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 whatis 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 remainsuniversal 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 wassubstituted 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, butnot consistently.)

Linnaeus referred to the buttercup as Ranunculus bulbosus

Species PlantarumCarolus Linnaeus (1753)

Retained Genus

Invented specific epithet

Limited Polynomial to12 words.

Binomial for Species =Genus + Specific Epithet.e.g. Cuscuta americanaLatin with matching genders

Nomenclature Rules to ensure a species has onlyone Binomial and that itdescribes 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 thegender:

-us, -pogon usually indicate masculine generae.g. Lotus L., Andropogon L.

-a, -is indicate feminine generae.g. Callisia L., Pteris L.

-um indicates neuter generae.g. Cirsium L.

-e indicates feminine or neutere.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 NamesCommemoratively named or are a personal tribute:

Rudbeckia: RudbeckStokesia: StokesLinnaea: LinnaeusJeffersonia: JeffersonKalmia: Kalm

Descriptors of the Plant

Trifolium: Latin for three leavesCampanula: Little bellArtemesia: Artemis, the goddess of the huntAllium: Latin for garlicMuilla: Anagram of Allium

Meanings of Specific Epithets

aureum: goldalbum: whiteroseum: pinkrubrum, sanguineum: redluteum: yellowlatifolia: broad leafmacrantha (Greek): large flowersgrandiflora (Latin): large flowers

japonica: Japancanadensis: Canada

montana: mountainsalpina: high mountainssylvatica: woodslacustris, palustris: damp place

-(i)oides: resemblence to some other plant or plant part, etc.; e.g., primuloides

Geographical places as adjectives

-ian:masculine (-ianus) e.g. carolinianusfeminine (-iana) e.g. caroliniananeuter (-ianum) e.g. carolinianum

-ic:masculine (-icus) e.g. philadelphicusfeminine (-ica) e.g. philadelphicaneuter (-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 wrightiiWright’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 thegender 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 taxonelsewhere

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 fromHosackia 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, & Poggenburgwas divided into several varieties by C. Mohr, including

Andropogon glomeratus (Walter) Britton, Sterns, & Poggenburg var. hirsutior (Hackel) C. Mohr

andAndropogon 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 vulgareKnautia arvensisCentaurea cyanus

And the Common Names for Centaurea cyanus: Cornflower, Blue Bottle, Ragged Robin

Lotus: Common Name of Nelumbo nuciferaLotus: 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 Smooth Alder Alder, SmoothRanunculus cymbalaria Seaside Buttercup Buttercup, SeasideLeucanthemum vulgare Ox-eye Daisy Daisy, Ox-eyeArtemisia stelleriana Beach Wormwood Wormwood, BeachLactuca canadensis Wild Lettuce Lettuce, WildHieracium aurantiacum Orange Hawkweed Hawkweed, OrangeTiplastis purpurea Purple Sandgrass Sandgrass, PurpleGnaphalium purpureum Purple Cudweed 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 Salt-marsh-fleabane1 Salt-marsh-fleabaneGnaphalium chilense Rabbit-tobacco2 Rabbit-tobaccoConyza canadensis Horse-weed3 Horse-weedXyris iridifolia Yellow-eyed-grass4 Yellow-eyed-grass Richardia brasiliensis Mexican-clover5 Mexican-cloverBoehmeria cylindrica False-nettle6 False-nettle

1The Fleabane genus is Erigeron2The Tobacco genus is Nicotiana3Weed is not a taxonomic name. It could also be written as Horseweed4The Grass family is Poaceae, and Eye is not a taxonomic name (even though Yellow- eyed-grass is the recognized common name of the family Xyridaceae)5The Clover genus is Trifolium6The Nettle genus is Urtica

The last column indicates how the common name would appear in an index