PREFACE ix 



The other of these decisions was to end all species names 

 having the form of a second declension genitive with a single ''i" 

 instead of with ''ii." This practice also has been followed for some 

 time by zoologists and by some horticulturists. There is just as 

 good classic Latin authority for the ''i" form as there is for the 

 '4i" form, and it seems absurd to burden ourselves with trying to 

 follow with precision the choice of each particular original author 

 of a Latin plant name as to whether he would spell his genitive in 

 ^'ii" or in the equally proper "i." 



One Standard Common Name for Each Plant. The confusion in 

 common names has been, of course, even worse than in scien- 

 tific names. A single plant is sometimes known by twenty or 

 more different names, some very closely localized, some very 

 widespread. For example. Van Wijk's Dictionary of Plant 

 Names credits the European White Waterlily, Nymphaea alba, 

 with 15 English, 44 French, 105 German, and 81 Dutch common 

 names, or a total of 245 vernacular appellations — a ridiculous state 

 of affairs. Many other examples similarly absurd could be cited. 

 More confusing still, the same common name is often applied in 

 different parts of the country to wholly different plants. Some 

 of these contradictory and confusing names are so firmly en- 

 trenched in local popular usage that it may be quite impossible to 

 eradicate them. The Committee, in proposing one of a plant's 

 common names as a national standard common name for that 

 plant, does not imply that some of the other common names in use 

 for it are not just as good, or even in some respects better. But if 

 we are ever going to reduce the confusion some one name must be 

 selected more or less arbitrarily. 



Common Name Suggestions Desired. It will be noticed that in 

 this work many plants are listed only by their Latin names. In 

 such cases the Committee will welcome the suggestion of suitable 

 common names for insertion in future editions. 



Committee^ s Procedure in Adopting Common Names. In general, 

 the procedure of the Committee in regard to common names has 

 been as follows: First, the collation of all the common names 

 given for the plant in various publications. Among those most 

 resorted to were Bailey's Cyclopedia, over 200 leading nursery 

 catalogues, the leading American and English botanical and horti- 

 cultural works and publications, the Century Dictionary, Sud- 

 worth's Trees of the United States, and Van Wijk's Dictionary 

 of Plant Names, a monumental work on the common names of 



