Plant Taxonomy: How Plants Are Named

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Unit 2

• Plant Taxonomy How Plants Are Named

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Why are scientific names written in Latin?

• The early scholars always wrote in Latin or
  Greek, so naturally, when they described plants
  or animals, they gave them scientific Latin or
  Latinized Greek names.
• This caused problems because the names were often
  long and difficult.

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To differentiate between scientific and common
plant names and explain the binomial system of
naming plants

• Most plants have more than one common name.
  Common names can be confusing.
• The Swedish botanist, Linnaeus, developed the
  binomial (two name) system for naming plants.
• All plants having the same generic name are said
  to belong to the same genus. Plants belonging to
  the same genus have similar characteristics.
• The first name is the genus (plant group name)
  and the second the species (or kind)
• The genus name is usually a noun and the species
  an adjective

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Plant Families

• Related genera (plural or genus) with similar
  flower structures are grouped together in major
  units known as families.

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Binomial System

• Some common genus names are
• Acer (maple), Chrysanthemum (mum), Dianthus
  (pink), Hibiscus (mallow), Sedum (stonecrop),
  Papaver (poppy), Pinus (pine) and Pelargonium
  (geranium).
• In some cases, the generic (genus) name has
  become the common name (Euronymus, Rhododendron
  and Forsythia)
• The species name often gives us information about
  the plant. It sometimes tells us the color
  (lutea means yellow, alba means white, ruba means
  red, nigra means black) or if the plant is
  creeping or erect (repens is creeping) Sometimes
  the species name gives geographic information
  about where a plant occurs naturally (Anemone
  virginiana from Virginia, Taxus canadensis from
  Canada)
• When writing a scientific name, the genus name
  always begins with a capital letter and the
  species name with a small letter.

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The Taxonomist

• Scientist who identify and classify plants are
  known as taxonomists.
• An international set of rules drawn up to ensure
  that every different species has a different
  binomial name and that the scientific name
  assigned to that plant is the oldest binomial
  name ever used is known as the International
  Code of Botanical Nomenclature

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Student Activities

• Complete self evaluation at the end of the unit.
• Get a plant catalog or book and list 20 common
  plant names and their scientific names in proper
  form like the following example