With these books as the background to Parker’s shortened, modern version of a dictionary, we can be confident of his reliability. of a durian ice-cream, but I do have this book, its very useful and interesting, the botanical illustrations are really lovely too. This is a well made book, with beautiful illustrations and belongs on the bookshelf of every serious gardener. He does list genera and species but only in a few short pages at the end of his subject-orientated eight chapters, giving examples relevant to each topic.

This does sound like a handy reference book and I am such a plant geek I would probably read the thing. His carefully chosen alphabetical plant lists are useful once the reader has established the relevant chapter. A struggle to read but broken up nicely by example images, features on naming themes, and features on notable botanists.Aside from the long alphabetical listings of plant names and meanings, I find delightful sidebars that explore some plants in greater detail or that tell of the early botanists and their adventures. Stearn is my botanical hero; so I am glad to see that Parker lists his Botanical Latin (first published in 1966) in his bibliography. I still have much to learn, but plant names are so interesting – not only the Latin words, but also the botanists’ names that are so often used. Its charitable work includes providing expert advice and information, training the next generation of gardeners and promoting the ecological, aesthetic and psychological benefits of gardening in an urban environment.

Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Cathy and WordsAndHerbs with specific direction to the original content.It's important to be exact when using plants in the kitchen and knowing the meanings of the descriptive Latin binomial names is helpful for both herbalist and naturalist. It is rewarding to figure out the meaning of a plant name – it also really helps me to remember plant names! Despite the serious look of these books, the information inside is really accessible and written in understandable language. Actually, most of Latin for Gardeners is a dictionary of epithets – the second or specific names of plants, not the first or genus name. WordsAndHerbs 2011-2023 Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express permission from this blog’s author is strictly prohibited.