Botanical Latin: History, Grammar, Syntax, Terminology and Vocabulary [Illustrated] [Hardcover]

William T. Stearn (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: May 1, 1995

Botanical Latin is accepted by horticulturists and botanists everywhere as the medium for naming new plants, and botanical research is almost impossible without reference to the vast number of first descriptions in Latin-much information is available in no other language. For gardeners, too, a working knowledge of botanical Latin is essential for the accurate identification of plants in the garden. Now available in paperback, the fourth edition of this internationally renowned handbook summarizes the grammar and syntax of botanical Latin, and covers the origins of Latin and latinized geographical names, color terms, symbols and abbreviations, diagnoses and descriptions, the formation of names and epithets, and much more.

Editorial Reviews

From Library Journal

As Stearn states in his "Apologia" of a preface, "this book aims to provide a working guide to the special kind of Latin internationally used by botanists for the description and naming of plants." First published in 1966, Botanical Latin is the standard work in its field, a bible for botanists and a source of useful and trivial information for avid gardeners, etymologists, classical scholars, and others. The fourth edition has a larger format, "minor emendations" to bibliographies and text, and some 400 entries have been added to the vocabulary. This erudite and comprehensive work is recommended only for academic and specialized botanical and horticultural collections.
- Richard Shotwell, Hancock Shaker Vil lage, Pittsfield, Mass.
Copyright 1993 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Review

Mr. Stearn delivers the History, Grammar, Syntax, Terminology and Vocabulary of botanical Latin with such lively erudition I often find myself foraging through this linguistic hortus botanicus for the pure word-empowering romance of it. -- Patti Hagan "Wall Street Journal" (09/01/1999)

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 560 pages
• Publisher: Timber Press, Incorporated; 4 edition (May 1, 1995)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0881923214
• ISBN-13: 978-0881923216
• Product Dimensions: 9.9 x 7 x 2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 3.5 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #660,693 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

44 of 44 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Essential for botanists, if a little dry, July 7, 2000

By 

Rebecca Yahr (Durham, NC USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Botanical Latin: History, Grammar, Syntax, Terminology and Vocabulary (Hardcover)

Stearn's Botanical Latin is one of those books that every botanist involved with nomenclature and scientific description needs - especially if you never learned Latin in school and even if you did. There's a well-thumbed copy on the shelf in your herbarium, but you'll learn more from having it within arm's reach at all times. His introduction to the history provides the context and background to the elements of traditional nomenclature while the grammar and syntax can get you through the basics of a description. And of course, the vocabulary section is priceless for getting through old literature and descriptions - he provides enough of a skeleton of usage to help you understand the way descriptions are built and Latin terms are used in the botanical field. A typical latin dictionary provides tens of definitions for some words that in botanical Latin only get used one or a few ways, so the terminology section is great for making reading botanical Latin efficient.

60 of 63 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Botanical Latin, June 9, 2003

By 

P. van Rijckevorsel (The Netherlands) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Botanical Latin: History, Grammar, Syntax, Terminology and Vocabulary (Hardcover)

As the quote says: "This book aims to provide a working guide to the special kind of Latin internationally used by botanists for the description and naming of plants." As such it has little or no competition and by itself sets the standard in the field.

Obviously it is not a dictionary, nor is it about plant names. For those wanting to look up current plants and their taxonomic status there is the invaluable "The plant-book" by D.J.Mabberley. For the derivation of botanical names there is "Stearn's dictionary of plant names for gardeners" by this same W.T.Stearn. Another very commendable dictionary (for a related field) is "Composition of Scientific Words" by R.W.Brown.

32 of 32 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Essential for anybody who's serious about plants, November 1, 2000

By 

John Boggan (Washington, DC USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Botanical Latin: History, Grammar, Syntax, Terminology and Vocabulary (Hardcover)

This book is probably on nearly every professional botanist's bookshelf, and is considered THE definitive reference for its subject. But it's also a great reference for anybody who is serious about plants and wants to know what their names mean and how they got them.

This most certainly is a reference book and not light reading. Nonetheless "Botanical Latin" also includes many interesting little tidbits, such as the derivation of Linnaeus's name (Linnaeus was the original name, and not a Latinization of Linné, as often thought). There is much more in this book than just vocabulary and grammar.