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About Selected Links to Plant Info & Images
What's included
Searchers are often astounded at the amount of information found on the Internet. However, finding specific and reliable information can be more of a challenge. Because we routinely help searchers find this information and have built up expertise on evaluating this information, Plant Information Online now offers searchers some expert guidance on where to find useful electronic information and illustrations on plants. As this is a new section of our site, information and links are added as found and are added routinely, although it will take some time to approach the level of coverage that has been slowly developed in the other sections of our online service. Currently there are links to selected sites for 12015 different plants.
One of the realities of the plant world is its great diversity. The environments in which plants are grown are nearly as varied. We have expanded the largest listing of cultivated North American plants to include links to information and images for a variety of plants and for specific growing conditions and regions.
Search tips
Information is linked to the scientific name as in the other sections of the site. Search strategies might include searching for basic, broad information such as genus (Hosta or Rosa) instead of the very specific Hosta ‘Blue Umbrella’ or Rosa ‘Peace’. A search for genus and species (Acer griseum) will often yield more than a very narrow cultivar search (Acer ‘Autumn Fantasy’) but might be more useful than a very broad search for Acer (maple).
Information on plants like Saintpaulia or various orchids that are commonly grown indoors might transcend growing conditions; useful information would be relevant no matter which region it is listed under.
Check out more Plant Information Online search tips.
Plant names
As some plants cannot be distinguished from their close relatives by scientific name, they have been assigned an additional key letter to follow the genus and/or species. For example, broccoli is listed as Brassica oleracea (b), cauliflower as Brassica oleracea (f); green beans are listed as Phaseolus (g) and yellow beans as Phaseolus (y), etc. Search by common name to find the key letters to use.
Names of some closely related varieties have been combined when they are part of a named series or range. For example, Petunia ‘Pink Cascade’ and Petunia ‘White Cascade’ will both be found under Petunia ‘Cascade Hybrids.’ For more information on plant names, try the following sites:
Botanary section of Dave's Garden
Dictionary of Botanical Epithets
Glossary of Roots of Botanical Names
A Guide to Botanical Nomenclature: A Tennessee Tutorial
Information Sheet on Plant Names (Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew; pdf)
International Code of Botanical Nomenclature
The Naming of Plants (Royal Horticultural Society)
Plant Names: A Basic Introduction (Australia’s Virtual Herbarium)
Who's In A Name? (short series of biographical essays by Larry Blakely)
History
The Selected Links to Plant Info & Images section was recently developed and is available for the first time as part of the newly designed and freely available Plant Information Online site. The staff of Andersen Horticultural Library (University of Minnesota Libraries, located at the Minnesota Landscape Arboretum) is busy expanding this section as quickly as possible.
