X STANDARDIZED PLANT NAMES 



plants in five languages, with frequent reference for comparison 

 to many other works and sources. 



Eliminating Syjionyms. Second, we have undertaken the elimi- 

 nation of a name for any genus, species, or variety, of names 

 clearly belonging more properly, according to accepted usage, to 

 some other genus, species, or variety. The recklessness with 

 which people, on moving into a new locality, have applied familiar 

 old plant names to totally different plants of the new locality has 

 been responsible for a great deal of existing confusion. For exam- 

 ple, first settlers in a new country are likely to fix the name 

 ''Laurel" to almost anything that has handsome evergreen leaves, 

 and any evergreen conifer is likely to be called ''Cedar" or "Pine." 

 Some of these misnomers have become so firmly and so widely 

 established in popular usage, even where the plant is now grow- 

 ing along with the plants which have the first right to the 

 name, that they cannot be changed. But in such cases the 

 Committee has adopted this rule : Whenever a common name prop- 

 erly belonging to one germs is used as a name for a plant of some 

 other genus {unless rarely where very closely related) it is to he used 

 only as part of a compound name, written either with a hyphen 

 or solid. Thus Apple (Malus), Pineapple (Ananas), Pond-apple 

 (Annona), and Star-apple (Chrysophyllum) ; not Pine Apple, Pond 

 Apple, or Star Apple. 



Confusion of Common Name Synonyms Illustrated. In this book 

 the Committee has to deal with no less than thirty-one genera 

 in which the common name "Lily," usually with a qualifying 

 adjective, has been heretofore applied — genera other than the 

 true Lily genus, Lilium. In these cases the name "Lily" has 

 obviously been used on account of the resemblance of the subjects 

 to the true Lily. Many of these Lily combinations are too well 

 fiixed in common usage to change. To overcome this difficulty the 

 Committee has therefore applied its rule of consolidating these com- 

 pounds where a different suitable common name could not be 

 supplied. Examples: Amazonlily (Eucharis), not Amazon Lily; 

 Day lily (Hemerocallis),no^ Day Lily; Glorylily (Gloriosa); Rainlily 

 (Cooperia) ; Plantainlily (Hosta) ; Troutlily (Erythronium) ; Water- 

 lily (Nymphaea) ; Zephyrlily (Zephyranthes) . No other satisfac- 

 tory solution of this major difficulty was discovered, and this 

 procedure is beheved to be sound. 



Horticidtural Variety Synonyms in Chaos. In plant groups with 

 a large and rapidly increasing number of purely horticultural 



