is spoken and will be a valuable tool for professionals and students in zoology, botany, ecology, paleontology, and other fields of biology.

Plants and Their Names is the ideal reference for anyone interested in plants and gardening. Over 15,000 entries cover both the scientific and common names of flowering plants, ferns, and conifers - providing a short description of the plant and the origin of its name, the group or family to which it belongs, geographical origin and distribution, and applications in medicinal, culinary, industrial, and other areas. The dictionary concentrates primarily on north temperate plants, but it also includes the better known mosses, algae, and lichens, and tropical plants world-wide.

In this book Stearn gives the meaning and origin of some 6000 botanical names, selecting those most likely to be encountered by gardeners and horticulturists. No other single source provides so much etymological information for the gardener, the result of years of scholarship and original research by the distinguished author. Also listed are 3000 of the most widely accepted vernacular names, cross-indexed to their correct scientific names, an invaluable reference for gardeners, writers, and historians. Plant classification and binomial nomenclature are explained, and there are notes on the structure and pronunciation of botanical Latin. No other single source provides so much etymological information for the gardener.