6 
of selection and standardization for general use. Many plants 
have more than one Malay, Tamil or Chinese name and one must 
decide not merely which is the commonest hut which is the most 
« 
appropriate, and one must also consider the vernacular names 
which the plant may have in other countries, whether for 
instance it would not be better for us to adopt their names ar . 
Queensland Arrowroot for Canna edulis which -%lays call Ganyong* 
/ v 
Several common names, which are applied to a great many un¬ 
related plants must also be coupled with some distinctive 
epithet, thus the names Pi sang, Puding, Merlimau and Chempaka 
correspond with the miscellaneous English names like Spinach, 
Bean, Yam and Rose. I will mention a few instances in which 
this selective work has been done, to the great benefit of 
all persons who may be scrncerned. There is firstly the 
Forest Department's list of preferred Malay Names for the timber 
• • * - 
trees of the country* Then there are the English, Malay, Tamil 
and Chinese names of vegetables in the Department of Agriculture's 
recent book on Vegetable Growing in Malaya* And there are 
the English and Malay names of common trees and shrubs in the 
book on Wayside Trees of Malaya- issued from the Botanical 
Gardens* Recently the problem has received a war-time value 
because Food Supply Officers in fixing the prices of vegetables, 
fruits and so on, have to publish lists of vernacular names 
and thus help to standardise their use. In Singapore we 
M 
have lis-ts of Chinese names for vegetables, with their English 
equivalents, published in the markets. How important is 
this problem of the uniform application of popular names in 
all matters concerning plants can be realised from the list 
issued about twelve years ago in England of the preferred 
* 
i 
popular names for plant-diseases in the British Empire, suc 1 ^ 
