''Authors of Plant Names'' (Brummitt & Powell) by Richard Kenneth Brummitt and C. Emma Powell, 1992, is a print

database In computing, a database is an organized collection of data or a type of data store based on the use of a database management system (DBMS), the software that interacts with end users, applications, and the database itself to capture and a ...

of accepted standardized abbreviations used for citing the author who validly published the name of a

taxon In biology, a taxon (back-formation from ''taxonomy''; : taxa) is a group of one or more populations of an organism or organisms seen by taxonomists to form a unit. Although neither is required, a taxon is usually known by a particular name and ...

. The database is now maintained online at the

International Plant Names Index The International Plant Names Index (IPNI) describes itself as "a database of the names and associated basic bibliographical details of seed plants, ferns and lycophytes." Coverage of plant names is best at the rank of species and genus. It inclu ...

. The book provides recommended abbreviations for authors' names that help to distinguish authors with the same

surname In many societies, a surname, family name, or last name is the mostly hereditary portion of one's personal name that indicates one's family. It is typically combined with a given name to form the full name of a person, although several give ...

when giving the full name of a taxon. It deals authors who validly published the name of a

flowering plant Flowering plants are plants that bear flowers and fruits, and form the clade Angiospermae (). The term angiosperm is derived from the Ancient Greek, Greek words (; 'container, vessel') and (; 'seed'), meaning that the seeds are enclosed with ...

gymnosperm The gymnosperms ( ; ) are a group of woody, perennial Seed plant, seed-producing plants, typically lacking the protective outer covering which surrounds the seeds in flowering plants, that include Pinophyta, conifers, cycads, Ginkgo, and gnetoph ...

fern The ferns (Polypodiopsida or Polypodiophyta) are a group of vascular plants (plants with xylem and phloem) that reproduce via spores and have neither seeds nor flowers. They differ from mosses by being vascular, i.e., having specialized tissue ...

bryophyte Bryophytes () are a group of embryophyte, land plants (embryophytes), sometimes treated as a taxonomic Division (taxonomy), division referred to as Bryophyta ''Sensu#Common qualifiers, sensu lato'', that contains three groups of non-vascular pla ...

algae Algae ( , ; : alga ) is an informal term for any organisms of a large and diverse group of photosynthesis, photosynthetic organisms that are not plants, and includes species from multiple distinct clades. Such organisms range from unicellular ...

fungi A fungus (: fungi , , , or ; or funguses) is any member of the group of eukaryotic organisms that includes microorganisms such as yeasts and mold (fungus), molds, as well as the more familiar mushrooms. These organisms are classified as one ...

or fossil plants. Prior to its publication in 1992, many abbreviations for authors to be cited could be found in ''Taxonomic literature. A selective guide to botanical publications and collections with dates, commentaries and types.'' by F. A. Stafleu & R. F. Cowen, 1976–1988. The

International Code of Nomenclature for algae, fungi, and plants The ''International Code of Nomenclature for algae, fungi, and plants'' (ICN or ICNafp) is the set of rules and recommendations dealing with the formal botanical names that are given to plants, fungi and a few other groups of organisms, all tho ...

(ICN) governs the naming of these organisms, and suggests that a taxon be fully identified by its name and the author, but does not require that abbreviations be used when citing an author for a taxon. When abbreviations are used, the ICN recommends that Brummitt & Powell's ''Authors of plant names'' (1992), and the websites, the International Plant Names Index and the

Index Fungorum ''Index Fungorum'' is an international project to index all formal names (scientific names) in the fungus kingdom. As of 2015, the project is based at the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, one of three partners along with Landcare Research and th ...

can be used to find "unambiguous" abbreviations. Brummitt & Powell may not be international in scope, and it may be missing abbreviations for authors who validly published taxa during some time spans. A full name, rather than an abbreviation, may also make it easier to locate the original publication for the taxon name.

References

Botanical nomenclature Online botany databases Botany handbooks and guides Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew {{botany-book-stub