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More... The number of names and different combinations of plant names published by taxonomists over the centuries has become very large, and the journals or other publications in which names are printed number several thousand. Fortunately published names are all recorded and are now databased by dedicated teams of name-keepers. The major databases were until recently subscription only, but 2 are now online and free, the database of Plant Names from IPNI and TROPICOS from Missouri Botanical Garden. Most importantly of all, they are constantly updated. These databases concentrate on scientific names. Cultivar names and local names are covered in more depth in the works mentioned below. The main difference between these 2 major databases is in their coverage of synonyms. The IPNI database is very thorough in its comprehensive inclusion of practically all published names and nomenclatural synonyms, but does not include modern taxonomic synonyms, merely those that had been included, rightly or wrongly, in the old Index Kewensis, without any authority or citation, eg for Bambusa reticulata, ‘Notes: =Phyllostachys bambusoides’. The TROPICOS database includes many taxonomic synonyms, giving the actual authority and publication in which the synonymy has been suggested. Including all taxonomic synonymy is obviously a very large undertaking, and the selection of which synonymy to include is a difficult choice. As the full synonymy of bamboo names can be very complex and somewhat controversial, the 2 major on-line databases themselves, comprehensive as they currently are, are not sufficient. A database of grass synonyms is under development at Kew, but at time of writing this is not on-line, and involves downloading and running the problematic MS Access database independently. Fortunately names for bamboos have also been slowly and comprehensively organized according to the most widely accepted classification systems around the world, including the currently recognized genera and the modern synonymy accepted in the countries of origin. This considerable undertaking has been compiled into a recent book, Ohrnberger (1999) The Bamboos of the World. This wonderfully comprehensive and thorough book is of course essentially just the names, very fully documented, with brief information such as distribution from the original descriptions, and it has no detailed descriptions or illustrations of the bamboos, and it is not cheap. A very much simpler but quite useful outline list of bamboo synonyms is available from Wim Masman, although it has not been updated since 1995. This does not give an indication of where the synonymy was found, or which synonyms are currently accepted however. A very interesting alternative is the Multi-lingual Multi-script Plant Names bamboo database maintained by Michel Porcher in Australia. This database is the only one to concentrate on local names. Scientific names are also being steadily incorporated in more depth. These 4 online databases, when used together and cross-checked, can provide a reasonably functional solution, but Ohrnberger’s book is still a very good investment for any serious study of scientific names in the bamboos.
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