Plant families comprise groupings of related plant species that are placed above the category of "genus".

Knowledge of plant families helps us identify species!

The suffix "aceae" indicates that a scientific plant name refers to a family.  Today, plant family names are derived from the name of a prominent genus within a family.  For instance, the "Lamiaceae" family name comes from the genus "Lamium", a type of mint.  Similarly, the "Asteraceae" family name is taken from the genus "Aster", a wildflower.

Many plant families include a variety of plant forms, including both woody and non-woody (herbaceous) species.  The listed plant forms refer to the typical or predominant forms within the respective families.

We endeavor to use a certain amount of discretion when publishing lists of plant names.  We don't wish to confuse or discourage people from studying plants just because plant names may have changed.  A few of the family names listed on the Index page ( See link above. ) may not be the names that are widely accepted names today.  Footnotes listing "synonyms" will be placed on many of the pages of this website, where necessary.