Naming herbicides Home gardeners often find the names of weed-killing materials confusing. Chemical name is a long, usually difficult name that describes the chemical structure of the material. This name is found in small print somewhere on the container label. Trade name is a name given to the chemical by the major producer or marketer. In many cases the trade name is better known than the common name.
Most materials have only one trade name, although a few have more.
For example, sethoxydim can be found under the trade names Poast, Vantage, Checkmate or Expand. Bensulide might be found as Betasan, Prefar or Presan. Some have only one dominant trade name, such as trifluralin, which is sold primarily as Treflan. Common name is a chemical shorthand that may or may not be given on the label. Brand name is often the name given by the packaging company.