SCIENTIFIC NAMES OF PLANTS. 161 
in that tongue. This usage of Latin has proved very convenient in 
practice, for it would lead to endless confusion did the plants bear the 
popular names of their respective countries alone. As it is, a definite 
scientific name is applied to one particular species, and to that one 
only, and such names—e.g., Ranunculus insignis—are recognized by 
scientific men, no matter what their nationality. 
Each scientific name of a species consists of two words only, the 
first denoting the genus and the second the species to which the 
plant belongs, such names being called respectively “ generic”? and 
“specific.” If the species is divided into varieties a third name is 
accorded the variety, and “var.” is placed before it—e.g., Geranium 
sessiliflorum var. glabrum. In writing the name of a species the 
29 
generic name must invariably begin with a capital letter, whereas 
the specific name must begin with a small letter unless it is (1) the 
latinized name of a person either in the form of a noun in the 
genitive case or of an adjective (e.g., Celmisia Hookert, Asplenium 
Hookerianum), or (2) a generic name used specificially (e.g., Schoenus 
Apogon). 
It is frequently objected that the scientific names are too difficult 
to remember for everyday use, and that English ones would be much 
easier to learn. There is a grain of truth in this. All the same, 
those who so object are usually people who do not intend to learn 
either name. Others, again, who urge the same plea, when speaking 
of their garden-plants, invariably call snapdragons “ antirrhinums ”’ ; 
nor would they abolish the words “ chrysanthemum, 
or even “eschscholzia,” for the world. Nor does the gardening 
public object to the names “ viola,” ‘‘ narcissus,’’ or even “ lobelia ” 
and “petunia,” all of which, as those cited above in this para- 
graph, are valid generic names. It is rather the second name which 
is the stumbling-block; but here again there are cases where this 
has become the popular name of a plant, as “‘ japonica” for Pyrus 
japonica, and “‘ macrocarpa’”’ for Cupressus macrocarpa. It is more 
2 OE S 2 
geranium, 
99 66 99 
frequent, however, to use the generic name in the above manner, as 
“danthonia”’ for Danthonia pilosa. Such generic names frequently 
answer excellently when used in this manner, so in this book a good 
many are so used. 
To write down the word “ species”’ is much easier than to define 
what a species really is. In fact, when it comes to fixing the limits 
of a species, scarcely two classifiers can agree. The individuals of 
11—Plants. 
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