305 



THE BERLIN RULES FOR NOMENCLATURE. 



[The following is a translation of the Rules for the officials of 

 the Ro3'al Botanic Garden and Museum of Berlin which have been 

 issued with the authority of the present staff.] 



1. — The principle of priority for selection of the names of genera 

 and species of plants holds good as a general rule ; 1753/54 is 

 regarded as the beginning of the establishment of priority. 



2. — The name of a genus is, however, allowed to lapse if it has 

 not been in general use fifty years, counted from the date of its 

 establishment. If the name has, however, been revived in mono- 

 graphs or large floras as a result of following the "Laws of Nomen- 

 clature of the Year 1868," that name is to hold good. 



3. — In order to obtain a similarity of form for the denoting of 

 groups, we use the following endings : — The alliances are to end in 

 -ales ; the families in -aeea; ; the subfamilies in -oidecB ; the tribes in 

 -e(B ; the subtribes in -incB ; the endings are to be added to the root 

 of the generic names, as Pandan{iis)-ales ; Ilumex Rwnic{is)-oide(2 : 

 Asclepias, Asclepiad{is)-e(B ; Metastelma, Metastebnat{is)-in(B ; Madi(a) 



4. — As regards the gender of names of genera, we go by correct 

 grammatical castom in the case of classical words ; with later 

 names and barbarisms, the usage of the Naturlichcn Pjianzenfamilien 

 is maintained ; changes in the endings or in the word are not, as a 

 rule, to be permitted. Notorious faults in names taken from proper 

 names must be corrected ; for instance, Padimjia is to take the place 

 of the lUdingia of the English, which has been imported by us. 



5. — Names of genera which have become synonyms are better 

 not used again in an altered sense for denoting a new genus or even 

 a section of one. 



6. — The rule of priority holds good for names of species, provided 

 that no objections have been raised in a monograph against its 

 retention. If a species is removed to another genus, it must retain 

 its oldest specific name. 



7. — The author who first named the species, although in another 

 genus, is always to be acknowledged, and his name is therefore to 

 be placed in brackets before that of the author who has removed the 

 species into another genus ; thus, Pulsatilla pratensis (L.) Mill. If 

 an author has himself placed his species in another genus, the 

 bracket is omitted. 



8. — As regards the mode of writing specific names, that followed 

 by Linnseus has been introduced into the Botanical Garden 'and 

 Museum. This is to be still observed, and we therefore write all 

 species-names with a small letter, except those derived from the 

 names of persons and those which are substantives (names of genera 

 in many cases still, or at least formerly, in use) ; for example — 



* Some exceptions, as Conifercc, Crucifercc, UnihcUifertr, Palnur, remain 

 correct. 



Journal of Botany. — Vol. 35. [Aug. 1897.] \ 



