viii STANDARDIZED PLANT NAMES 



ticable means for bringing the matured results of such scientific 

 research into use in the horticultural trades without damage and 

 by agreement at definite periods. 



The Basis Adopted. For many reasons, not the least of which 

 was convenience in attaching each name to a generally accessible 

 description, the Committee adopted as a general basis the scientific 

 names given in Bailey's Standard Cyclopedia of Horticulture, and 

 whenever the approved scientific name in this work differs from the 

 Cyclopedia name, the latter is given in parentheses followed by 

 the abbreviation ''Cy." Similarly, whenever a name in this work 

 differs from the name applied to the same plant by the 

 Economic Herbarium of the United States Department of Agri- 

 culture, the latter is given in parentheses followed by the ab- 

 breviation "Ag." In certain genera, notably Azalea and Rhododen- 

 dron, the names used at the Arnold Arboretum, where they differ 

 from our usage, are similarly indicated by the Abbreviation ''Ar.'^ 



Disuse of Capital Initials* In regard to two matters of typog- 

 raphy and spelling, the Committee has broken with the prevail- 

 ing practice among botanists, by a large majority vote but not 

 without a vigorous and well-presented opposition by a minority. 

 One of these decisions was to use no capitals in scientific names 

 except for invariably beginning a genus name with a capital. 

 This is a practice which some botanists and some horticulturists 

 have long followed and which is universally followed by Ameri- 

 can zoologists. The rule as to capitalizing species names as fol- 

 lowed, for example, in Bailey's Cj'clopedia and by many botanical 

 authorities seems unnecessarily complicated in its application. The 

 simple rule adopted by the American Joint Committee standard- 

 izes horticultural name typography and is unmistakable in mean- 

 ing and use. 



Double "ii^^ Ending of Species Nanfies Changed to Single "i."* 



*It should be noted in regard to such matters as the capitalizing or the decapitalizing of 

 species names, the retention or omission of the second "i" in second declension genitives (as 

 Thunbergii for thunhergi), and the insertion or omission of hyphens in compound names (as Horse- 

 chestnut, Horsechestnut) , that no serious confusion of meaning is likely to be caused by 

 diversity of usage or lack of standardization in these matters. While the Joint Committee be- 

 lieves the standards adopted in this publication in these matters are convenient, economical, and 

 desirable as trade usages, the one essential purpose of the publication, namely, the stayidardization 

 of the names themselves, will not be affected if some users of the publication choose to adhere 

 to other standards in regard to these less essential details of typography. 



On the other hand, in the case of compound names in which a name properly belonging to 

 one genus is applied in compound to a different genus, like Horsechestnut or Mat- 

 apple, failure to write or print them as compound words, either with a hyphen or "solid," 

 is in many cases likely to cause serious confusion and should be consistently avoided. The 

 committee prefers and prints Mayapple. It makes no serious objection to May-apple. It 

 objects very positively to May Apple, which is apt to mean, for any one not familiar with the 

 plant, that it is a species or variety of the genus ]\Ialus. 



