Definitive spelling of trees and plants

[Lophophaps]

In the last few weeks I have seen several variations of a common alpine tree. I attempted to find a reliable source that has the correct spelling, without success. I found:
snow gum
Snow gum
Snow Gum
snowgum

Can anyone advice me of a reliable definitive source for spelling Australian trees and plants? TIA.

[MickyB]

There are no rules for the spelling of common names for plants. There are rules though for writing the Latin/scientific/botanical name.

[Lophophaps]

Thanks - no wonder I was confused, more than normal that is. This reminds me of the knife fight in Butch Cassidy. "Rules, what rules?" As you can see from my name I write Latin fluently. Spelling, not so good. For example, Ranunculus bulbosus is a buttercup. Or maybe a Buttercup.

[climberman]

I would try Plantnet's index from the Flora of NSW series of reference books.

http://plantnet.rbgsyd.nsw.gov.au/cgi-b ... +gum&dist=

[slparker]

snow gum
Pronunciation of snow gum /ˈsnoʊ gʌm/ (say 'snoh gum)
noun any of several trees of the genus Eucalyptus found growing at high altitudes in Australia, especially E. pauciflora niphophila, a smooth-barked tree with branches streaked with yellow, grey, green, or bronzy-red; white sallee.

Also, ghost gum.
© Macquarie Dictionary Publishers, 2017

[Lophophaps]

See what I mean? Plantnet's index says "Snow Gum" and the MacQuarie says "snow gum". My COD says ... no entry. There's nothing under gum as well.

[highercountry]

snow gum
Pronunciation of snow gum /ˈsnoʊ gʌm/ (say 'snoh gum)
noun any of several trees of the genus Eucalyptus found growing at high altitudes in Australia, especially E. pauciflora niphophila, a smooth-barked tree with branches streaked with yellow, grey, green, or bronzy-red; white sallee.

Haha.
The spelling and pronunciation might be correct but the definition is wrong.
They are naturally distributed all over the place at any altitude below the treeline; Paynesville, Mornington Peninsular, Kyneton and Trentham amongst other locations.

[taswegian]

I've seen both, all, but seems references (here) to generic S G is lower case but if it's Tasmanian S G then all upper, not snow gum as one word.
Eucalyptus coccifera, commonly known as Tasmanian Snow Gum is a shrub or tree to some 10m in height. This species is one of the peppermint family of eucalypts,

Ti Tree, Tea Tree? Gets called by both.

[slparker]

I've seen both, all, but seems references (here) to generic S G is lower case but if it's Tasmanian S G then all upper, not snow gum as one word.
Eucalyptus coccifera, commonly known as Tasmanian Snow Gum is a shrub or tree to some 10m in height. This species is one of the peppermint family of eucalypts,

Ti Tree, Tea Tree? Gets called by both.

Makes sense, if snow gum is used in the sense of a proper noun it gets a capital:

The Tasmanian Snow Gum is a type of snow gum.

[Lophophaps]

This may give some answers
http://www.anbg.gov.au/chah/avh/help/names/index.html

"There is no universally accepted way of writing common names. However, the following is generally recommended:

"For a name used in a general sense covering a group or genus (e.g. bottlebrush, conifer, oak) start with a lower case letter; this also applies to botanical names used in a general sense e.g. banksias, camellias and acacias.

"If one particular species or plant is referred to then we suggest that you use capitals for the first letter of all words, except when there is a hyphen between two words:
River Red Gum;
Lemon-scented Gum"

So it seems to me that the best form of words for the tree is "Snow Gum", two words, capitals on each word. How does that sound?

[peregrinator]

It sounds fine. But at issue is how it reads. Sorry.

The suggestion probably makes sense. Consider though that in the one sentence there may a reference to both a name used in a general sense and a particular species or plant. For example: There are many gums in the area, a few of which are Lemon-scented Gums. That might be interpreted as incorrect usage, given that the same word is both capitalised and uncapitalised. However, I think the distinction between the two classes of what are being described is clear enough. I'm guessing that ANBG would agree.

The same issue occurs in references to other things, as in this example. We saw several robins, including a Scarlet Robin. If I remember correctly, the CSIRO recommends always using lower case for the common names of birds, but I can't find the documentation at the moment.

There's no gums, like Snow Gums, like no gums I know . . .

[slparker]

The snow gum is a common name for any eucalypt found in a dwarf form above the snowline. However, the Snow Gum, Eucalyptus coccifera, is a type of eucalypt with a largely montane habitus and is its own distinct species - not a dwarf form of a lowland gum.

Similarly, Sydney Blue Gum, E. salign, is a type of blue gum found in the Sydney Basin.

[drewmac]

Hi,

Plant names, common names, botanical names......protocols...why do I know? background in horticulture and botany.

Botanical names -
Genus (first part) is always with a capital / species (second part) is always with lower case and in italics.
Latin was used as it is a 'dead' language and considered safe as definitions would not change.
We do create new latinised words to make botanical names when we name a plant after someone.

Botanical name - Eucalyptus saligna

Let's not get into the more complex world of cultivars and sub species.......

Common names -
There is no protocol, they are exactly that, common names and therefore created by whoever came up with a name.
The abng suggestion posted earlier is as good as any I guess.

Common name - Sydney Blue Gum

Common names are a minefield for anyone in botany, why? because a common name in one location can be different to another location for either the same plant or different plants.
It is not scientifically based around plant structure, flowers or reproductive details.

We try to avoid common names, although they exist and get used frequently and are a constant source of challenge in the industry.

Snow Gum is a snow gum is a Snow gum........it just doesn't matter as long as who you are talking too knows what you are describing.

[MickyB]

Botanical names -
Genus (first part) is always with a capital / species (second part) is always with lower case and in italics.

The genus and species should both be in italics or both underlined.

[Mark F]

There is a wondrous book for sorting out this type of question titled the "Style Manual for Authors, Editors and Printers". This is the standard for the Commonwealth public service and handles just about any issue you may have with determining the correct form of words, use of capitals, punctuation and shortened forms of words, numbers and measurements plus a whole lot more.

Looking at my 5th edition I quote:
"4.67 Generic names that have become common names, and English derivatives of generic and other names, are lower cased (and set in roman type). Thus: amoeba herbivores camellia mammal pterodatyl
4.68 The common names of plants and animals are not given initial capitals except where they contain proper names: piping shrike funnel web spider Norfolk Island pine Bathurst burr"
It is also laid out in 4.66 that only genus and species are italicised in botanical and zoological names with the higher levels of classification (Division, Class, Order etc) being given an initial capital and in roman case.

So from these rules: snowgum or snowgum, Tasmanian snow gum.

[north-north-west]

The pedant in me wants to say that the word 'trees' is spelled T.R.E.E.S. and the word 'plants' is spelled P.L.A.N.T.S.

Oh, you meant tree and plant names . . . carry on, chaps.

[Lophophaps]

Mark, I have the Fourth edition, 1988, in use since that year, and the more recent sixth edition, 2002, the 2005 reprint. For some reason it did not occur to me to look this up. Page 131 of the sixth edition has plant and tree information, as well as their names and how to spell them. The sixth edition is the same as your extract, so the form is either "snowgum" or snow gum".

NNW, pedants of the world unite! Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels said this. Don't confuse them with laundry marks and obtuse angles. I have made a subtle edit.

[Biggles]

Definitive and importantly, correct spelling of trees etc is only critical when referencing them by their botanical names because several similar-sounding species can be in the one family e.g. eucalyptus, of which there are quite a few! Botanical references also avoid the very common ambiguity where many trees can be said to be a snowgum, but which are not!