Help on searching the Standards Database
For those needed guidance in searching the site, the following notes should help.
- Searching is not case specific. For example SUSAN, Susan, susan or even SusAN will a find plants whose name includes the word "susan".
- Only one word is necessary to find an entry. In large genera a second word may help to reduce the number of entries found. For example a search for Dianthus will find about 170 entries but Dianthus Ken will find only three.
- The order in which the words are typed is not important. For example typing either Juniperus Alps or Alps Juniperus will find Juniperus chinensis 'Blue Alps'.
- The spelling of the name is important. The search will not know that you are looking for "Carolyn" you type "Carolin".
- Your search will give you information about specimens and images of Standards held in the RHS Herbarium. It does not give you names or addresses of the raisers or introducers of plants, some of whom may be private individuals or may have moved since the specimens was received at Wisley. It does not give the history or parentage of the plant as this is sometimes confidential.
- Your search does give references and often images of the living plant.
- Most importantly, your search will give you information about what material is available in the RHS Herbarium if required for further research.
What the terms mean
Any abbreviations after the botanical (latin) part of the plant name are the author or authority for the plant name. These are recognised abbreviations of the name of the person who published the name for the species. In the case of many hybrids, there may be no species or hybrid name and therefore no authority. In the example: Magnolia acuminata L. 'Koban Dori' "L.", short for Linnaeus is the authority for Magnolia acuminata. However Magnolia 'Caerhays Belle is a hybrid of uncertain parentage so no specific or hybrid name is used and no authority necessary.
"Kind of specimen" indicates what form the Standard takes. It may be an illustration or a preserved specimen, flowering, fruiting or simply in leaf.
"Collection or image date" refers to the date of the Standard when the specimen was made or the image taken. It does not refer to the date of the creation of the cultivar.
"Publication date" is the date when the specimen was designated as a Standard and this information published. Unless the information is published the Standard is not accepted.
"Deposited at" refers to the institution where the Standard is stored. WSY is the internationally recognised code for the RHS Herbarium.
"References" includes sources of further information about the plant.
"Associated material" includes other specimens or illustrations held at Wisley which may be of help in recognising the characters of the plant.