“HERB” AND “HERBACEOUS” AS EXAMPLES OF HORTICULTURAL TERMS WITH MULTIPLE DEFINITIONS

Abstract

Scientific terms should have a single definition to avoid confusion. The noun “herb” has two broad categories of definitions, the first as a plant used in perfumery, as a dye, in cooking as flavoring, etc. and the second as a description of plant habit. Examination of over 30 definitions for the latter meaning of herb revealed great differences. Herb is variously defined as a “nonwoody plant” or as a plant with “annual aboveground stems”, allowing woody plants with annual stems to be called herbs, e.g. Buddleia or Vitex in colder climates. Other definitions restrict herbs to certain portions of the plant kingdom, such as “seed plants” or “vascular plants”. The adjective “herbaceous” is also defined in numerous ways, e.g. “not woody”, “dying to the ground each year”, “having the texture, color, etc. of an ordinary foliage leaf”. The same plant may be termed herb or herbaceous using some definitions, but not others. Since herb and herbaceous have been defined in so many different ways, the terms should be avoided, unless the definition being used is given, and more specific terms used, e.g. nonwoody plant.