All about Botanical Names of Plants
Understanding Botanical Plant
Names
Note: This is a PB260 version that has corrected text
Plants, like any other living organism, are given
botanical names based on an internationally accepted system for naming
each unique and distinct plant, whether natural or cultivated. This system,
developed by the 18th century botanist Carl Linnaeus, provides a first
name called the "genus" and a second name called a "species". This provides
people world-wide, a way to refer to a distinctly identified and classified
plant using the same accepted name. The advantage is that common names
ascribed to plants - which are easier to remember - cause much confusion
when used to refer to several different plants. In addition to these two
names, plants fall into distinct families (a classification higher and
broader than genus) and into subdivisions below the species level to name
forms and varieties of plants which share common species characteristics.
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Genus: A genus refers
to a group of species of plants that share certain structural characteristics
as determined by botanical study. The genus name, a noun, may come from
mythology, literature, or other sources which refer to something the plant
resembles.
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Species: The species,
an adjective, often refers to a place, the plant's characteristics/appearance,
or the name of the person credited with discovering it Species are botanically
classified by analysis of the flower parts and characteristics for flowering
plants, and by the seed/cone for coniferous and other non-flowering plants.
This is why plants with distinctively different foliage or other characteristics
can be classified as the same species. Species is abbreviated sp. or spp.
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Variety: A subdivision
of species which describes naturally occurring changes, sports, or mutations
that create a distinctively different plant in appearance. The same plant
may grow on two different continents but grow taller on one than the other
or have identical flowers forms but different colors. These would would
be an example of different forms or varieties. The key words are "naturally
occurring". Those that reproduce the different characteristic without human
intervention are named true varieties (var.) or forms (forma). Those varieties
that require human intervention (asexual reproduction methods), are known
as cultivated varieties or "cultivars" for short. These are sometimes abbreviated
cv.
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Cultivar: A subdivision
of a variety/species that identifies a plant characteristic which originated
in nature but can only be replicated by asexual reproduction and human
intervention. Examples are variegations, growth forms, foliage or flower
color, etc.
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Hybrid: A new variety
of plant that is created through human intervention through sexual means
(crossing the pollen of one plant with the egg, contained in the pistol,
of another which results in a distinctively new plant. Continued reproduction
may require the same crossing technique as rarely do seed produced from
a mature plant created by hybridization or from a cultivar reproduce the
same desired characteristic. Hybrid crosses are readily done among plants
of the same species and rarely between plants of different genera.
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How to correctly write plant
names: When the genus and species are written together, the first
letter of the noun genus is capitalized and the species is in all lower
case but both are italicized. Latinized names have genders which are expressed
in the last syllable. Masculine ends in "us". Feminine endings are "a"
and "es". Neuter endings include "um", "n", and "ma". The species, an adjective,
must agree with the gender of the noun genus. A cultivar is indicated by
a single quote (') before and after the name which is not italicized. If
the cultivar is named after someone or a place which is normally capitalized,
the cultivar name is also capitalized. Some examples using Hollies follow:
- Ilex vomitoria (the botanical name for Yaupon
Holly - this species was used by the indians to induce vomiting - the derivation
of it's species name)
- Ilex vomitoria 'Nana' (A dwarf form of Yaupon
Holly)
- Ilex vomitoria 'Will Fleming' (A cultivar
discovered by Will Fleming)
- Ilex X attenuata 'Sunny Foster' (a cultivar of a hybrid between I. opaca and I. cassine which produces yellow leaves on new growth)
A list of some of the commonly
used names
When you see the botanical names of plants and related
cultivars, often the Latin derived name is descriptive of their ornamental
features.
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Aurea, aureo -- golden (applies to yellow variegations
or coloration)
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Alba, Albo -- white (applies to white variegations)
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Glauca -- blue (describes a blue tinted leaf coloration)
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Glabra -- shiny, silvery (describes a leaf coloration)
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Rubra -- red (describes red colorations)
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Purpurea, atropurpurea -- purple, (describes purple
coloration)
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Marginata -- marginal (describes a type of variegation)
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Medio -- middle (describes a type of variegation)
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Striata -- streaks (describes a type of variegation)
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Variegata -- variegated (not specifically descriptive
of the type of variegation)
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Contorta, Tortulosa, Monstrosa -- contorted, twisted,
fused growth habits
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Zebrina, Zebrinus -- striped or banded
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Tricolor -- a three color blend of variegation
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Rotunda, Rotundifolia -- round shaped
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Fastigiata -- tall, slender, upright, columnar shape
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Prostrata -- low to the ground, creeping
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Pendula -- weeping growth habit
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Triangularis, Obovatus, Lanceolata, Serrata, Palmatum,
etc. -- descriptions of leaf shapes which can be found in glossaries of
our book recommendations. In addition, there are standard terminologies
for branching forms, leaf types, inflorescence, etc. contained in these
glossaries Often these are used in species or cultivar names to describe
the unique plant characteristic. Take time to become familiar with them.
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A glossary of the roots of botanical names can be
found here Glossary
of Roots of Botanical Names
Original (uncorrected) version of this page
Please return to ORNAMENTAL
HORTICULTURE FOR THE HOUSTON/CLEAR LAKE AREAfor
more horticultural information.