Firefly Dictionary of Plant Names: Common and Botanical

This is the only guide needed to find the name of a plant. Using whichever name is already known -- common or botanical -- readers will quickly find the name needed using the extensive cross-reference lists. From alpines to trees and shrubs, from houseplants to wild flowers, this essential gardening reference covers an amazing 30,000 terms over 448 pages, all in a compact, easy-to-carry size:

• Quickly find the common or botanical equivalents of plant names
• Easily convert common plant names to their botanical equivalents -- and vice versa
• Inclusive coverage of North American, European and UK common names, plus earlier versions of common names
• Explanations of Latin help to identify whole groups of plants at a glance
• Convenient pocket-sized format, with a wipe-clean flexibind cover, makes it easy to carry along on visits to the garden center or nursery

A pocket-sized cross-referenced dictionary of 30,000 terms for finding common or botanical equivalent names from North America, Europe, and the UK. It includes earlier versions of common names and explanations of Latin to identify groups.

Library Journal

Since common names for individual plants can vary from one geographic region to another, botanical names provide a more precise method of correct identification, thus inspiring Bagust, an experienced gardener and author (e.g., The Gardener's Dictionary of Horticultural Terms) to create a reference source addressing this particular need. Claiming to cover "over 30,000 plants grown in the English-speaking areas of the world together with much of Europe," this volume divides plants into 14 different sections, such as "Bulbs" and "Trees and Shrubs." In the first half, each plant is listed by its common name, with the botanical name then given, while the second half reverses this arrangement. A small section with the meanings of some commonly used Latin epithets is also included. If the only thing one needs to discover is a plant's common or botanical name, Bagust's book is quite valuable, though users will need to know the section in which a plant appears. But if more detailed information is required, other, more expensive sources will prove to be more useful. The American Horticultural Society A-Z Encyclopedia of Garden Plants provides not only the scientific names for 15,000 plants but also photographs and details about each plant and its cultivation. Another standard reference, Hortus Third: A Concise Dictionary of Plants Cultivated in the United States and Canada, offers the botanical names for approximately 34,000 plants and brief, descriptive details of each plant. The New Royal Horticultural Society Dictionary of Gardening also features this type of information, along with definitions for other gardening terms. The much more inexpensive but narrowly focused The Firefly Dictionary of Plant Names is recommended as a supplementary reference source for academic and large public libraries.-John Charles, Scottsdale P.L., AZ Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information.

Harold Bagust is a well known gardener with over 60 years' experience growing and studying plants. A regular contributor to international gardening journals and broadcasts, he is an expert on pelargoniums and the author of seven books, including The Gardener's Dictionary of Horticultural Terms.