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Forestry 1951 24(1):57-63;
© 1951 by Institute of Chartered Foresters
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ENGLISH TREE NAMES AND THEIR ORIGINS

H. L. EDLIN

Considerable confusion exists in English forest and timber-trade literature because the same English names are applied to various trees and timbers which, botanically, are quite distinct. This situation arises because, during the past 400 years, English-speaking peoples have been introduced—through exploration, overseas settlement, and international trade—to far more trees than their language has root-words to describe. Some names are derived from Anglo-Saxon roots, others from foreign languages, and others are comparatively recent combinations of existing English words. A list of standard names for commercial timbers has been issued by the British Standards Institution, and a similar list, for both trees and timbers, by the American Joint Committee on Horticultural Nomenclature. Neither list is entirely suited to the needs of foresters in all the English-speaking countries, and it appears unlikely that international conformity will ever be attained. Nevertheless, it is considered desirable that each timber-tree should have a ‘standard forest name’ in English, quite distinct from its scientific name in Latin.

Received 1 December 1949.
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