Book excerpt: This comprehensive overview of plant names includes over 12,500 terms covering 298 families, 2,787 genera and 9,427 species which are listed in the alphabetical order of their botanical names. In addition, 2,109 of the more common synonyms are given and referred to their current, preferred names. The presentation of the common names in the four languages of this dictionary is unusual in that as many as twelve names in one language are given. There are more than 17,250 English names including over 3,000 North American and 775 from Australia and New Zealand, whilst the nearly 400 Québecois and a sprinkling of West African and Mauritian names are included among the 13,300 French. More than 13,000 German and 8,600 Italian names are presented. This dictionary will be of value to translators of scientific and general literature; scientific and botanical authors; environmentalists and ecologists; and scientific and lay readers of foreign literature.