Taxonomy: How plants are named

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Taxonomy How plants are named

• Unit 2- Introduction to Horticulture

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If you lived in another region of the United
States, or in even another country, what might
you call this plant?
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In some places, it is called the Inch Plant. In
others, it is called the Wandering Jew.

• So how can anyone tell which plant is which?

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We can use the scientific name for the plants.

• By using the scientific name, no matter who we
  are communicating with, we will know what plant
  is specifically being discussed.
• So, lets talk the language of plants!

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Lets talk history first

• If you lived a thousand years ago, and you were
  fortunate enough to have an education, you would
  speak the language of the educated Latin.
• When plants were described, each part had a Latin
  name. Plant names could be ten to twelve words
  long. This method worked, but was considered
  clumsy.

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So enter a Swedish botanist Carolus Linnaeus,
who was born in 1707, and died in 1778.
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It was his idea to identify plants by two names,
or the binomial system.

• So instead of writing physalis amno ramosissime
  ramis angulosis glabris foliis dentoserratis
  this was replaced by the concise and now familiar
  genus-species names - Physalis angulata

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This made it much easier for all the botanists
and biologists. So lets talk about these 2
names.

• In the binomial system we have (bi- 2) (nomial
  names) i.e. two names...
• Genus or Generic
• Species or Specific

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Genus or generic names always are first.

• This is a group name- all plants in the same
  genus have similar characteristics. The genus is
  always a noun, and many times the genus is named
  after the scientist that classified the plant.
  The following are examples of common genus names
• Zebrina, Chrysanthemum, and Pinus.

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The second name is the Species or specific name.

• The species name is an adjective, and can
  describe the plant or give information about the
  plant. Such as
• Size
• Shape
• Color
• Growth habit
• Origin

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Once you speak plant, them no matter where you
are

• You will be able to know exactly what plant
  everyone is talking about.
• Acer palmatum is a Japanese red maple in French,
  German, Japanese, and even in English!

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Back to the BIG picture-

• Many plants belong to the same genus (genera)
• These are grouped into families which relates to
  flower structure
• The Rosaceae family includes the following
  plants-
• Prunus Malus Fragaria Rubus

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What is the largest family of plants?

• Remember, it relates to flower structure.
• It is the Compositae family. Plants in this
  family include Chrysanthemum

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And

• Asters

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Then there is

• Cineraria

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Can you see the similarities in the bloom
structure???

• They all have ray and disk flowers.
• This kind of observation makes classification
  simple.

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So now we know about genera and species, how do
we write it out????

• Because these words are in another language, they
  are always written in
• Italics
• That is, if you are using the computer- and it
  is very easy to do!!!!!

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The genus name is always first.

• It is always capitalized!!!!!
• For example- The genus is
• Chrysanthemum

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The species name is next.

• It is never capitalized.
• An example of a species name is
• morifolium

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Then, we can add one more name- the cultivar (cv.)

• It is also known as the

VARIETY!
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So, here is what it looks like

• Chrysanthemum morifolium cv. Diamond
  Yellow

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Remember the order and it will be simple!!

• Genus or Generic
• species or specific
• cultivar or variety

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A taxonomist

• Is a scientist who specializes in the
  classification and identification of plants.
  This is not an easy job, because every plant has
  to have its own binomial name.

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Here is the way it looks

• Kingdom- Plants
• Division or Phylum- Spermatophyta (seed plants)
• Class- Angiospermae (seeds in fruit)
• Order- Acerales
• Family- Aceracae
• Genus- Acer
• Species-rubrum
• Cultivar or variety- Red Sunset

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Acer rubrum Red Sunset
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Getting back to Zebrina pendula?

• Zebrina means zebra like
• pendula means falling
• Does that describe the plant?

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It does! So scientific names can really help in
the classification and identification of plants!!!

• Assignment- Using your plant ID list- write down
  10 plant names in scientific or botanical form.
  Divide your paper into 2 columns. Label one
  column Genus, the other species. Write the genus
  name and species name in the correct column.
  Make sure you have placed it correct form. When
  you are finished, hand in your paper.