Why do we need a scientific name for a plant?
Why is the name in Latin?
Why does the name have two Latin parts?
There needs to be a single universal name for each
plant species so that anyone anywhere can know what
species is being discussed no matter what
is the local (vernacular) language
Latin is a language far enough removed from
common culture that it will not be modified as are
vernacular languages and thus Latin remains
universal and without the confusion engendered by
common names either internationally or regionally
The naming of plants was relatively unstructured until
the 13th to 17th (1600s) centuries when the number of
plants arriving in Europe due to maritime explorations
began to overwhelm botanists
For several centuries before 1753, names were often
composed of three or more words called Polynomials
Ranunculus calycibus retroflexis, penduculis falcatis,
caule erecto, foliis compositis
“ the buttercup with bent-back sepals, curved flower
stalks, erect stems and compound leaves”
Such polynomials also served as diagnoses, which
list the distinguishing features of the plant
Being cumbersome, the polynomial system was
substituted by the Binomial System as a result of the
publication of Species Plantarum by Carolus Linnaeus
in 1753 in which Linnaeus consistently used
binomials
(Others had previously used binomials, but
not consistently.)
Linnaeus referred to the buttercup as Ranunculus
bulbosus
Species Plantarum
Carolus Linnaeus (1753)
Retained Genus
Invented specific epithet
Limited Polynomial to
12 words.
Binomial for Species =
Genus + Specific Epithet.
e.g. Cuscuta americana
Latin with matching genders
Nomenclature Rules to
ensure a species has only
one Binomial and that it
describes only one species
Binomial
Genus: First word is a noun and is capitalized
Specific epithet: Second word is usually an adjective
or a possessive or adjectival noun and is not
capitalized
The binomial is usually italicized or underlined. If the
flanking text is italicized, the binomial is not. This is
because it is Latin embedded in a non-Latin context.
Technically, the complete species name is:
The binomial plus the Authority
Generic names are masculine, feminine, or neuter
The suffix of the generic name usually specifies the
gender:
-us, -pogon usually indicate masculine genera
e.g. Lotus L., Andropogon L.
-a, -is indicate feminine genera
e.g. Callisia L., Pteris L.
-um indicates neuter genera
e.g. Cirsium L.
-e indicates feminine or neuter
e.g. Secale L., Chorizanthe R.Br. ex Benth.
The specific epithet usually agrees with the gender of
the generic name if the specific epithet is an adjective.
For example:
Ranunculus bulbosus (masculine -us)
Andropogon virginicus (masculine -us)
Cimicifuga americana (feminine -a)
Tanacetum coccineum (neuter -um)
Physalis ixocarpa (masculine or feminine -is)
(Physalis is feminine)
Secale cereale (feminine or neuter -e)
(Secale is neuter)
Chorizanthe coriacea (feminine -e, -a)
Exception:
Trees are traditionally considered feminine.
Thus, classical names of trees that end in -us
are considered feminine and so the specific epithet
ends in –a:
Quercus alba (not albus)
Prunus serotina (not serotinus)
Origins of Generic Names
Commemoratively named or are a personal tribute:
Rudbeckia: Rudbeck
Stokesia: Stokes
Linnaea: Linnaeus
Jeffersonia: Jefferson
Kalmia: Kalm
Descriptors of the Plant
Trifolium: Latin for three leaves
Campanula: Little bell
Artemesia: Artemis, the goddess of the hunt
Allium: Latin for garlic
Muilla: Anagram of Allium
Meanings of Specific Epithets
aureum: gold
album: white
roseum: pink
rubrum, sanguineum: red
luteum: yellow
latifolia: broad leaf
macrantha (Greek): large flowers
grandiflora (Latin): large flowers
montana: mountains
alpina: high mountains
sylvatica: woods
lacustris, palustris: damp place
japonica: Japan
canadensis: Canada
-(i)oides: resemblence to some other plant or plant part, etc.; e.g., primuloides
Geographical places as adjectives
-ian:
masculine (-ianus) e.g. carolinianus
feminine (-iana) e.g. caroliniana
neuter (-ianum) e.g. carolinianum
-ic:
masculine (-icus) e.g. philadelphicus
feminine (-ica) e.g. philadelphica
neuter (-icum) e.g. philadelphicum
-ensis: masculine and feminine e.g. caroliniensis
-ense: neuter e.g. caroliniense
Epithets that honor a person
Person’s name as a possessive noun:
If the person is a male and:
if his name ends in a consonant, then
-ii is added to the name:
Eriogonum wrightii
Wright’s Buckwheat
if his name ends in a vowel or “er”, then
-i is usually added to the name:
E. greenei
If the person is female, the endings are
-iae and –ae in accordance to the above,
respectively.
Person’s name as an adjective:
-ian is added to the name in accordance with the
gender of the generic name:
-ianus masculine
-iana feminine
-ianum neuter
E. butterworthianum is the Butterworth Buckwheat
Meanings of the Names of Genera and Specific Epithets
http://www.calflora.net/botanicalnames/index.html
Excellent, personal, and comprehensive for plants in California.
Fast Server. About 250 pages, if you want to print the documents.
A copy is in the Plant Tax lab
http://www.winternet.com/~chuckg/dictionary.html
Old-Fashioned format, only strict Latin-derived specific epithets
The hypothesis is that understanding the meaning of the binomial may help
in remembering the binomial and its common name. It may also allow more
rapid and accurate identification of the binomial of an unknown plant
The complete Species Name includes the Authority,
the person who named the plant
Lotus corniculatus L.
L. or Linn. is Linnaeus abbreviated, and Linnaeus first
named Lotus corniculatus
Nymphaea torus Hook. f. et T.
The “f” indicates that Hook. is Joseph Dalton Hooker,
the “filius” or son of William Jackson Hooker (who also
named plants). The “et ” (as in et al.) indicates that
J.D. Hooker and Torrey together named the species
If Nymphaea torus Hook. f. ex T.
then Torrey validly published the species, which was
originally named by J.D. Hooker, but Hooker did not
publish the name
Epithets and the name(s) of the authority(s)
who originally named a species remain with the
taxon whenever a later worker(s) transfers that taxon
elsewhere
Lotus heermannii (Dur. & Hilg.) Greene
“Dur. & Hilg.” stands for E.M. Durand and T.C. Hilgard
who first named the species under Hosackia (H.
heermannii). Later, Greene determined that the genus
Hosackia should be merged with the genus Lotus, and
so transferred the specific epithet, heermannii from
Hosackia to Lotus. Gender of ‘new’ genus determines
the gender of ‘transferred’ epithet.
Orders and Families and Infraspecific Taxa also have
Authorities
An Infraspecific taxon is at a rank lower than species
rank, for instance a subspecies (spp.), variety (var.), or
form (f.)
Whoever erects such a rank is recognized as its
authority except when its epithet is the same as that of
the next highest rank.
For instance,
Andropogon glomeratus (Walter) Britton, Sterns, & Poggenburg
was divided into several varieties by C. Mohr, including
Andropogon glomeratus (Walter) Britton, Sterns, & Poggenburg
var. hirsutior (Hackel) C. Mohr
and
Andropogon glomeratus (Walter) Britton, Sterns, & Poggenburg
var. glomeratus (no variety authority is need because this is the taxon
described by Britton, Sterns, & Poggenburg even though they did not
recognize it as a variety of the species)
As indicated by (Walter) and (Hackel), this species has had many earlier
names and varieties, including
Andropogon virginicus Linnaeus var. hirsutior (Hackel) A.S. Hitchcock
Weakley considers Andropogon glomeratus var. glomeratus
and var. hirsutior to be separate species, but the correct
'combinations' have not yet been found, meaning all the
reasonable names have been used earlier and because they
are not now considered valid they cannot be recycled.
See USF Atlas of Florida Vascular Plants for a complete list of
synonyms with dates, references, and the vouchers that were
used in the naming and renaming of a particular taxon. Even
without the dates one can usually deduce the order in which
the names were erected by following their authorities.
Do Not Trust Common Names to be Informative
Bachelor’s Button (Bachelor Buttons) is a Common
Name of:
Tanacetum vulgare
Knautia arvensis
Centaurea cyanus
And the Common Names for Centaurea cyanus:
Cornflower, Blue Bottle, Ragged Robin
Lotus: Common Name of Nelumbo nucifera
Lotus: Generic name of a member of the Legume
family, Fabaceae
A Convention for Common Names
Duncan and Duncan (1987)
The Common Name correctly references the Scientific or Common Name of its genus:
Alnus serrulata
Ranunculus cymbalaria
Leucanthemum vulgare
Artemisia stelleriana
Lactuca canadensis
Hieracium aurantiacum
Tiplastis purpurea
Gnaphalium purpureum
Smooth Alder
Seaside Buttercup
Ox-eye Daisy
Beach Wormwood
Wild Lettuce
Orange Hawkweed
Purple Sandgrass
Purple Cudweed
Alder, Smooth
Buttercup, Seaside
Daisy, Ox-eye
Wormwood, Beach
Lettuce, Wild
Hawkweed, Orange
Sandgrass, Purple
Cudweed, Purple
Alder is recognized as the common name of the genus Alnus and any species in that
genus can have a common name that modifies that common name.
Common names should be capitalized to distinguish them from other meanings. For
instance, southern Lady Ferns means southern populations of all plants in the Lady
Fern genus, not plants in the Southern Lady Fern species.
The last column indicates how the common name would appear in an index
Problems arise when the species is transferred to another genus with its different
common name. What to do, change the common name or keep it but convert it into a
form appropriate for those on the next slide?
A Convention for Common Names
Duncan and Duncan (1987)
The Common Name refers to another taxon, or refers to another character:
Pluchea odorata
Gnaphalium chilense
Conyza canadensis
Xyris iridifolia
Richardia brasiliensis
Boehmeria cylindrica
Salt-marsh-fleabane1
Rabbit-tobacco2
Horse-weed3
Yellow-eyed-grass4
Mexican-clover5
False-nettle6
Salt-marsh-fleabane
Rabbit-tobacco
Horse-weed
Yellow-eyed-grass
Mexican-clover
False-nettle
1The
Fleabane genus is Erigeron
2The Tobacco genus is Nicotiana
3Weed is not a taxonomic name. It could also be written as Horseweed
4The Grass family is Poaceae, and Eye is not a taxonomic name (even though Yelloweyed-grass is the recognized common name of the family Xyridaceae)
5The Clover genus is Trifolium
6The Nettle genus is Urtica
The last column indicates how the common name would appear in an index