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nomina si pereunt, perit et cognitio rerum
NOMINA SI PEREUNT, PERIT ET COGNITIO RERUM
If you do not know the names of things, the knowledge of them is lost too.
—Carl Linnaeus, Philosophia Botanica (1751)
Botanical Names: Latin is the universal language of botany. Back in the 17th and 18th centuries, plants were given long Latin phrases as names (that usually described their particular botanical features). As more plants were identified, the names became longer and extremely difficult to remember —that was until Carl Linnaeus came along. Born in 1707, Linnaeus was a Swedish botanist and doctor who recognized the disadvantages of long botanical names. In response, Linnaeus developed a two part, binomial identification system introduced through his book Species Plantarum, published in 1753. This system gave plants a primary, generic genus name along with a secondary, more specific species name. (Species can be divided into a further rank for a subspecies, giving rise to a trinomial name or trinomen.) The simplicity of Linnaeus' system soon caught on and is still used today to classify, identify, and name new species of plants and animals.
The binomial (aka botanical name, formal name, scientific name, Latin name) consists of the genus name (genera is plural) and the species name (species is both singular and plural). The binomial is denoted in the following style: Hibiscus insularis. The genus name always begins with a capital letter, and the species name begins with a lower case letter. By convention, the binomial is printed in italics, while family names and higher taxa are printed in plain text.
The binomial is included as part of a larger seven category system known as taxonomy. Taxonomy is the science of classifying, describing and characterising different groups of living organisms. This system groups organisms into categories (taxonomic ranks) which indicate their degree of relationship to each other. Starting from general to more specific the ranks (taxa), are: kingdom, phylum, class, order, family, genus and species. The terms taxonomy and nomenclature are often confused, but have distinct meanings. Nomenclature refers to the actual devising, choosing or giving of names to taxonomic groups.
Common Names (aka popular name, vernacular name, colloquial name) of plants differ from country to country or even within small geographical regions. One taxon may have a number of common names with these often being region specific. For example, if you are looking for the native "Pink Hibiscus" in Australia, you may be shown Hibiscus splendens, but ask for the same thing in South Africa and you will be shown Hibiscus pedunculatus —two very different plants. For this reason, use of the binomial has become an indispensable means for accurate plant identification.
Unlike the scientific name, there are no hard, fast rules governing common names. A practice that is gaining popularity with various authors (myself included) is the capitalization of common names of plant (and animal) species. Historically, common names were printed in lower case, unless they were a part of an official list of names, in which case they become proper nouns and are capitalized. Botanists generally rejected the practice of capitalizing common names of plants, though individual words of plant names were capitalized by other rules (e.g., Hawaiian red hibiscus). For an interesting perspective on this topic please read the following article: On Capitalization of Vernacular Names of Species by Eloise F. Potter.
The International Code of Botanical Nomenclature (ICBN): This is the set of rules and recommendations dealing with the formal scientific names that are given to plants. Plant classification is based on order. Taxonomy (from the Greek τάξις [Taxis], for order), is the branch of science concerned with classification of organisms, systematically arranging plants in a defined order of taxonomic groups (taxon, plural taxa). The objective is that every plant has one scientific name that is accepted worldwide. The value of this name is that it is simply an identifier, but it does not always provide accurate descriptive information. For more information on accepted scientific names, a valuable resource is The International Plant Names Index (IPNI): a database of names and associated basic bibliographical details of plants.
For the naming of cultivated plants there is a separate code, the International Code of Nomenclature for Cultivated Plants. This code provides supplemental rules and recommendations. Botanical nomenclature is independent of zoological and bacteriological nomenclature, which are governed by their own codes.
Pronunciation of Plant Names: Many people feel intimidated when trying to pronounce the scientific names of plants. Beginners in the fields of horticulture and botany often feel the need for help in this area as well. While it is true that there are no absolutes in the realm of pronouncing plant names, the scientific names of plants are based primarily in Latin, and all scientific plant names have been 'Latinized' (even though many are derived from Greek and to a lesser degree, from other languages). Here in the U.S., general usage often anglicizes or corrupts true Latin pronunciation but speakers should at least attempt to follow basic pronunciation guidelines. One of the practical features of Latin, (and the languages derived from Latin: Italian, Portuguese, Spanish etc.), is that the pronunciation of vowels is fairly constant and essentially unvarying. The pronunciation is as follows:
a is pronounced as the a in father
e is pronounced as the e in end
i is pronounced as the ee in feet
o is pronounced as the o in only
u is pronounced as the ue in clue
For various reasons, these guidelines need not be rigidly applied to scientific names of plants —e.g. this basic step in standardizing the pronunciation of plant names does not address the subject of accent placement. Still, the mastering of vowel pronunciation is a crucial first step for implementing some order into this vague subject.
Common Latin Prefixes and Endings There are some common endings and prefixes in Latin, some borrowed from Greek, which have significance:
-ense, -ensis, -ica, -ana, -icum, -icus, -anum, -anus: "From" or "native to"
Examples: virginica = from Virginia; indica=from India;
-i, -ii: "Named after" (a man).
Example: brackenridgei = named after William Brackenridge.
-ae, -iae: "Named after" (a woman).
Example: hannerae = named after Ruth Knudsen Hanner.
-flora, florus: "Having flowers as indicated."
Example: grandiflorus = having large flowers.
-folia, -folium, -folius: "Having leaves as indicated"
Example: rotundifolia = having round leaves.
-formis: "Shaped like."
Example: cuneiformis = wedge shaped.
-ifera, -iferum, -iferus: "Producing."
Examples: somniferum =producing sleep (or drowsiness).
"There is folk poetry in the common names;
but science, devoted to order and systematic knowledge,
insists on classifying and defining.
The poet’s buttercup is the botanist’s Ranunculus.
If you would walk with scientist as well as poet, learn both languages."
Hal Borland, Beyond Your Doorstep