What every chemist should know about plant names

Abstract

Chemists screen plants for their constituents on a daily basis, and the data gathered is of importance to a wide range of fields such as medicine, evolutionary biology and ecology. However, the use of this data is sometimes impeded by incorrect citation of the species names. In this Viewpoint, I explain why chemists should be aware of the essentials of plant naming, and describe some easy quality checks that can be performed to avoid errors being perpetuated.