Scientific, Or Botanical Plant Names

Botanical Plant Names

Scientific, or botanical, names for plants might seem intimidating to the average gardener. Botanic names are expressed in Latin, or Latinized versions, of words and are used to classify plants in a logical order which tells us where the plant belongs in the vast Plant Kingdom. Common names of plants may change from locality to locality but the botanical name remains the same for plants all over the world. This eliminates confusion if you know the botanical name for the plant you are looking for.

The system of botanical names was devised by Carl Linnaeus, who lived between 1707 and 1778. During his lifetime there were many new plant species being discovered in the Americas and all over the world. He published the first edition of his Systema Naturae in 1735. It is worth noting that Linnaeus devised a scientific system for naming both plants and animals, but his primary love was of plants and gardening.

A gardener need not learn Latin to utilize the knowlege contained within the botanical name of a plant. But it does help the gardener to know the basics of the scientific naming system that Linneaus devised. Plants are classified according to criteria laid down by this system. The basic system is this – Plant Kingdom/phylum/class/family/genus/species. There are also subkingdoms, subphylums, subfamilies and the like. The only portion of the botanical name which should concern most gardeners is the genus/species portion of the botanical name, because this is the portion which may appear on those little labels you find at the garden center. Most of the plants in this guide will have the genus species name, as well as the family it belongs to. If the plant is a hybrid or variety that designation will follow the species name.

Thus a popular garden perennial, the New England Aster will be called Aster novae-angliae, Family Compositae or Daisy. Note that the genus name is always capitalized, the species name is lower case. A hybrid will be designated by an “X” after the species name. A specific variety will have it’s name preceeded by the letters “var” after the species name. A serious gardener should arm themselves with a good plant name dictionary or even a copy of Hortus Third because the botanical names of the various plants are described in these guides.

General Gardening

December 7, 2010 · Administrator · No Comments
Tags: Annual Flowers, Perennial Flowers, Vegetables, Wildflowers · Posted in: Botany