Why do we need a scientific name for a plant? Why is the name in Latin?

1. Why do we need a scientific name for a plant? Why is the name in Latin? Why does the name have two Latin parts?

2. 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

3. 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

4. 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

5. 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

6. 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

7. 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.

8. 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) Physalisixocarpa (masculine or feminine -is) (Physalis is feminine) Secalecereale (feminine or neuter -e) (Secale is neuter) Chorizanthe coriacea (feminine -e, -a)

9. 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)

10. 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

11. 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

12. 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

13. 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.

14. 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

15. 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

16. 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

17. 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.

18. 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,

19. 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

20. 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.

21. 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

22. 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 AlderAlder, Smooth Ranunculus cymbalaria Seaside ButtercupButtercup, Seaside Leucanthemum vulgare Ox-eye DaisyDaisy, Ox-eye Artemisia stelleriana Beach WormwoodWormwood, Beach Lactuca canadensis Wild LettuceLettuce, Wild Hieracium aurantiacum Orange HawkweedHawkweed, Orange Tiplastis purpurea Purple Sandgrass Sandgrass, Purple Gnaphalium purpureum Purple CudweedCudweed, 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?

23. 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-fleabane Gnaphalium chilense Rabbit-tobacco2 Rabbit-tobacco Conyza canadensis Horse-weed3 Horse-weed Xyris iridifolia Yellow-eyed-grass4 Yellow-eyed-grass Richardia brasiliensis Mexican-clover5 Mexican-clover Boehmeria cylindrica False-nettle6 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 Yellow- eyed-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