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Clematis tangutica
This charming clematis spices is quite different from the large flowered cultivars usually grown in gardens. The small pixie hat flowers make up for their small size by their numbers which appear from June through into autumn when they can be seen with typical feathery clematis seed heads. While not as showy as the large…
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What is a species
The idea of a species is fundamental to gardening and botany, but what is a species? A dictionary will give you a definition but not one which allows you to say this group of plants forms a species, as opposed to say a subspecies. The Cambridge Illustrated Glossary of Botanical Terms describes a species as,…
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Castanea sativa
The Sweet (or Spanish) Chestnut (Castanea sativa Mill.) is probably most know for its edible nuts, traditionally eaten around Christmas time, but in fact it makes a very fine large tree. Clothed in thick glossy leaves, tolerant of a wide range of soil types and relatively free of disease it has been extensively planted through…
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Botany for Gardeners by Brian Capon
The danger with this book is that is title may well put off many potential readers. The vast majority of gardeners do not see themselves as botanist: but spending hours studying the plants they grow, can’t grow and aspire to grow. As a gardener you consider the plants shape, colour, needs development and reproduction; yet…
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Taxonomy
This is the process of classifying things into groups, and in biology placing them within a hieratical system of classification. It is the study of how living things fit into system of how we name them.
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Taxon
(plural taxa) is the individual levels of taxonomic rank. E.g. genus is one taxon and species is a second taxon.
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Family
This is a group of closely related genera and the names should be written in italics (or underlined) and start with a capital letter. The names of plant families should end in the letters –aceae; but some long established names which do not have this ending are still used, all be it with standardised alternatives…
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International Code of Nomenclature for algae, fungi, and plants
The International Code of Nomenclature for algae, fungi, and plants (ICN) is as the title says the set of rules that govern how plants, fungi and algae are named and how the names are arranged into ever broader groups. The last published edition was the Vienna code but it is soon to be replaced by…
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International Code of Nomenclature for Cultivated Plants
The International Code of Nomenclature for Cultivated Plants (ICNCP) lays down a set of rules in an attempt to standardise the way plants produced or selected by humans, as opposed to wild plants, are named. It is in effect a supplement to the International Code of Nomenclature for algae, fungi, and plants (ICN). The first…
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The Cambridge Illustrated Glossary of Botanical Terms by Michael Hickey and Clive King
This may not seem an obvious choice to include in this list and retailing at about £38 for a paperback it is not exactly cheap; but it does plug a very important gap. This book provides an accessible explanation of the often confusing technical terms used to describe plants. These are words used in botanical…
