Request for Proposal

Supplement Plant Common Names

Update (Feb 28, 2022)
  • Not all words in common name must be capitalized. See Important Notes – 5 –
  • Use singular or plural, depending on the task at hand and the language being used. See Important Notes – 6 –
  • Multiple common names from different regions in the same language can be added. See Tips – 4 –
Overview

We will show users all the names of the given species on the name card and put the most frequent names (Preferred name) first.

An example of a plant name card is shown below. The preferred common name (Golden pothos) is shown at first, then the common name of the genus (Arum), followed by other common names.

Task requirements

1. Please supplement all the Plant common names you can find in your language for the target plant species, and provide your references in the memo box.

2. Please delete the names that you cannot verify and write down the reasons in the comments. If some existing common names are highly repeated (e.g.: only with the difference between dashes and spaces), keep one of the most frequently used, and delete the rest.

3. Please mark the most frequently used name as “Preferred name” and provide links. There can only be ONE preferred name.

4. If there are other names that are also popular (second only to Preferred name), please mark them as “Popular name” and provide your references. There can be more than one popular name.

Some species have only one preferred name, while other names are uncommon, so there can also be 0 popular name.

Attention

1. For Japanese/Korean/Russian, if there is no common name for the target plant species, Please Phonetically Translate its Latin Name (the gray one inside the brackets)

E.g. Sanicula canadensis → サニキュラ・カナデンシス(Japanese)

2. For other languages, if you can not find any common names of some species in your language, please write the Latin name in the box and set it as Preferred. DO NOT make up any name or translate names from another language. All names must be available on the internet.

In this case, you can either use a mock reference indicating there’s no common name (such as https://no.common.name) or use a reference link pointing to its scientific name.

Important Notes

1. Need to provide reference for any changes you make, including adding new names, setting names on ‘preferred’ or ‘popular’.

We will reject tasks without references

2. There is only ONE Preferred name.

We will reject tasks that are not marked with a Preferred name or marked with multiple Preferred names

3. The number of popular names can be 0, 1, or multiple.

We will reject the task of marking all remaining names as popular names.

4. All names must have a link, even it is not a popular name. The link could be the same if one link shows few names. Any link is acceptable, and make sure it is your local website and in the local language. Authoritative websites first.

5. The format of a common name in most language:

Always capitalize the first letter of every word, except preposition words, like “of”, etc. Other words aren’t usually capitalized.

Example:

      Correct: Lily of the Valley

          Error: Lily of the valley

          Error: Lily Of The Valley

Except:

  1. In German, Please Capitalize Every First Letter.
  2. In Korean, Arabic and Chinese etc., there are no capital letters.

6. Use singular or plural, depending on the task at hand and the language being used.

When supplementing Common Name for Plant Species, please always use the singular form.

When supplementing Common Name for Plant Genus, please follow the rules below:

Use singular form in these languages: Italian, Polish, Swedish, Dutch, Arabic, Malaysian, Russian, Japanese, Korean, Chinese

Use plural form in these languages: English, German, Spanish, French, Portuguese, Thai. (This applies even for a genus with only one species, eg. Maidenhair trees/Ginkgos – Genus: Ginkgo)

Tips
  • Wikipedia is a reliable source of common names. Make sure the common names listed on it are collected.
  • Look for the website of gardening suppliers in your country. Commonly used names are usually listed.
  • If you are not quite sure about the preferred common name, search for the names in your favorite local search engine, encyclopedia site, online seed store, scientific database, germplasm information systems, local flora, etc.. The common name that with the highest hits is usually the best one.
  • Multiple common names from different regions in the same language can be added. For example, common names from European/African Portuguese can be used for Brazilian Portuguese as well. Common names from British English can be used for American English.