Welcome to Botanary, the Botanical Dictionary

bot.an.ar.y
noun

1. A blended word, derived from the phrase "botanical dictionary".
2. A reference containing an alphabetical list of 18,014 botanical words, with information given for each word, usually including the etymology (i.e., history and/or origin) and pronunciation.

Almost 250 years ago, the Swedish botanist Carl von Linné published Species Plantarum and binomial nomenclature was born. This systematic approach to naming plants (and animals) is still the universally-recognized system used today. While many gardeners struggle with "Latin names" of plants, knowing a plant's botanical name allows you to converse with gardeners all over the world.

Here you can look up a plant name, discover its meaning and find a guide to pronouncing it. But take it from W.T. Stearn, an authority on the subject: "Botanical Latin is essentially a written language .... How they are pronounced really matters little provided they sound pleasant and are understood by all concerned..."

If you were looking for a gardening term (but not necessarily a plant name) try Gardenology, the Dave's Garden knowledge base of gardening terminology.

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