Product Description

This reference work explains the grammar and syntax of botanical Latin, and covers the roots and origins of Latin and latinised geographical names, colour terms, symbols and abbreviations, diagnoses and descriptions, and the formation of names and epithets.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #148597 in Books
• Published on: 2004-03-28
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 560 pages

Customer Reviews

More than just a do-it-yourself Latin kit - much more!
The author (bless him) calls this a 'do-it-yourself Latin kit'. It enables you, when you have no Latin, to do a Latin description. OK, it is still quite a job, but at least it becomes possible - and there are many good examples too, from which you can crib. There are bits of Latin grammar, syntax, and how to shape your epithet.
But this book is so much more than that. It is a treasure-trove of information on and about plant names, and after twenty years of using it I am still coming across snippets and facts I should have known - but didn't. Latinization of place names; geographical epithets; ancient colour terms; Greek word elements. And fifty pages on descriptive terminology, which gives you all you need to know, from outlines to shapes to 'polish and texture'.
And then, to top it all, there is the Vocabulary at the end: 170 pages of Latin-English and English-Latin for plant terms and plant names.
This is a wonderful book, erudite but accessible, and above all immensely useful. It was born when during the second World war the author sat in a R.A.F. ambulance for many a day - and to this day, it is still the best of all books to help you with your botanical Latin, and to teach you many a new fact or word besides. Bless him!

Gives concise information on the derivation of plant names.
Basic Latin and Greek is given so that derivations can be understood, a handle to remember some of the complicated sounding names which have been given plants. This helps in the field, to classify finds. Reference books are heavy to carry around!

usefulness
This book helps a lot when it comes to memorise names of plants - the binomial system - as a novice to the Latin I am still getting used to its layout though: I suppose it will come with more use, and with increased understanding of how Latin works, I suppose