A local popular name, as opposed to the scientific name; vernacular name.
The names by which plants are commonly known as distinct from their Latin or scientific ones (which, unlike common names, are universally recognized). Sometimes the two coincide and as a plant can have several common names it is usual for books to list the plants they describe under their scientific names. The American nursery industry has for some years been attempting to standardize common names, by no means an easy task.
The name by which a plant is commonly known by non-botanists, though many plants that are not well known or have only a short history of cultivation lack a common name. Common names may be genuine folk names such as ‘lad’s love’, or book names, coined by writers as an alternative to the scientific name, though these are often merely a translation of the Latin or Greek—thus ‘regal lily’ for Lilium regale. Common names vary from country to country or even from person to person, whereas botanical (scientific) names are used internationally.
Unlike their higher plant and animal counterparts, only a few pathogenic fungi, bacteria, or other disease-causing agents are bestowed with common names. In contrast, various plant diseases possess vernacular names, and some of these, such as smut and rust, have been stretched to encompass the causative agents. However, specific disease names such as choke of grasses induced by Epichloé typhina are omitted from this glossary, though a few common disease appellations such as blight, damping-off, and mildew have been catalogued.