diff --git a/CHANGELOG b/CHANGELOG
@@ -1,3 +1,14 @@
+2011-07-15 The set of markers available in the plot() and scatter()
+           commands has been unified.  In general, this gives more
+           options to both than were previously available, however,
+           there is one backward-incompatible change to the markers in
+           scatter:
+
+              "d" used to mean "diamond", it now means "narrow
+              diamond".  "D" can be used for a "diamond".
+
+           -MGD
+
 2011-07-10 Fixed argument handling error in tripcolor/triplot/tricontour,
            issue #203. - IMT
 

diff --git a/examples/pylab_examples/scatter_symbol.py b/examples/pylab_examples/scatter_symbol.py
@@ -0,0 +1,14 @@
+from matplotlib import pyplot as plt
+import numpy as np
+import matplotlib
+
+x = np.arange(0.0, 50.0, 2.0)
+y = x ** 1.3 + np.random.rand(*x.shape) * 30.0
+s = np.random.rand(*x.shape) * 800 + 500
+
+plt.scatter(x, y, s, c="g", alpha=0.5, marker=r'$\clubsuit$',
+            label="Luck")
+plt.xlabel("Leprechauns")
+plt.ylabel("Gold")
+plt.legend(loc=2)
+plt.show()
diff --git a/lib/matplotlib/axes.py b/lib/matplotlib/axes.py
@@ -22,6 +22,7 @@
 import matplotlib.image as mimage
 import matplotlib.legend as mlegend
 import matplotlib.lines as mlines
+import matplotlib.markers as mmarkers
 import matplotlib.mlab as mlab
 import matplotlib.path as mpath
 import matplotlib.patches as mpatches
@@ -5651,48 +5652,7 @@ def scatter(self, x, y, s=20, c='b', marker='o', cmap=None, norm=None,
           *marker*:
             can be one of:
 
-            =======   ==============
-            Value     Description
-            =======   ==============
-            ``'s'``   square
-            ``'o'``   circle
-            ``'^'``   triangle up
-            ``'>'``   triangle right
-            ``'v'``   triangle down
-            ``'<'``   triangle left
-            ``'d'``   diamond
-            ``'p'``   pentagon
-            ``'h'``   hexagon
-            ``'8'``   octagon
-            ``'+'``   plus
-            ``'x'``   cross
-            =======   ==============
-
-            The marker can also be a tuple (*numsides*, *style*,
-            *angle*), which will create a custom, regular symbol.
-
-              *numsides*:
-                the number of sides
-
-              *style*:
-                the style of the regular symbol:
-
-                =====   =============================================
-                Value   Description
-                =====   =============================================
-                0       a regular polygon
-                1       a star-like symbol
-                2       an asterisk
-                3       a circle (*numsides* and *angle* is ignored)
-                =====   =============================================
-
-              *angle*:
-                the angle of rotation of the symbol
-
-            Finally, *marker* can be (*verts*, 0): *verts* is a
-            sequence of (*x*, *y*) vertices for a custom scatter
-            symbol.  Alternatively, use the kwarg combination
-            *marker* = *None*, *verts* = *verts*.
+            %(MarkerTable)s
 
         Any or all of *x*, *y*, *s*, and *c* may be masked arrays, in
         which case all masks will be combined and only unmasked points
@@ -5749,21 +5709,6 @@ def scatter(self, x, y, s=20, c='b', marker='o', cmap=None, norm=None,
 
         if not self._hold: self.cla()
 
-        syms =  { # a dict from symbol to (numsides, angle)
-            's' : (4,math.pi/4.0,0),   # square
-            'o' : (0,0,3),            # circle
-            '^' : (3,0,0),             # triangle up
-            '>' : (3,math.pi/2.0,0),   # triangle right
-            'v' : (3,math.pi,0),       # triangle down
-            '<' : (3,3*math.pi/2.0,0), # triangle left
-            'd' : (4,0,0),             # diamond
-            'p' : (5,0,0),             # pentagon
-            'h' : (6,0,0),             # hexagon
-            '8' : (8,0,0),             # octagon
-            '+' : (4,0,2),             # plus
-            'x' : (4,math.pi/4.0,2)    # cross
-            }
-
         self._process_unit_info(xdata=x, ydata=y, kwargs=kwargs)
         x = self.convert_xunits(x)
         y = self.convert_yunits(y)
@@ -5814,87 +5759,21 @@ def scatter(self, x, y, s=20, c='b', marker='o', cmap=None, norm=None,
             marker = (verts, 0)
             verts = None
 
-        if is_string_like(marker):
-            # the standard way to define symbols using a string character
-            sym = syms.get(marker)
-            if sym is None and verts is None:
-                raise ValueError('Unknown marker symbol to scatter')
-            numsides, rotation, symstyle = syms[marker]
-
-        elif iterable(marker):
-            # accept marker to be:
-            #    (numsides, style, [angle])
-            # or
-            #    (verts[], style, [angle])
-
-            if len(marker)<2 or len(marker)>3:
-                raise ValueError('Cannot create markersymbol from marker')
-
-            if cbook.is_numlike(marker[0]):
-                # (numsides, style, [angle])
-
-                if len(marker)==2:
-                    numsides, rotation = marker[0], 0.
-                elif len(marker)==3:
-                    numsides, rotation = marker[0], marker[2]
-                sym = True
-
-                if marker[1] in (1,2,3):
-                    symstyle = marker[1]
-
-            else:
-                verts = np.asarray(marker[0])
-
-        if sym is not None:
-            if symstyle==0:
-                collection = mcoll.RegularPolyCollection(
-                    numsides, rotation, scales,
-                    facecolors = colors,
-                    edgecolors = edgecolors,
-                    linewidths = linewidths,
-                    offsets = zip(x,y),
-                    transOffset = self.transData,
-                    )
-            elif symstyle==1:
-                collection = mcoll.StarPolygonCollection(
-                    numsides, rotation, scales,
-                    facecolors = colors,
-                    edgecolors = edgecolors,
-                    linewidths = linewidths,
-                    offsets = zip(x,y),
-                    transOffset = self.transData,
-                    )
-            elif symstyle==2:
-                collection = mcoll.AsteriskPolygonCollection(
-                    numsides, rotation, scales,
-                    facecolors = colors,
-                    edgecolors = 'face',
-                    linewidths = linewidths,
-                    offsets = zip(x,y),
-                    transOffset = self.transData,
-                    )
-            elif symstyle==3:
-                collection = mcoll.CircleCollection(
-                    scales,
-                    facecolors = colors,
-                    edgecolors = edgecolors,
-                    linewidths = linewidths,
-                    offsets = zip(x,y),
-                    transOffset = self.transData,
-                    )
-        else:
-            rescale = np.sqrt(max(verts[:,0]**2+verts[:,1]**2))
-            verts /= rescale
-
-            collection = mcoll.PolyCollection(
-                (verts,), scales,
+        marker_obj = mmarkers.MarkerStyle(marker)
+        path = marker_obj.get_path().transformed(
+            marker_obj.get_transform())
+        if not marker_obj.is_filled():
+            edgecolors = 'face'
+
+        collection = mcoll.PathCollection(
+                (path,), scales,
                 facecolors = colors,
                 edgecolors = edgecolors,
                 linewidths = linewidths,
                 offsets = zip(x,y),
                 transOffset = self.transData,
                 )
-            collection.set_transform(mtransforms.IdentityTransform())
+        collection.set_transform(mtransforms.IdentityTransform())
         collection.set_alpha(alpha)
         collection.update(kwargs)
 

diff --git a/lib/matplotlib/backends/backend_gtk.py b/lib/matplotlib/backends/backend_gtk.py
@@ -32,6 +32,7 @@ def fn_name(): return sys._getframe(1).f_code.co_name
 from matplotlib.widgets import SubplotTool
 
 from matplotlib import lines
+from matplotlib import markers
 from matplotlib import cbook
 from matplotlib import verbose
 
@@ -1076,7 +1077,7 @@ class DialogLineprops:
     linestyled = dict([ (s,i) for i,s in enumerate(linestyles)])
 
 
-    markers =  [m for m in lines.Line2D.markers if cbook.is_string_like(m)]
+    markers =  [m for m in markers.MarkerStyle.markers if cbook.is_string_like(m)]
 
     markerd = dict([(s,i) for i,s in enumerate(markers)])
 

diff --git a/lib/matplotlib/backends/qt4_editor/figureoptions.py b/lib/matplotlib/backends/qt4_editor/figureoptions.py
@@ -10,6 +10,7 @@
 
 import matplotlib.backends.qt4_editor.formlayout as formlayout
 from matplotlib.backends.qt4_compat import QtGui
+from matplotlib import markers
 
 def get_icon(name):
     import matplotlib
@@ -25,30 +26,7 @@ def get_icon(name):
               'none': 'None',
               }
 
-MARKERS = {
-           'none': 'None',
-           'o': 'circles',
-           '^': 'triangle_up',
-           'v': 'triangle_down',
-           '<': 'triangle_left',
-           '>': 'triangle_right',
-           's': 'square',
-           '+': 'plus',
-           'x': 'cross',
-           '*': 'star',
-           'D': 'diamond',
-           'd': 'thin_diamond',
-           '1': 'tripod_down',
-           '2': 'tripod_up',
-           '3': 'tripod_left',
-           '4': 'tripod_right',
-           'h': 'hexagon',
-           'H': 'rotated_hexagon',
-           'p': 'pentagon',
-           '|': 'vertical_line',
-           '_': 'horizontal_line',
-           '.': 'dots',
-           }
+MARKERS = markers.MarkerStyle.markers
 
 COLORS = {'b': '#0000ff', 'g': '#00ff00', 'r': '#ff0000', 'c': '#ff00ff',
           'm': '#ff00ff', 'y': '#ffff00', 'k': '#000000', 'w': '#ffffff'}

diff --git a/lib/matplotlib/collections.py b/lib/matplotlib/collections.py
@@ -574,7 +574,7 @@ class PathCollection(Collection):
     This is the most basic :class:`Collection` subclass.
     """
     @docstring.dedent_interpd
-    def __init__(self, paths, **kwargs):
+    def __init__(self, paths, sizes=None, **kwargs):
         """
         *paths* is a sequence of :class:`matplotlib.path.Path`
         instances.
@@ -584,11 +584,25 @@ def __init__(self, paths, **kwargs):
 
         Collection.__init__(self, **kwargs)
         self.set_paths(paths)
-
+        self._sizes = sizes
 
     def set_paths(self, paths):
         self._paths = paths
-
+
+    def get_paths(self):
+        return self._paths
+
+    def get_sizes(self):
+        return self._sizes
+
+    @allow_rasterization
+    def draw(self, renderer):
+        if self._sizes is not None:
+            self._transforms = [
+                transforms.Affine2D().scale(
+                    (np.sqrt(x) * self.figure.dpi / 72.0))
+                for x in self._sizes]
+        return Collection.draw(self, renderer)
 
 class PolyCollection(Collection):
     @docstring.dedent_interpd

diff --git a/lib/matplotlib/legend.py b/lib/matplotlib/legend.py
@@ -23,7 +23,7 @@
 from matplotlib.lines import Line2D
 from matplotlib.patches import Patch, Rectangle, Shadow, FancyBboxPatch
 from matplotlib.collections import LineCollection, RegularPolyCollection, \
-     CircleCollection
+     CircleCollection, PathCollection
 from matplotlib.transforms import Bbox, BboxBase, TransformedBbox, BboxTransformTo, BboxTransformFrom
 
 from matplotlib.offsetbox import HPacker, VPacker, TextArea, DrawingArea, DraggableOffsetBox
@@ -481,6 +481,7 @@ def _approx_text_height(self, renderer=None):
         CircleCollection:legend_handler.HandlerCircleCollection(),
         BarContainer:legend_handler.HandlerPatch(update_func=legend_handler.update_from_first_child),
         tuple:legend_handler.HandlerTuple(),
+        PathCollection:legend_handler.HandlerPathCollection()
         }
 
     # (get|set|update)_default_handler_maps are public interfaces to

diff --git a/lib/matplotlib/legend_handler.py b/lib/matplotlib/legend_handler.py
@@ -362,7 +362,19 @@ def create_artists(self, legend, orig_handle,
 
         return [p]
 
+class HandlerPathCollection(HandlerRegularPolyCollection):
+    """
+    Handler for PathCollections, which are used by scatter
+    """
+    def create_collection(self, orig_handle, sizes, offsets, transOffset):
+        p = type(orig_handle)([orig_handle.get_paths()[0]],
+                              sizes=sizes,
+                              offsets=offsets,
+                              transOffset=transOffset,
+                              )
+        return p
 
+
 class HandlerCircleCollection(HandlerRegularPolyCollection):
     """
     Handler for CircleCollections