विश्व वानस्पतिक शब्दकोश- World Botanical Dictionary (Phytoetymology of 75,000 Names of Plant Families, Genera and Species) Set of 5 Volumes

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This book provides a complete account of description of all botanical terms which are used in morphological characterization, classification and nomenclature of plants. It also contains origin of plant names including Genus and Species names with their meanings in both English and Hindi with proper pronunciations. It contains phytoetymology of 651 plant family names (origin of 178 families of Bryophytes, 48 families of Pteridophytes, 12 families of Gymnosperms, 413 families of Angiosperms) with 25,000 out of 33,892 Genus names and 50,000 out of 1,87,855 species names (Vol. I-V). The book will be beneficial for the botanists, taxonomists, researchers and student community of all over the world.

Dr. Acharya Balkrishna (D. Litt), Vice-Chancellor at the University of Patanjali, Haridwar, is a highly ascetic entrepreneur with a diverse personality, who is a specialist in Yoga, Ayurveda, Sanskrit language, Indian sacred books, and the Vedas. Acharya Balkrishna has become a significant source of inspiration for Traditional Medicinal Practitioners and a globally recognized celebrity after dedicating his life to the resurrection of ancient healing and living practices. His maverick leadership as Chairman and MD of Patanjali Ayurveda, as well as his unwavering efforts in Yoga and Ayurvedic scientific research have earned him well-deserved accolades such as Ayurveda Expert', 'Manav Ratan', 'Bharat Gaurav', Ten Versatile and Dynamic Young Men of India', and 'UNSDG 10 Most Influential People in Healthcare Award' to name a few.

He is widely known as highly respected herbal specialist for health and nutrition, owing to his early interest in plants. For the research of novel herbal medication formulations, he looked into four rare plants: 'Sanjeevani', 'Soma', 'Swarnakhiri', 'Swarnadraka', and endangered 'Astavavarga Plants'. He is now working on the development of a Patanjali herbal garden and herbarium as well as the production of 'World Herbal Encyclopedia', 'Wealth of Food Crops', and the identification of rare herbs and vegetation survey of India.

He has authored and edited over 150 books mainly on Yoga, Ayurveda, Scriptures, and Agricultural. He has to his credit about 130 research articles published in reputed national and international journals as well as 41 patent rights reserved. Because of his great faith and expertise in natural therapy methods, more than 1.5 million patients with a range of recalcitrant, chronic, and non-communicable diseases have been effectively cured. He has established Patanjali Ayurveda College and Patanjali University with the humanitarian goal of assisting youngsters in achieving their goals and serving the country. He has also worked on several other government and non-government projects.

As Carl Linnaeus has said, "Nomina si nescis, perit et cognitio rerum" If you know not the names of things, the knowledge of things themselves perishes. Etymology not only enhances our understanding of any native language, but also gives us insights into its shared roots with other languages. The origin and meaning of plant names are an important part in understanding the flora. The etymologist looks for the "root" of the word that is the inner core which expresses its fundamental or "radical" concept. It is important because by knowing it you can become a better wordsmith. If you understand where your words came from, you understand them better and may be able to sue them more effectively, precisely and beautifully. Phytoetymology is the study of plant etymology with true meaning and origin of the word. It originates on the basis of morphological characters of the plants, in the honour of a scientist or a person, special features, place of discovery and combination of Greek and Latin words, with a genus similarity or based on vernacular names etc.

The book "WORLD BOTANICAL DICTIONARY"presented detailed account of phytoetymology of species epithets of Bryophytes, Pteridophytes, Gymnosperms and Angiosperms. One of the most important features of this book is the origin of generic names and specific names given in English and Hindi along with their pronunciation and authentic references. At present, there is no such book available that contains detailed account of the origin of family names, genus and species names which are used for nomenclature of Bryophytes, Pteridophytes, Gymnosperms and Angiosperms according to the International Code of Nomenclature for algae, fungi, and plants (ICN).

I would like to express my great appreciation to Param Pujya Swami Ramdev ji for his spiritual and constructive suggestions. I record my deep sense of blessing to Dr. Anupam Srivastava, HOD, PHRD for editing the final manuscript and leading the team of scientists. My good wishes to Dr. Uday Bhan Prajapati, who aided in the compilation and management of voluminous data by virtue of indigenously developed software.

I hope this book will provide beneficial information for the botanists, taxonomists, researchers and students. Various people who live in close contact with the plant world, either for their professional interests or for their love for nature and environment will get benefitted by this work which will be a source of information, fascination and delight for a long time.

The custom of naming of plants is as old as the human civilization itself. Vedic literature contains various Sanskrit names of plants in different verses. The old Greek, Latin and Chinese books likewise depicted many plants and named them according to their uses. In modern times, scientific nomenclature of plants has been proposed by different scientists and pioneer among them is Linnaeus who devised binomial nomenclature in his book namely Philosophia Botanica (1751) written in Latin. It was accepted worldwide as a fundamental chronicle for scientific names of plants. However, there is a dearth of any scientific publications which present the paramount basis for the binomial nomenclature. This 'World Botanical Dictionary' ,in five volumes provides all botanical terms which are used for morphological description of plants. The dictionary entails the etymological origin. (phytoetymology) of all plant names along with their meanings in English and Hindi, presented with proper pronunciations. This dictionary also includes a detailed account of phytoetymology of family, genus and species names of Bryophytes, Pteridophytes, Gymnosperm and Angiosperms. It will be beneficial to botanists, taxonomists, researchers and student community all over the world. Shradheya Acharya Balkrishna Ji and his team of scientists have done applaudable work in bringing out this dictionary which will serve as a reference book and awareness manual for the botanists, taxonomists and researchers.

In India, the study of taxonomical rank classification and naming of plants in Sanskrit language is much older than that of the Latin and Greek languages wherein the study dates back to the Vedic period from 2500 BC to 600 BC. During this era, the plants were identified on the basis of their morphological characteristics and pharmacological properties. In Rigveda, three groups of plants have been recognized viz. tree (Vrksa), herbs (Osddhi) and creepers (Virudha). In Atharvaveda (about 1500 BC) and Caraka Samhita (1st century AD), various medicinal plants were also described on the basis of morphological characteristics. Apart from its perfect syntax, Sanskrit has the flavour of representing in a symbol and has its roots present in almost all diversified Indian languages such as Hindi, Urdu, Malayalam, Tamil and Telugu, etc. (Lucas, 2008). Extensive compilation and classification of plants in Latin names have been compared with Sanskrit names and other Indian languages.

Botanical nomenclature is the scientific naming of plants based on Latin. It is related to, but distinct from taxonomy. Plants are named according to the rules and recommendations that are set out in two Codes of nomenclature, ie, 1. International Code of Nomenclature for algae, fungi, and plants (ICN), previously ICBN; 2. The International Code of Nomenclature for Cultivated Plants. It is the responsibility of the taxonomists to create scientific names, to link these to specimens in herbaria and to describe their features in a way that will distinguish them from all the plants named in past. Plant identification is the process of establishing a recognized name for a particular plant or specimen, wherein the basic unit of scientific naming is the plant species. The scientific name for species, a binomial, always has two parts, comprising the genus, then the species epithet. The plant names are originally based on the specimens deposited in herbaria. The details of flower and fruit characters are sometimes considered fertile characters, in contrast to vegetative characters of leaf, stem, root and general plant form.

The term 'etymology' is derived from the Greek word 'etumos', meaning "true, real, actual', which is cognate with Sanskrit satyah (truth) and logos meaning 'discourse, study' i.e. etymology is the study and search for the true meanings of words and word-forms. It deals with the study of the class in words and the way in which their meanings have changed with time. Etymology not only enhances our understanding of any native language, but also gives us insights into its shared roots with other languages. Since the last few years, the etymology of botanical names as a part of floras has become a popular subject of study. The quantum of books on the literature of etymology has increased greatly in the past decades. The origin and meaning of plant names plays an important part in understanding the flora. This knowledge helps one to remember the plant and learn more about a plant. The etymology of plant names is a rich store of historical interest and conceals many facets of humanity.

Book's Contents and Sample Pages