Preface 



v.i 



In 1971, the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Soil Conserva- 

 tion Service (SCS) published a National List of Scientific 

 Plant Names (NLSPN). It has been useful for preparing 

 technical guides, handbooks, and soil surveys. It has also 

 been useful for abstracting research documents and coordi- 

 nating plant testing programs among states and regions. 

 Standardized plant names and plant symbols are essential in 

 the collection, processing, storage, and retrieval of resource 

 information used in all SCS automatic data processing 

 systems. 



In 1978, SCS arranged for the Smithsonian Institution to 

 update the list. The revision presented here, like the previous 

 list, contains symbols for scientific names; accepted names 

 for genera, species, subspecies, and varieties; authors of 

 plant names; symbols for source manuals; family names; 

 symbols for plant habits; and symbols for regions of 

 distribution. 



The revised NLSPN differs from the previous list in that it 

 has been divided into three lists of accepted names, one each 

 for the Caribbean region, Hawaii, and the 49 continental 

 United States and Canada. This NLSPN also contains a 

 synonymy volume that includes names and symbols that have 

 been incorrectly used. The synonomy can direct the user to 

 the accepted name. 



The new NLSPN is available through an interactive terminal 

 from the Soil Conservation Service. Contact the SCS Inte- 

 grated Resource Information Systems Staff, Lanham, Md., 

 for access, questions, and directions. Future updating of the 

 NLSPN, including the addition of new plant data and 

 correction of plant data now included, will be coordinated 

 by the SCS Ecological Sciences Staff, Washington, D.C. 



Issued January 1982 



