3(34 • PRINCIPLES OF CLASSIFICATION. 



The scientific names of plants are all Latin or Latinized ; and that 

 of the species always follows that of the genus. 



711. Generic names in botany are derived from various sources. 

 Those of plants known to the ancients generally preserve their clas- 

 sical appellations ; as, for example, Quercus, Fagus, Corylus, Prunus, 

 Myrtus, Viola, &c. For plants since made known, even their barba- 

 rous names are often adopted, when susceptible of a Latin termina- 

 tion, and not too uncouth ; for example, Theea and Coffcea, for the 

 Tea and Coffee plants, Bambusa for the Bamboo, Yucca, Negundo, 

 &c. But more commonly, new generic names, when wanted, have 

 been framed by botanists to express some botanical character, habit, 

 or obvious peculiarity of the plants they designate ; such as Arena- 

 ria, for a plant which grows in sandy place;; Dentaria, for a 

 plant with toothed roots ; Lunaria, for one with moon-like pods ; 

 Sanguinaria, for the Bloodroot with its sanguine juice ; Crassula, 

 for some plants with remarkably thick leaves. These are instances 

 of Latin derivatives ; but recourse is more commonly had to the 

 Greek language, in which compounds of two words are much more 

 readily made, expressive of peculiarities ; such as Menispermum, or 

 Moonseed ; Lithospermum, for a plant with stony seeds ; Melanthium, 

 for a genus whose flowers turn black or dusky ; Epidendrum, for 

 certain Orehideous plants which grow upon trees ; Liriodendron, 

 for a tree which bears lily-shaped flowers, &c. Genera are also 

 dedicated to distinguished persons ; a practice commenced by the 

 ancients ; as Pceonia, which bears the name of Pa^on, who is said to 

 have employed the plant in medicine ; and Euphorbia, Artemisia, and 

 Asclepias are also example^ of the kind. Modern names of this 

 kind are freely given in commemoration of botanists, or of persons 

 who have contributed to the advancement of natural history. Mag- 

 nolia, Bignonia, Lobelia, and Lonicera, dedicated to Magnol, Big- 

 non, Lobel, and Lonicer, are early instances ; Linncea, Tournefortia, 

 Jtissicza, Hatter ia, and Gronovia, bear the names of the most cel- 

 ebrated botanists of the eighteenth century ; and at the present day 

 almost every devotee of the science is thus commemorated. 



712. Specific names are adjuncts, and mostly adjectives, adopted 

 on similar principles. Most of them are expressive of some char- 

 acteristic or obvious trait of the species ; as, Magnolia grandijiora, 

 the Large-flowered Magnolia ; M. macrophylla, the Large-leaved 

 Magnolia ; M. glauca, which has the foliage glaucous or whitened 

 underneath ; or Viola tricolor, from the three-colored corolla of the 



