anAurora Garden Page: Plant Names

	The International Plant Names Index (IPNI) is a database of the names and associated basic bibliographical details of all seed plants, ferns and fern allies. Its goal is to eliminate the need for repeated reference to primary sources for basic bibliographic information about plant names.
The names of plants can be very confusing as well as difficult to pronounce. But there are good reasons for this. All plants have two names. One is a scientific name very often Latin and also a common English name.
The problem with a common name is that the same plant will have many different names depending on which part of the country you are in. Because of this plants are given a Latin name and put into different groups and families depending on their botanical similarities such as flower type or leaf type. These names are now universal, and so two people talking about Picea Sitchensis in different parts of the world will both be referring to Sitka Spruce trees. Plants are further divided into families. Genus, Species, Variety and Hybrids
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