Botanical Nomenclature Names, Nomenclature, and Taxonomy Home page Nomenclature Taxonomy Scientific names Common names Official names Pronunciation Botanical Code Key Provisions Botanical Hierarchy New names Home page Nomenclature Taxonomy Scientific names Common names Official names Pronunciation Botanical Code Key Provisions Botanical Hierarchy New names Home page Nomenclature Taxonomy Scientific names Common names Official names Pronunciation Botanical Code Key Provisions Botanical Hierarchy New names Home page Nomenclature Taxonomy Scientific names Common names Official names Pronunciation Botanical Code Key Provisions Botanical Hierarchy New names Home page Nomenclature Taxonomy Scientific names Common names Official names Pronunciation Botanical Code Key Provisions Botanical Hierarchy New names Home page Nomenclature Taxonomy Scientific names Common names Official names Pronunciation Botanical Code Key Provisions Botanical Hierarchy New names Home page Nomenclature Taxonomy Scientific names Common names Official names Pronunciation Botanical Code Key Provisions Botanical Hierarchy New names Home page Nomenclature Taxonomy Scientific names Common names Official names Pronunciation Botanical Code Key Provisions Botanical Hierarchy New names Nomenclature refers to the naming of things. Scientific names of plants are based on the taxonomic groups to which the plants belong. Common names , at least those that are genuinely common names, usually reflect some conspicuous or valuable characteristic of the plant, not its taxonomic group. Official names are what I call names created by government agencies. Most of those used in the U.S. are a hybrid between common names and scientific names, often the scientific names that were used in the first part of the twentieth century.
Taxonomy refers to forming groups.
So remember, taxonomy first . Common names . Indian ricegrass is an example of a common name. Bluebell' is an example of a common name that means different things to different people. All the species called bluebells have blue, bell-shaped flowers but they are not particularly closely related.