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common names and botanical names
For a discussion about common names and botantical names and trade names and some of the problems associated with wood names in general, see
discussion of wood names

I have compiled, from a number of sources on the internet, a list of common names and botanical names. I make no representation as to the accuracy of this information and although extensive, it is incomplete. I'm updating it as I find omissions.

It is 300 Kbytes in size, so I just want to warn you that if you are using a modem connection, it will take a while to load.

One of the main sources for this list was a list that contained what were clearly the names of commercial products, not wood species. I have removed many hundreds of such entries but there may be a few left in the list.

Botanical names are of the form "Genus epithet" where the Genus is the name of what could be a group of species, or it may contain only one species, and the epithet is the specification of a particular species within that genus. The "Genus epithet" PAIR are the name of a species, so it is not correct to say that botanical names are of the form "Genus species" meaning that the second word is the species name. Both words TOGETHER are the name of a species.

So, for example, Quercus rubra is the species which is commonly called "red oak". Genera belong to families and the family for the genus Quercus is Fagaceae.

Genus spp. is used to designate a group of more than one species all in the same genus. "spp." means species (plural)

Genus sp. mean that only a single species is being designated but it is uncertain WHICH species and only the genus is known. "sp." means species (singlular, even though it has the same spelling --- the word "specie" has to do with money, not botany.)

If you are really interested in wood taxonomy, I suggest you visit the web site of the International Wood Collectors Society. There's a link in my links section back off the main page of this web site.

You can get the list by clicking here:

NAMES