Skip to contents

jpplantnames is an unofficial R package for looking up scientific plant names from Japanese plant names using the Vascular Plant Japanese Name Checklist ver. 1.10 published by JBIF.

Documentation site: https://maple60.github.io/jpplantnames/

日本語で読みたい場合は 日本語 README または 日本語ガイド を参照してください。

Installation

# install.packages("pak")
pak::pak("maple60/jpplantnames")

Quick Start

library(jpplantnames)

japanese_name_info("コナラ")

scientific_name("コナラ")
#> [1] "Quercus serrata"

scientific_name("コナラ", with_author = TRUE)
#> [1] "Quercus serrata Murray"

japanese_name_search("コナラ")

The first function call that needs checklist data downloads the Excel file into the user’s local R cache. After that, scientific_name(), japanese_name_search(), and japanese_name_load() read from the cached local file and do not query an external server for every lookup. To refresh the cached file intentionally:

japanese_name_download(overwrite = TRUE)
japanese_name_load(refresh = TRUE)

gbif_match() is separate: it calls the GBIF API when you run it.

japanese_name_info() is the recommended convenient entry point when you want a compact summary. By default it uses only cached checklist data. WFO and GBIF checks are optional and may depend on external database content and API availability:

japanese_name_info("コナラ", wfo = TRUE)
japanese_name_info("コナラ", wfo = TRUE, gbif = TRUE)

International Name Checks

WFO Plant List checks

scientific_name() returns the checklist scientific name. wfo_suggest() checks WFO candidate names, and wfo_accepted_name() summarizes the best WFO accepted-name interpretation. These functions do not change checklist lookup results. WFO API use should stay small-scale; for larger workflows, keep caching enabled and record the WFO release or version used.

sci <- scientific_name("コナラ")
sci
#> [1] "Quercus serrata"

wfo_suggest(sci)
wfo_accepted_name(sci)

GBIF checks

gbif_match() is a small optional helper around the GBIF species match API. It is intended for checking the scientific name returned from the checklist lookup against an international biodiversity data source.

gbif_match("Quercus serrata")

Data Source and Citation

This package uses the Vascular Plant Japanese Name Checklist ver. 1.10 as the lookup source. The checklist includes YList-derived/update data, but this package is not affiliated with or endorsed by JBIF, YList, or the checklist authors.

When using checklist-based results, cite the checklist:

Yamanouchi, T., Shutoh, K., Osawa, T., Yonekura, K., Kato, S., Shiga, T. 2019. A checklist of Japanese plant names (https://gbif.jp/activities/checklist/wamei_checklist_110)

The package code is MIT licensed. Checklist data is not included in the package and is not covered by this package’s license.

The older academic_name() and ylist_*() function names are retained as deprecated compatibility wrappers.