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Plant Naming

The method of naming living things using 'Latinised' names was introduced to end the ambiguity of local names or common names, which can refer to different organisms depending on the country or region. The system was first devised early in the eighteenth century by a Swede, Carl von Linné, who adopted a Latin name for himself - Linnaeus. It was applied to plants in 1753 and to animals in 1756.
Plant names are usually descriptive, from the features of a plant (repens - creeping), who first discovered it (wilsonii), or its country of origin (lusitanica - Portugal). Since the names are not always based in Latin it is probably more accurate to describe it as the botanical, scientific or approved name, although it is usually written in a Latin form.
The "International Code of Botanical Nomenclature" is an agreement between botanists around the world to follow the Binomial System of naming. Every plant is given its own name, so there should not be any confusion when ordering plants for the garden. If common names were used and you asked for bluebells, you could get Campanula rotundifolia in Scotland, Hyacinthoides non-scripta in England or one of several Penstemon and Mertensia in North America.

Classification

The plant is first classified according to some physical characteristics, usually the flowers and fruit. This arrangement and classification of organisms is called taxonomy.
The table below shows a summary of the classification of part of the plant kingdom. Most of the plants of interest to gardeners are Spermatophytes or seed-bearers.

SPERMATOPHYTES (seed-bearing plants) / \ GYMNOSPERMS (ovules not enclosed in an ovary) eg. Cycads, Conifers ANGIOSPERMS (ovules enclosed in an ovary) Flowering plants | / \ | | | | | | | | | DICOTYLEDONS Seedling - two cotyledons present Flower-parts, eg. petals in 4's or 5's Herbaceous or woody stems with vascular bundles forming a ring usually broad leaves with branching veins usually a taproot with lateral roots MONOCOTYLEDONS Seedling - one cotyledon present Flower-parts, eg. petals or stamens in 3's or 6's Usually herbaceous stems with vascular bundles throughout usually narrow leaves with parallel veins fibrous roots, arising from base of stem | | | ORDER ORDER ORDER | | l FAMILY eg. Taxaceae FAMILY eg. Rosaceae FAMILY eg. Iridaceae | | | GENUS eg. Taxus GENUS eg. Prunus GENUS eg. Iris | | | SPECIES eg. baccata SPECIES eg. lucitanica SPECIES eg. sibirica

The seed are produced from ovules which are enclosed - Angiosperms, or naked - Gymnosperms.
The Angiosperms are divided into Dicotyledons which have a split seed producing two seed-leaves (cotyledons), and Monocotyledons which produce one seed-leaf. Other similarities of the two are given above. They are all further subdivided into Orders, Families, Genera and Species.
Families, eg. Rosaceae - the Rose family, contain many Genera which are similar in structure, eg. the Genus Prunus.
In turn there are many Species in the Genus Prunus, eg. P. lucitanica, P. laurocerasus and P. serrula.

Naming

The name is in two parts (Binomial System), first the Genus starting with a capital letter followed by the Species, with the first letter in lower case,
eg. Sorbus aria - common name Whitebeam. (In print the Genus and Species are usually set out in italics.)

• The Genus name is often shortened to a capital letter if it has already been used and another Species in that Genus is referred to, eg. S. aucuparia - Mountain Ash.

• The Species may be further divided into Subspecies (subsp.* or ssp.*), eg. Euphorbia characias subsp. wulfenii

• Due to geographic and ecological differences, variations arise within a Species giving rise to a Varitey name (var.*). A Variety is usually Latinised, written in italics and the abbreviation var. is sometimes included, eg. Geranium sanguinium var. striatum.

• When this variation is due to selective breeding it is called a Cultivar (cv.). A Cultivar name is not usually Latinised and is printed in standard type, but with a capital letter, and it is placed in inverted commas eg. Geranium cinereum 'Ballerina'. Often the Species name is left out and the Genus is followed by the Cultivar name, eg. Cotoneaster 'Autumn Fire'.

• When hybridization occurs between two Species the name of the resulting plant contains elements of the parental names connected by a multiplication sign (x*), eg. Corokia x virgata.

• Where the hybridization is between two Genera - a rare occurance - the cross is placed at the begining of the name, eg. x Fatshedera lizei - between a false castor oil plant (Genus Fatsia) and an ivy (Genus Hedera).

• Despite all the care taken to give one name to each plant, some have more than one acceptable name. This usually occurs when a plant is reclassified due do more up-to-date methods of identification and the old name remains in use. In this case the other name or synonym (syn.*), is sometimes included on the label, eg. Verbena bonariensis syn. V. patagonica.

(* NB. in print, ssp., var., syn., etc. are in standard type not in italics)

To throw some confusion on the names of plants, taxonomists keep themselves busy by reclassifying them. This can be due to advanced microscopic examination which shows that Species similar in looks can have important differences which places them in another Genera. More recently this reclassification is driven by knowledge of the genetic makeup of the plants, so there may well be an avalanche of newly named species. A well-known renaming occurred with a fairly common shrub, Senecio greyi which was given a new Genera Brachyglottis and the variety Dunedin Group 'Sunshine'.

With roses the Cultivar name is usually relevant to a particular country as they tend to be named after famous people or places, so a rose can have a different name depending on where it is being sold. To overcome this a separate international code for naming roses is followed. The rose breeder attaches a name to a rose and this stays with it even though another name is given, eg.
Rosa 'Savoy Hotel' has the international code name Rosa 'Harvintage'
Rosa 'Gertrude Jekyll' is Rosa 'Ausbord',
both may be known by another Cultivar name in another country, but the international code name should be the same.
The first three letters of the name represent the breeders name so Ausbord was developed by David Austin, and Harvintage by Harkness Roses. This system was adopted in 1979 so roses bred before this date do not have the additional international code name.

The lists below give some of the most commonly used names and their meanings. Knowing the origin associates the meaning with the plant so it is easier to remember those long names if you find out something about the plants. The Species in different Genera can have the same name so a culinary or medicinal herb can be called officinale/is, eg. Fumaria officinalis (Fumitory), Melissa officinalis (Lemon balm), Rosmarinus officinalis (Rosemary), Salvia officinalis (Sage) and Zingiber officinale (Ginger).

Names describing growth habit
Names describing habitat
Names describing leaves
Names describing flowers
Names describing colours
Names describing aromas or scents
Names relating to places
Miscellaneous names

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