Also included are fruit and nut tree rootstocks, salad mixes, sprouting seeds and starter cultures. Taxonomic nomenclature of families, genera and species follows that of Tanaka and Kunkel, the most recent works on edible plants of the world, as much as possible. Some older names that are used in the trade are retained. Others that have been maintained in the trade for an unreasonable time are rejected. Classification of cultivars is modified after Lewis and Hortus Third.
Cornucopia is intended to be an authoritative reference book as well as a useful tool.
It has been written for gardeners, small-scale and alternative farmers, researchers dealing with new food crops, cooks, economic botanists, genetic preservations, natural foods enthusiasts, nutritionists, those in the specialty and gourmet foods business, and colleges and universities. References have been selected to provide a balance between technical and popular works.