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Taxonomy and Nomenclature
(Gardener’s Latin)
Understanding It, So You Can Use It
A program presented by Donna Little
Horticulturist and Arborist
Don’t let the big words scare you. Taxonomy is the science dealing with describing, naming and classifying plants and animals. Nomenclature is a system of terms used in a particular science. In this case, the standardized New Latin names used in biology.
I use the term New Latin or Gardener’s Latin because it is not true Latin. Carl von Linne started the nomenclature we use today in 1732. He was better known as Carolus Linnaeus. Linnaeus divised a system for categorizing plants that was published in the second edition of Hortus uplandicus (1732). He updated his system in 1737 and was knighted in 1753 for his work. His nomenclature remains the conventional system we use today.
I call it Gardener’s Latin because the names are often not Latin at all. They may be from other languages such as Greek, Hebrew, or Algonquin. In Linnaeus’s system, all names are given proper Latin endings. But quite often plants are named for the place where they were discovered or named for the person that discovered it. As you learn and use botanical plant names you will start to see the name, or part of the name isn’t Latin.
Most plants are known by their common names because common names are often easier to remember pronounce, and use. A common name has value in conversation only if both persons know exactly what plant is being discussed. The scientific name (Gardener’s Latin) is the same worldwide.
Each plant has a two-word name. The first name refers to the plant’s genus (a group of structurally related species). Members of a genus have close ties, and the close ties are what make them a genus. Those close ties are what make them recognizable as a genus.
Acer is the genus of maples: all the members have the distinctive leaf shape by which we can recognize them as maples. Iris is another genus; all the members have distinctive flowers by which we recognize them. The plural of genus is genera. The genus is printed in italics and begins with a capital letter. The genus is always capitalized.
The second name refers to the species. The genus is made up of a number of individual species. Species are naturally occurring plants that reproduce from seed: They are unimproved by man. (a group of similar plants capable of interbreeding and more or less distinctly different in geographic range and/or form, structure and development from other species in the same genus). The species name is printed in italics and begins with a lower-case letter. The species name is always used in conjunction with the genus. Sometimes the species name tells you a lot about the plant. For instance, rubrum means red, alba means white, stellata means star shaped.
The complete Linnaean name will have a third element- the authority (the abbreviated name of the scientist who name the species).
Let’s consider the name of a maple tree. Acer rubrum L. Acer is the genus of maples. I think of genus as the general group. rubrum is the species; it lets you know which maple. I think of species as specific. L. means Linnaeus; his initials appear commonly, because he named so many species. For most practical use the initial is left off of the printed name.
Some times a botanical name is not sufficient to identify a species –wild or cultivated. Botanists and horticulturists may form subspecific categories as botanical variety, or cultivar.
Variety is when a species changes in the wild. A variety, like a species, will always reproduce from seed.
A varieties distinct forms are given an extra Latin name. The varietal name, like genus and species is written in italics. One example is the native American blue star, Amsonia tabernaemontana, is a species with spears-like leaves. A naturally occurring variety of blue star, Amsonia tabernaemontana salicifolia has narrower willow-like leaves (salicifolia means willow like leaves). To indicate that a plant is a variety, the abbreviation var. may be incorporated in the name. You might see it written as:
Amsonia tabernaemontana var. salicifolia, or as Amsonia tabernaemontana salicifolia.
Cultivar means “cultivated variety”. These are man-made or natural variations within a species that do not normally reproduce from seed. They may produce seed and the seed may germinate but cultivated varieties do not normally reproduce “true” or identical plants from seed.
The cultivar will follow the species name and will be capitalized. It may by listed with
cultivar abbreviated like cv., or the cultivar may have single quotes. The longer the plant name becomes the more specific the name is to a particular plant. Such as:
Acer rubrum cv. Autumn Flame or Acer rubrum ‘Autumn Flame’
You can forget about the following part about hybrids for now if you are getting confused. Hybrids are crosses between different species. When an “x” appears with the Latin name of a plant you know you are dealing with a hybrid. The multiplication sign x between genus and species denotes that a plant is a hybrid or may hybridize freely, or that it is a progeny of an intentional cross. When two species cross (or, hybridize) the result is called an interspecific cross.
Rarer hybrids exist. An x (multiplication sign) appearing before the genus name means that the plant results from crossing of the two genera (plural for genus); this is called an intergeneric cross.
Now, let’s try to understand some of the names. The names are usually phonetic and often give a clue to the plant’s characteristics, its native habitat, or for whom it is named. For example, names that refer to leaves include folius or folia, phyllon or phylla, usually as suffixes. The names can also have prefixes, such as macro or micro. Thus, words created such as macrophylla (large leaf), microfolius or microphylla (small leaf), salicifolius (willow leaf). The Latin for flower is flora: add the prefix grand and it becomes grandiflora (large flower) as in Magnolia grandiflora L., the southern magnolia.
Shapes or growing habits of plants can be described with altus or alta (tall), arboreus (treelike), compactus (dense), nana or pumilus (dwarf), repens or reptans (creeping) and scandens (climbing).
Species names can reflect flower or foliage color, place of origin, shape, texture or fragrance.
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