NOMENCLATURE. 369 



dusky color ; Epidendrum, for Orchideous plants which grow upon 

 trees ; Liriodendron, for a tree which bears lily-shaped flowers, 

 &c. Genera are also dedicated to distinguished persons, a prac- 

 tice commenced by the ancients ; as in the case of Pceonia, which 

 bears the name of PaBon, who is said to have employed the plant 

 in medicine ; and Euphorbia, Artemisia, and Asclepias are also 

 examples of the kind. Modern names of this kind are given in 

 commemoration of botanists, or of persons who have contributed 

 to the advancement of natural history. Magnolia, Bignonia, Lo- 

 belia, and Lonicera, dedicated to Magnol, Bignon, Lobel, and Lo- 

 nicer, are early instances of the practice ; Linnsea, Tournefortia, 

 Jussiasa, Gronovia, &c., bear the names of more celebrated bota- 

 nists ; and at the present day almost every devotee or patron of 

 the science is thus commemorated. 



701. The names of species, as a general rule, are adjectives, 

 written- after those of the genera, and established on similar princi- 

 ples ; as, Magnolia, grandiflora, the Large-flowered Magnolia ; 

 M. macrophylla, the Large-leaved Magnolia ; Bignonia radicans, 

 the Rooting Bignonia, &c. The generic and specific names, taken 

 together, constitute the proper scientific appellation of the plant. 

 Specific names sometimes distinguish the country which a plant 

 inhabits (Ex. Viola Canadensis, the Canadian Violet) ; or the sta- 

 tion where it naturally grows (as V. palustris, which grows in 

 swamps, V. arvensis, in fields, &c.) ; or they express some obvious 

 character of the species (as V. rostrata, where the corolla bears 

 a remarkably long spur ; V. tricolor, which has tricolored flow- 

 ers ; V. rotundifolia, with rounded leaves; V. lanceolata, with 

 lanceolate leaves ; V. pedata, with pedately parted leaves ; V. pri- 

 mulcefolia, where the leaves are compared to those of the Prim- 

 rose ; F. asarifolia, where they are likened to those of Asarum ; 

 V. pubescens, which is hairy throughout, &c.). Frequently the 

 species bears the name of its discoverer or describer, when it takes 

 the genitive form, as Viola Muhlenbergii, V. Nuttallii, &c. When 

 such commemorative names are merely given in compliment to a 

 botanist unconnected with the discovery or history of the plant, the 

 adjective form is preferred ; as Carex Torreyana, C. Hookeriana, 

 &c. : but this rule is not universally followed. Specific names are 

 sometimes substantive ; as Ranunculus Flammula, Hypericum Sa- 

 rothra, Linaria Cymbalaria, &c. ; when they do not necessarily 

 accord with the genus in gender. These, as well as all specific 



