How to Understand Plant Names (Botanical Latin 101)

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This beginner’s guide to botanical names shares the basics for gardeners wanting to get comfortable using the scientific names for plants.

We also have a gardener’s dictionary to help understand garden lingo and terms.

A Quick History of Our Current Plant Naming System

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To understand how plants are named and how we arrived at our current system, let’s first look at a brief history of plant names.

In the 1700s, Swedish botanist Carl Linnaeus developed the binomial (two names) system for naming plants. Animal names are formed this way too.

Each botanical or scientific name has two parts: the genus and the specific epithet. The first word is the genus and then, to get a species name, a second word is added — the epithet — and it’s an adjective in Latin form, although it may be a new creation and not actually a word from Latin. Sometimes the epithet is a Latinized version of a place or a person’s name.

Example

Digitalis purpurea

Common names: foxglove, common foxglove, purple foxglove, lady’s glove
Digitalis is the genus.
purpurea is the specific epithet.
Digitalis purpurea or D. purpurea (can be written either way) is the scientific/botanical name for the species.
Etymology: purpurea is Latin for purple.

When Linnaeus introduced this system, Latin was the international language of science so that’s what he used for scientific plant names. And it’s what we still use today.

The adoption of the binomial system was a major milestone, bringing some order to the chaos, but it took many more years before a shared, consistent system was adopted across the globe.

And from there, it wasn’t until the advent of genetic testing that we could further verify our classifications through DNA, which continues today.

The International Code of Nomenclature for Plants

Today, the International Botanical Congress (IBC) oversees the International Code of Nomenclature (ICN) for plants, algae, fungi, and plant fossils.

Within this, plant cultivars altered or selected by humans are governed by the International Code of Nomenclature for Cultivated Plants (ICNCP).

Animals, bacteria, and viruses have their own separate Codes.

The goal is to have one correct name for each plant and avoid the mayhem caused by inconsistent or vernacular names.

Common Names versus Botanical Names

While botanical names are standard in the science world, anarchy continues in the gardening world where we use a quirky mixture of botanical and common names (with countless regional variances).

To further spice it up, some plant breeders forgo established names in favor of more alluring, marketable names. Perhaps a rose by any other name does indeed smell sweeter!

Reclassifying Plant Names

The ICN rules are revisited every six years and the next meeting takes place in 2023.

Plants, however, can be reclassified at any time based on the best evidence we have. And when they are, their scientific names can change. We are truly in the early days of genetic analysis and, as the technology improves, we will be able to refine and add classifications more proficiently.

If you follow botanical science news, particularly in a year when the IBC meets, you know there are always new developments, disagreements, and findings.

How to Write Botanical Names / Scientific Names

Plant names are written in a particular format.

The genus is capitalized, the specific epithet is not, and both words are italicized or underlined.

When the entire scientific name is used, the genus name may appear in full or abbreviated with the first letter in upper case.

Scientific Name / Botanical Name Example:

Echinacea purpurea

or E. purpurea

Subspecies

The world of plants (and life on Earth) is filled with different varieties, both occurring naturally from cross-pollination or assisted by humans.

Along with the genus and species epithet, you may also have subspecies, variety, cultivar, and form identifiers.

Variety Names

Once new traits become stable and continuously reappear in offspring, the new plant group may be assigned a variety name along with the genus and specific epithet to further define it.

Naturally occurring variations are denoted with the abbreviation var. which is placed after the specific epithet and is not underlined or italicized.
The variety name is placed after var. and written in italics.
If it is a proper noun (only), it is capitalized.
Quotes are not used.

Example:

Echinacea purpurea var. arkansana

or E. purpurea var. arkansana

It’s also fine to note that you do not know the variety:

Echinacea purpurea var. unknown

Cultivar Names

The word cultivar means a cultivated plant variety formed with human influence.

You don’t often see it these days, but the abbreviation cv. can be used to signify that the plant is a cultivar.
The cv. abbreviation is not underlined or italicized.
The cultivar name is written after cv. or within single quotes (commonly used) with the first letter capitalized.
Unlike variety names, cultivar names are not underlined or italicized.

Example:

E. purpurea cv. Magnus

or E. purpurea ‘Magnus’

Hybrids

An “x” in the scientific name indicates that the plant is a hybrid.

Citrus × meyeri | Meyer lemon

Carl Linnaeus – Swedish Botanist (1707-1778)
The designation L. after a species name indicates Linnaeus first described the entity. Called it!

Resources

If the world of plant names interests you, you might enjoy a course or book on botanical Latin.

Books

Once you start understanding the meaning or etymology of the genus and species words, it becomes much easier to remember the proper scientific names and get a glimpse into their history and relationships.