THE PLANT WORLD 



A MONTHLY JOURNAL OF POPULAR BOTANY. 



F. H. KNOWLTON, Ph.D., Editor, U. S. National Museum, Washington, D. C. 



ARTICLES AND NOTES ON ANY SUBJECT OF INTEREST TO PLANT-LOVERS ARE SOLICITED, AND SHOULD 



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In the January number an explanation was given of recent changes 

 that have been made in botanical classification. These changes in 

 limitation and sequence of groups were also, at least in certain botan- 

 ical centers, accompanied by numerous changes in the familiar Latin 

 names of many of our plants. In the present note it is proposed to 

 give a brief account of this so-called nomenclature reform 



Each known species of plant is designated at the present time by 

 two Latin terms — a generic and a specific appellation. This system, 

 known as that of binomial nomenclature, was carried into full effect 

 in botany by Linnaeus in the year 1753. Previous to that date plants 

 were known by a generic name to which was appended one or several 

 more or less descriptive terms. Thus a certain pine was known as 

 Pinus sylvestris maritiina, conis firmiter ramis adhoerentibus. In the 

 case of large genera this became exceedingly cumbrous, but reducing 

 the number of terms to two simplified the matter greatly. 



At the time Linnaeus wrote comparatively few plants, less than 

 9,000 species, were known to science, but it marked the beginning of 

 an era of great botanical activity, and vast numbers of new species 

 were discovered in various parts of the world. It therefore naturally 

 happened that when so many botanists were working independently 

 they discovered and gave different names to the same species of plant. 

 The wide distribution enjoyed by many plants aided in this duplica- 

 tion. The scientific name which came to be generally accepted for a 

 plant depended upon a variety of circumstances. It might be the one 

 given it by Linnaeus or some of his contemporaries, or one of much 

 later date. The size and circulation of the work in which a species was 

 published, or the name and authority of the author were often deciding 

 elements. Ignorance of the existence of more than one name also con- 

 tributed to the result. But it usually happened that sooner or later a 

 name would gain recognition, by one means or another, over the other 

 names proposed for the same species, and come to be for a time the 



