that will make it pre-eminent on the international level and
will cause others to look to it for guidance, information, and
leadership.

A careful consideration of this Code is commended to all and those
interested in the topic are urged to procure a copy of the booklet
giving the unabridged edition and Stearn's excellent historical account
of the subject.

The New Code For the Naming of Cultivated Plants[7]

[7] Reproduced with permission from Journal of the Royal Horticultural
Society, vol. 69, pp. 12-21, 1954.

J. S. L. GILMOUR, _Chairman of the International Committee on
Horticultural Nomenclature and Registration_

Anyone who deals in any way with cultivated plants uses plant names.
This glimpse of the obvious ought to mean that the appearance of a new
Code for the naming of cultivated plants should be a memorable event for
all gardeners. I say "ought to mean" advisedly, because there is no
doubt that, in the past, Codes of Nomenclature have made little appeal
to gardeners, the great majority of whom have been blissfully unaware of
their existence. As a consequence, many horticulturists--on hearing of
"a new Code"--will, no doubt, raise a respectful (or contemptuous)
eyebrow and get on with reading their latest catalogue. The aim of this
article is to persuade readers of the Society's JOURNAL, not only that
this attitude is against their own interests, but that a good deal of
quiet entertainment can be extracted from trying to use plant names
correctly--if only the entertainment of putting their neighbour right!

It is true that, hitherto, there has been ample excuse for ignorance.
Although Codes for the naming of cultivated plants have existed, in some
shape or form, for nearly 100 years, they have been printed in obscure
publications, quite inaccessible to ordinary mortals. This excuse no
longer holds. The full text, plus a summary, of the new Code can be
purchased for one shilling and three pence (post free) from the Society,
and, in addition, reference to it has been made in many horticultural
and other periodicals. What, then, is the new Code about, how does it
affect gardeners, and what should they do about it?

In the first place it is _not_ about the Latin names of wild species or
varieties--names like _Rhododendron ponticum_ and _Aesculus octandra_
var. _vestita_. Whether wild plants are grown in gardens or not, their
Latin names are governed by quite a separate Code, devised by botanists