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Re: gardenwriters Digest, Vol 112, Issue 1 (Need help answering this Query)

As Graham pointed out, there's no need to include the abbreviated names of the botanists who named the plants for general horticultural or gardening purposes.  However, if anyone wants to look up the authorities, Hortus III, the giant reference originally created by Liberty Hyde Bailey and updated by the staff of the LHB Hortorium at Cornell (published by MacMillan in 1976), contains an index of the botanists. You can also look up the names of the authors online at the International Plant Names Index site: http://www.ipni.org/ipni/authorsearchpage.do.

For botanical dictionaries, I would recommend Stearn's Dictionary of Plant Names for Gardeners (William T. Stearn), The Timber Press Dictionary of Plant Names (assorted authors), and the newest of the bunch is The A to Z of Plant Names by Allen J. Coombes.  All these are available from Timber.

David J. Ellis
Editor and Director of Communications
The American Gardener magazine

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Message: 1
Date: Mon, 30 Apr 2012 14:31:40 -0400
From: "Sheri Ann Richerson" <sheriannricherson@exoticgardening.com>
Subject: [GWL] Need help answering this query -

Hi. I received this query from another writer and could use some help answering it. 

"Sheri, I am running into wall after wall trying to define an epithet that is actually part of a genus name. I'm writing an article about fountain grass. The genus name isn't simply Pennisetum but Pennisetum Rich. ex Pers.
I've searched for way too long online, called a library reference desk and contacted botanic gardens (everyone is out, it seems). Do you know what "Rich. ex Pers." means? Also can you recommend a botanical dictionary for my future use? Thanks for any help you can offer."

Please feel free to contact me offline and I appreciate any help anyone can give. Thanks so much!

Sheri Ann Richerson
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