The Names of Trees 



the time of its publication. This was about the middle of the 

 eighteenth century. 



The vast body of information which the "Species Plantarum" 

 contained was systematically arranged. All the different species 

 in one genus were brought together. They were described, 

 each under a number; and an adjective word, usually descriptive 

 of some marked characteristic, was written in as a marginal index. 



After Linnaeus's time botanists found that the genus name in 

 combination with this marginal word made a convenient and 

 exact means of designating the plant. Thus Linnaeus became 

 the acknowledged originator of the binomial (two-name) system 

 of nomenclature, now in use in all sciences. It is a delightful 

 coincidence that while Linnaeus was engaged on his great work, 

 North America, that vast new field of botanical exploration, was 

 being traversed by another Swedish scientist. Peter Kalm sent 

 his specimens and his descriptive notes to Linnaeus, who described 

 and named the new plants in his book. The specimens swelled 

 the great herbarium at the University of Upsala. 



Among trees unknown to science before are the Magnolia, 

 named in honour of the great French botanist, Magnol. Robinia, 

 the locust, honours another French botanist, Robin, and his son. 

 Kalmia, the beautiful mountain laurel, immortalises the name of 

 the devoted explorer who discovered it. Linnaea, the little twin 

 flower of the same mountains, is the one which the great botanist 

 loved best. 



It is inevitable that duplication of names attend the work of 

 the early scientists, isolated from each other, and far from li- 

 braries and herbaria. Anyone discovering a plant he believed to 

 be unknown to science published a description of it in some 

 scientific journal. If someone else had described it at an earlier 

 date, the fact became known in the course of time. The name 

 earliest published is retained, and the later one is dropped to the 

 rank of a synonym. If the name has been used before to describe 

 some other species in the same genus, a new name must be sup- 

 plied. In the " Cyclopedia of Horticulture " the sugar maple is 

 written : '' Acer saccharum, Marsh. (Acer sacchariin/m, Wang. 

 Acer barbatum, Michx.)" This means that the earliest name given 

 this tree by a botanist was that of Marshall. Wangheimer and 

 Michaux are therefore thrown out; the names given by them are 

 among the synonyms. 



