Plants pages

Contents: Add new plant, Synonyms, autosynonyms and common names, Hybrid plant names, Checking plant names, RHS check, POWO check

From the Plant List, click on a plant name to view details about an individual plant.

This will bring you to the plant Names tab, which is where you can view the plant name, together with any synonyms and common names.

Notice the tabs just above the horizontal black line.

Notes will take you to notes about the plant

Pictures and Files will take you to pictures and files about the plant.

Add a new plant

To add a new plant, click on the Action menu at the top right-hand side of your screen and select Add new plant. Alternatively, you can use the keyboard shortcut CTRL P.

A new page will now open containing all the possible fields you need to create a plant name.

Just type the parts of the plant name into the correct fields and the rest will be done for you.

Notice how, as you type, that the plant name appears at the top of your screen correctly formatted. Persephone auto-formats names and it will also auto-correct simple errors, such as using an uppercase letter, instead of a lowercase one, at the start of a species.

When you have finished adding the plant name, click save. This will close the plant form, but you can re-open it by clicking on the + sign at the right-hand side of the plant name bar. To open all the forms on the page, click + Expand all.

Note that the first name you add will be your Displayed Plant Name and this will be indicated by a tick in the Display checkbox at the bottom of the form. This should always be the name that, in your view, is the correct name for the plant.

To delete a plant name, click on the Action menu and select Delete.

Notes:

The Subgenus field is not included in the default list of plant name fields, but can be enabled via Customisation>Plant Name Form.

To place a species at the end of a plant name, as in Astilbe ‘Alive and Kicking’ (chinensis), enter (chinensis) in the species field.

sp. (denoting an unidentified or as-yet-to-be-named species) can be added to the species field and will format in plain text eg. Quercus sp.

aff. (denoting similarity to a named species) can be put before a named species in the species field and will format in plain text eg. Sorbus aff. glabrescens

hort. (denoting 'of horticulture') can be added where appropriate and will format in plain text eg. Pieris yakushimensis hort. 'Cupido'

It should be possible to format almost any plant name using the available fields, but if not, you can use the freehand box. In this case you can italicise any word in the plant name by placing it in between curly brackets ie. {Rosa} will format as Rosa.

Synonyms, Auto-synonyms & Common Names

Many plant names have synonyms. These are frequently identified when using Persephone’s Plant name check facility and can be added automatically.

To manually add synonyms, scroll down to the Synonyms section and click (+ Name). Complete the form as before and save the synonym.

If you later decide to use any of the recorded synonyms as your display name, simply click Set as Display. This will move the synonym to the display name and your original display name to a synonym.

To delete a synonym, click on Delete at the bottom of the Synonym form.

To add a Common Name, scroll down to the Common Names section and click (+ Common Name). Fill in common name and Save.

You can also add an Auto Synonym to your record by clicking + Autosynonym: use this when you would repeatedly have to add a synonym to your records, eg. Aster divaricatus is a synonym for all Eurybia divaricata. You will first need to set up ‘rules’ for generating auto-synonyms and you can do this through Customisation.

Adding hybrid plant names

To create a hybrid plant name, you will first need to turn on this function in Customisation. On Customise Plant Notes -> Core Fields, check Hybrid and Not in Collection. Watch this short video for an overview of how to create a hybrid plant name.

To create the name of a hybrid plant from its parents, start by clicking Add a New Plant, fill in the Genus name and Save.

If you know which parent contributed the seed and which the pollen choose Seed/Pollen. If not, choose Parent 1/Parent 2.

To select a name that you have already recorded, simply start typing in the blank parent field until the name comes up, then select and save. If the parent name is not in your collection, you will need to add it first, via the ADD button.

Now return to the plant Names page and you will see a hybrid name checkbox.

Tick this checkbox and you will see the displayed names of both parents, with the hybrid name correctly formatted at the top of the page and click save. Note that if you subsequently change the name of either or both of the parent plants, the hybrid name will update accordingly.

If you have run a Plant name check on the names of the parent plants and you have filled up the preferred RHS or POWO names for your plant, you will also have the option of choosing the preferred RHS or POWO name to create the hybrid name. This means that your hybrid name will always follow the RHS or POWO preferred name for the parent plants, even when that name is updated.

Checking plant names

To check plant names against other Plant Databases, this feature will need to be turned on, using Customisation.

To search the RHS Find a Plant or Plants of the World Online (POWO), open the Horticultural Databases bar and click on Check next to the RHS or POWO icon respectively.

Alternatively, click on the large formatted plant name at the top of the page, to run both checks simultaneously.

Note that POWO only includes plants of wild origin. There is no need to check POWO if your plant name does not include a species.

RHS Find a Plant

When you click Check, Persephone will search the online RHS Plant Search and return one or more results.

In the case that the RHS preferred name for the plant exactly matches your display name for all the main plant name fields, the name will appear highlighted green. If the plant has an AGM, this will be indicated with a tick.

Click on Select (As Display). Persephone will then tick the RHS checkbox on the plant form (indicating that the plant names agree) and fill in the RHS Unique Plant ID, Status and the number of entries in the current online RHS Plant Finder into the RHS sub-form. If the plant has an AGM that was not included in your original display name, this will be added.

Make sure to look carefully at the result of the search. Notice whether there is any additional information in your displayed plant name (such as a Classification or Trade Series) that is not in the RHS name - you might want to check elsewhere to see whether your information is correct.

The search may also return one or more synonyms. If you wish to add these to your record, click Add as Synonym. Persephone will open a new synonym form and fill in the details.

In the case that the RHS has an exact match for your display name but regards this name as a synonym of another name, the RHS preferred plant name will be highlighted blue, with your display name highlighted pink.

You now have two options:

1. To change your display name to agree with the RHS preferred name, click on Select (make display). This will replace your original display name with the RHS name, tick the RHS box, fill in the RHS unique ID number etc. and create your original display name as a synonym.

2. Alternatively, if you wish to stick with your original display name, you can add the RHS name as a synonym. Click on Select (as synonym). This will open a new synonym form, add the preferred RHS name to the form and tick its RHS checkbox.

In the case that the RHS preferred name includes information that is absent from your displayed plant name (such as sex or the species in a cultivar name) the RHS preferred name will be shown against a white background the choice of Select (Make Display) or Select (As Synonym)

To add the japonica and (f) to your displayed plant name, click Select (Make Display). To leave your display name as it was and add the RHS preferred name as a synonym, click Select (As Synonym).

In the case that the RHS has a near match for your display name, the search may return one or more similar names, with the nearest match at the top. To move the closest RHS name to your display name, click on Select (make display). Alternatively, to add it as a synonym, click on Select (as synonym).

If the search returns 0 results, this may be because your plant is not listed in the RHS Plant Search, or it could be because of a difference in spelling, or the presence/absence of apostrophes, hyphens or accents. In this case, Go to RHS database and search again, using fewer search terms or parts of a word. An alternative approach is to use a general search engine (such as Google) to search the plant name, to see if there is an alternative spelling and then search RHS Find a Plant again.

If you find the name on the RHS database, you can then either change your name to the RHS name and re-run the checks, or you can add the RHS name as a synonym. In this case you can, if you want, complete the RHS sub-form manually - please ask the Persephone team for further guidance on how to do this.

Check Plants of the World Online (POWO)

When you click ‘Check’, Persephone will search POWO and return one or more results.

In the case that POWO has an exact match for your display name, the name will appear highlighted green. Click on Select (as display). Persephone will then tick the POWO checkbox on the plant form (indicating that the plant names agree) and fill in the POWO Unique Plant ID and Status. It will also add in the Authority for your plant name.

In the case that POWO has an exact match for your display name but regards this name as a synonym of another name, the POWO preferred plant name will be highlighted blue, with your display name highlighted pink. You now have two options:

1. To change your display name to agree with POWO, click on Select (make display). This will replace your original display name with the POWO name, tick the POWO box, add the authority to your plant name and create your original display name as a synonym.

2. Alternatively, if you wish to stick with your original display name, you can add the POWO name as a synonym. Click on Select (as Synonym). This will open a new synonym form, add the preferred POWO name to the form and tick its POWO checkbox. You can also choose to copy the authority for displayed name.

In the case that the search returns 0 results, this may be because your plant is not listed on POWO, or it could be because of a difference in spelling. In this case, Go to POWO database and search again, using fewer search terms or parts of a word. An alternative approach is to use a general search engine (such as Google) to search the plant name, to see if there is an alternative spelling and then search POWO again.

We gratefully acknowledge the use of the POWO (2023) API: Plants of the World Online. Facilitated by the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. Published on the Internet; http://www.plantsoftheworldonline.org/