THE VULGAR OR ENGLISH NAMES OF PLANTS. i8i 



2d. In genera in which two or more species must be designated 

 and distinguished, and therefore the genus name qualified, other 

 rules must govern: 



a. Words denoting the entire plant, like herb, wort, weed, tree, 

 grass, bush, as well as words denoting only a part of the plant, like 

 flower, berry, nut, root, leaf, wood, should be affixed without hyphen ; 

 thus, Bladderwort, Peppergrass, Pitcherplant, Rosinweed, etc., and 

 Coneflower, Basswood, Huckleberry, Cranberry, Waterleaf, Bladder- 

 nut. 



h. Generic names consisting of two words not denoting the plant 

 or any part of it, should also be compounded without hyphen. We 

 have abundant authority for this in familiar precedents like Butter- 

 cup, Pennyroyal, Peppermint, Dandelion, Horseradish, Honeysuckle, 

 which must have looked rather strange to our forefathers when first 

 coined. In accordance with this rule we should also have Milkvetch, 

 Goldthread, Sweetbrier, Sweetclover, Goldenrod, Hedgenettle, &c. 

 The few exceptions will be in the case of words unusually long — that 

 is containing two or more syllables, or when the name is made up of 

 more than two words; in these exceptions the hyphen must be used, 

 but only with one initial capital, thus: Prairie-clover, Sea-lavender, 

 Forget-me-not. 



c. In both classes A and B there are some names in which the 

 terminal letter of the first word and the initial letter of the second, or 

 suffix, are the same, as in Cat-tail, Bur-reed, Cancer-root, Arrow- 

 wood ; here the hyphen is required by the eye, and should be followed 

 by a lower-case initial. 



3d. Genus names in the possessive case, such as Solomon's-seal, 

 St. John's-wort, are commonly written with the hyphen, followed by 

 a lower-case initial, always with the exception of such names as apply 

 only to individual species, like Dutchman's Pipe, Shepherd's Purse. 



Plants named after individual men, like Cratccgus Doiiglasii, Pinus 

 Coulteri, Solamim Torreyi^ may be regarded, in the English sense, as 

 not strictly in the possessive case — that is, not denoting ownership ; 

 therefore, we may properly write Douglas Thorn, Coulter Pine, Tor- 

 rey Nightshade, that is, a Thorn dedicated to Douglas, or a Pine com- 

 memorating Coulter, but not belonging to them, in the saine manner 

 that we write Washington City, Madison River, etc. 



4th. Specific names must also be made as short and of as easy 

 apprehension as possible. The method pursued in Sudworth's 

 "Nomenclature of the Arborescent Flora of the United States" 

 strikes me as being the correct one, and commends itself for imitation 

 to all botanists. Superfluous qualifying words are eliminated, thus: 

 Fringe Ash, Silky Cornel and Flame Azalea take the place of Fringe- 



