List of plant genus names (A–C)

Since the first printing of Carl Linnaeus's Species Plantarum in 1753, plant species have been assigned one epithet (name) for the species and one for their genus (a grouping of related species).[1] Many of these genera (genuses) are listed in Stearn's Dictionary of Plant Names for Gardeners. William Stearn (1911–2001) was one of the pre-eminent British botanists of the 20th century: a Librarian of the Royal Horticultural Society, a president of the Linnean Society and the original drafter of the International Code of Nomenclature for Cultivated Plants.[2][3]

Canistrum (from the Greek for "basket")

The first column below lists vascular plant genera from Stearn's Dictionary, excluding those names that no longer appear in more modern works, such as Plants of the World by Maarten J. M. Christenhusz (lead author), Michael F. Fay and Mark W. Chase.[4] Plants of the World is also used for the family and order classification for each genus. The second column gives either a meaning or the derivation of the word, such as a namesake or a language of origin. The last two columns indicate citations to The A to Z of Plant Names by Allen Coombes and The Names of Plants by David Gledhill.[5][6] The four-volume CRC World Dictionary of Plant Names by Umberto Quattrocchi is also a source for almost every genus in the table, except as noted.