Botanical Nomenclature

The CNVC species list contains over 2,800 vascular and 1,200 non-vascular plant species, recorded in over 100,000 sample plots from all parts of Canada. To facilitate clear communication about Canadian vegetation, the CNVC developed a nomenclature standard to use in its reporting. Reference sources for CNVC accepted scientific and vernacular (English & French) botanical names are here.

Search the CNVC Species List

Use this lookup tool to determine the CNVC accepted scientific and vernacular (English & French) names for any plant species noted in CNVC publications. For each species, the tool also provides information on its lifeform designation, authority for its scientific name, nomenclatural synonyms (scientific, English and French), and a list of factsheets that contain reference to the species. Although the CNVC recognizes subspecies and varieties in its database, only species names are reported.

To search for a particular species, enter all or part of its scientific, English or French name in the text search field. Use the dropdown menu to filter your search by scientific genus name.