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Plant Name Database

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Plant name database

Plant name database - you always did want to know what Achillea millefolium is called in Finnish, didn't you? Here's your chance. Delimited textfiles, uploadable into any good spreadsheet or database program. Based on Latin names of plants, giving common names and synonyms in Finnish, Swedish, English, German, and even some French. And Latin synonyms. All in all about 8000 Latin names, meaning about 6000 plants (who says Latin names are always right?)

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Background

I've worked on this ever since I got my PC (about 1989?); before that it lived as textfiles on the Mac which my sister now uses.
It is a very good reference for those strange foreign names - Baldrian? What-the-HeK was that called in Swedish? Finnish? Arrgh. Got this great article but I can't tell my Finnish-only friends which plants it is about ... or my grandma who only speaks German (there's a woman who knows her plants! ... but only in German ... and Latin). So I went thru all my sources and built a database based on Latin names, listing all the more or less esoteric and confusing and double common names, in several of the languages I use.

I haven't been updating the thing very much lately - after getting 2 x 15 kg books in the mail (summer of '95) I've kind of given up on an all-encompassing database of plant names or uses or you-name-it.

But for those of you who aren't that disillusioned yet: additions are always welcome. Email me your delimited textfiles - I'm much obliged.

It's easily expandable. Just add another field to the main table (do I hear Spanish?) and add another table called spansyno.txt... send me those files too: HeK@hetta.pp.fi. Thanks.

On my PC I've also linked the main table to the Genus.db, downloaded from Flora online, which gives all Families gratis as is (making it an easy spellcheck - if you don't get the family popup when you type in a Latin genus you've either got a fern, an olde Latin genus (found in another Flora online table), or you've misspelled the name).

Any of the entries with Genus* Species* having a ':' behind it means it has a new Latin name; this is found in the newlati.txt table (or should be - if you do find mistakes let me know).

Any of the entries with Genus* Species* having a '*' behind it means that the Latin name is used but another Latin name should be used instead (found in the newlati.txt table).

It is made in Paradox (relational database program). You can see which fields are keyed (no double records allowed): the Asterixed ones (*).

All tables are delimited and can be uploaded into any good database or spreadsheet program. All records have fields surrounded by " and ", and separated by comma ','. Every record is on its own line.

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The tables

You can download them all by FTP from sunsite.unc.edu or from sunsite.sut.ac.jp. Go to the directories (to see file size, dates, etc.) here: sunsite.unc.edu or here: sunsite.sut.ac.jp

Main table: Latin and common plant names - planname.txt

FTP sunsite.unc.edu / sunsite.sut.ac.jp
Fields: Genus* Species* Swedish Finnish German English French

Latin synonyms - newlati.txt

FTP sunsite.unc.edu / sunsite.sut.ac.jp
Fields: Genus-old* Species-old* Genus* Species*

English synonyms - englsyno.txt

FTP sunsite.unc.edu / sunsite.sut.ac.jp
Fields: Genus* Species* Engl.syn*

German synonyms - germsyno.txt

FTP sunsite.unc.edu / sunsite.sut.ac.jp
Fields: Genus* Species* Germ.syn*

French synonyms - fransyno.txt

FTP sunsite.unc.edu / sunsite.sut.ac.jp
Fields: Genus* Species* Fran.syn*
There's one caveat with these French names: one of the special characters translates into '"' (tehehe again).

Finnish synonyms - finnsyno.txt

FTP sunsite.unc.edu / sunsite.sut.ac.jp
Fields: Genus* Species* Finn.syn*

Swedish synonyms - swedsyno.txt

FTP sunsite.unc.edu / sunsite.sut.ac.jp
Fields: Genus* Species* Swed.syn*

Copyright Henriette Kress. Commercial use prohibited - but of course you can make me an offer.

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Email any comments to HeK@hetta.pp.fi - Page last updated 19May97.