Learn Scientific Names to Understand Your Plants Better

Learn Scientific Names to Understand Your Plants Better

Plant lovers often look at lists of plants or seeds for sale in the winter to plan their gardens for the coming year.

Those lists usually have two names for each plant: a common name and a botanical, or scientific name. The botanical name is not in English, which makes a lot of people unsure about what it means or how to say it.

The language is Latin. Its purpose is to help growers be sure that the plant they bring home is the one they wanted to buy. The problem with common names is that they are nicknames, or informal names, for plants. Many plants can share a common name. One plant can also have many common names. You can see how this can cause misunderstandings.

For example, you may have heard the name "geranium." The common name for the true Geranium is perennial¹ cranesbill. The container plant people call the geranium is actually a Pelargonium.

History of Botanical Latin

The Latin system of naming goes back to the 1700s and Swedish botanist², zoologist³ and physician Carl Linnaeus. His books Systema Naturae and Fundamenta Botanica created rules for classifying and naming plants in botanical Latin. For this reason, gardeners should try to become familiar with it.

Linnaeus spent his life giving every plant and animal that he knew a two-part, or binomial, name. The two parts are: genus and species. These names are often based on the appearance of parts of the plant or animal.

Linnaeus' International Code of Botanical Nomenclature sets rules for how plants should be named. They include:

A plant name must start with a capitalized genus,

The second part of the name is the species, written in lower-case, usual letter.

Next, the name includes either a variety (if the plant is found in nature), cultivar (if the plant is created by a breeder) or hybrid⁴ name (if it is a cross between two plants, an "x" is used).

Who chooses the scientific name?

The International Botanical Congress has gathered every six years to examine and decide on new naming questions. The questions come up because of new genetic⁵ research and scientific findings. After all, Linnaeus did not have modern microscopes or DNA⁶ testing laboratories to decide which plants are related.

For example, bleeding hearts, once officially called Dicentra spectabilis, were moved into the newly created Lamprocapnos genus several years ago. Their name is now Lamprocapnos spectabilis.

The snapdragon, a popular garden flower, was once in the Antirrhinum genus. The Congress moved it into the plantain family, Plantaginaceae.

No control over common names

Since no group controls the use of common names, the same plant may have several. Take Rudbeckia hirta. Some call it a black-eyed Susan, others say it is a yellow-oxeye daisy and others know it as the gloriosa daisy.

Ask a garden center employee for a snowball bush, and you might walk out with a Hydrangea arborescens or a Viburnum plicatum. There is a big difference. The first one has large round flower heads that bloom in the summer. The second one has groups of smaller flowers and blooms in the spring. But both are beautiful.

How can you learn the botanical name for a plant before you buy it? Search for the common name in the Royal Horticultural Society's free online Garden Plant Finder and get a list of the botanical names. You can also search for a botanical name and learn the common names.

Words in This Story

botanical – adj. of plants or plant life

classify –v. to order in groups based systematically⁷ on qualities of one kind or another

genus – n. a major category in the classification of animals, plants, and the like, ranking above a species and below a family: it can include one species or many similar species

species – n. a class of plants or animals whose members have the same main characteristics and are able to breed with each other.

variety – n. a kind of animal or plant produced by artificial breeding

cultivar – n. a variety of plant that began and continued under cultivation⁸

hybrid – n. an animal or plant resulting from a cross between genetically unlike individuals

1 perennial   

adj.终年的；长久的

参考例句：

• I wonder at her perennial youthfulness.我对她青春常驻感到惊讶。
• There's a perennial shortage of teachers with science qualifications.有理科教学资格的老师一直都很短缺。

2 botanist   

n.植物学家

参考例句：

• The botanist introduced a new species of plant to the region.那位植物学家向该地区引入了一种新植物。
• I had never talked with a botanist before,and I found him fascinating.我从没有接触过植物学那一类的学者，我觉得他说话极有吸引力。

3 zoologist   

n.动物学家

参考例句：

• Charles darwin was a famous zoologist.查尔斯达尔文是一位著名的动物学家。
• The zoologist had spent a long time living with monkeys.这位动物学家与猴子一起生活了很长时间。

4 hybrid   

n.(动，植）杂种，混合物

参考例句：

• That is a hybrid perpetual rose.那是一株杂交的四季开花的蔷薇。
• The hybrid was tall,handsome,and intelligent.那混血儿高大、英俊、又聪明。

5 genetic   

adj.遗传的，遗传学的

参考例句：

• It's very difficult to treat genetic diseases.遗传性疾病治疗起来很困难。
• Each daughter cell can receive a full complement of the genetic information.每个子细胞可以收到遗传信息的一个完全补偿物。

6 DNA   

(缩)deoxyribonucleic acid 脱氧核糖核酸

参考例句：

• DNA is stored in the nucleus of a cell.脱氧核糖核酸储存于细胞的细胞核里。
• Gene mutations are alterations in the DNA code.基因突变是指DNA密码的改变。

7 systematically   

adv.有系统地

参考例句：

• This government has systematically run down public services since it took office.这一屆政府自上台以来系统地削减了公共服务。
• The rainforest is being systematically destroyed.雨林正被系统地毀灭。

8 cultivation   

n.耕作，培养，栽培（法），养成

参考例句：

• The cultivation in good taste is our main objective.培养高雅情趣是我们的主要目标。
• The land is not fertile enough to repay cultivation.这块土地不够肥沃，不值得耕种。