Learn more about how the Cal Poly Humboldt Library can help
support your research and learning needs.

Stay updated at Campus Ready.

Skip to Main Content

Botany Research Guide

Dictionaries & Encyclopedias

  • Cambridge Illustrated Dictionary of Botanical Terms (Hickey and King) 2000 (ref QK 10 H53 2000)
  • Collegiate Dictionary of Botany (Swartz) 1971 (ref QK 9 S88 971)
  • Concise Oxford Dictionary of Botany (Allaby) 1992 (ref QK 9 C67 1992)
  • Dictionary of Botany (Usher) 1966 (ref QK 9 U8 1966)
  • Dictionary of Botany (Little & Jones) 1980 (ref QK 9 L735)
  • Encyclopedia of Plant Pathology (Maloy and Murray) 2002 (ref SB 728 E53 2001) Two volumes
  • Facts on File Dictionary of Botany (Blackmore & Tootill) 1984 (ref QK 9 F33 1984)
  • Longman Illustrated Dictionary of Botany (Sugden) 1984 (ref QK 9 S84 1984)
  • Penguin Dictionary of Plant Sciences (Bailey) 1999 (ref QK 9 P465 1999)

Taxonomy: Nomenclature

  • CRC World Dictionary of Plant Names: Common Names, Scientific Names, Eponyms, Synomyms, and Etymology (Quattrocchi) 2000 (red QK13 Q38 2000) (4 volumes) Includes annotations for more than 22,500 genera and 200,000 species of plants.
  • Dictionary of Plant Names (Coombes) 1985 (ref QK 0 C66 1985) Includes pronunciation, derivation and meaning of botanical names and common name equivalents
  • Geography through Botany: a Dictionary of Plant Names with Geographical Meaning (Kunkel) 1990 (ref QK 96 K85 1990)
  • Scientific and Common Names of 7,000 Vascular Plants in the United States (Brako, Rossman and Farr) 1995 (ref QK 96 B68 1995) In four sections--list of scientific names in alphabetical order with associated species and common names; list of common names followed by scientific name; list of important synomyns of scientific names; and list of genera of included plants arranged by plant family.
  • Taxonomic Terminology of the Higher Plants (Featherly) 1973 (ref QK 9 F4 1973)

Taxonomy: Literature

  • B-P-H: Botanico-Periodicum-Huntianum (Lawrence) 1968 (ref QK 45 H85) Comprehensive compilation of botanical periodical and serial titles, including standard abbreviation and other bibliographic information.
  • Taxonomic Literature: a Selective Guide to Botanical Publications and Collections with Dates, Commentaries and Types (Stafleu and Cowan) 1976-1988 (ref QK 97 S72 1976) (7 volumes) Major guide to taxonomic literature. Arranged alphabetically by author, with name and title indexes. Each entry includes brief biographical information, herbaria where collections are held, bibliography of works about the author, and an annotated list of the author's important contributions in plant taxonomy.

Taxonomy: Floras

  • Guide to the Standard Floras of the World (Frodin) 2001 (ref QK 45.2 F76 2001) Selective annotated bibliography of the principal floras and related works of inventory of vascular plants.
  • Floras of North America (Smith) (ref QK 110 S67 2003 (HSU Herbarium Miscellaneous publication # 5) Bibliography of floras, manuals, checklists, atlases and photographic guides whose primary focus is to assist in the identification North American vascular plants. Arranged in two sections: 1) floras by geographic unit--country, region and province or state; and 2) entries by plant group or use.

Taxonomy: Databases

Vegetation Maps: Indexes and Guides

  • Index to Plant Distribution Maps in North American Periodicals through 1972 (Phillips and Stuckey) 1976 (ref QK 101 P45) Arranged alphabetically by species.
  • Index Holmienis (Swedish Museum of Natural History) 1969- (ref QK 11 T73) Multi-volume work still in production that indexes vascular plant distribution maps--local, regional or world-wide--appearing in published scientific literature. Includes plant taxa from family level and below, but mainly at the species level
  • International Bibliography of Vegetation Maps (Kuchler) 1965-1980 (ref QK 101 K83 and ref QK 101 K84) Series of 5 geographically arranged volumes giving sources, scale, and legend for each included map.

Vegetation Maps: Atlases and Maps

Literature Guides

Images

Directories

  • International Directory of Botanical Gardens (Heywood) 1990 (ref QK 71 I57 1990)