Greek and Latin in Biological Nomenclature 81 



group above and below. The number of possible divisions above the 

 genus is fifteen, which makes it impossible that each should re- 

 ceive a distinct suffix. The most satisfactory method, then, will 

 be to fix the designations for the five main groups, and to indi- 

 cate sub and super divisions by prefixes, or by slight variations 

 of the proper suffix. A further reason for this is found in the 

 fact that cognate suffixes can alone be used, since generic names 

 arc either Greek or Latin, and that proper cognate suffixes are 

 few. In fact, they are practically exhausted by the five principal 

 groups, -alis, -ales, being, indeed, very hard to justify as a ter- 

 mination for Greek stems. It should be noted that -phyta is 

 merely the neuter plural of the Greek word, <t>vr6v, TO, plant, and 

 can be attached only to Greek stems. 



The following examples will illustrate the operation of the 

 above rule. 

 Protophyta : Schizophyceae : Nematogenales : Nostocaceae : Au- 



losirinae 

 Phycophyta: Chlorophyceae : Conjugatales: Zygnemataceae : Me- 



socarpinae 

 Carpcphyta : Ascomyceteae : Discomycetales : Pezizaceae : Sarco- 



scyphinae 

 Bryophyta : Hepaticeae : Jungermanniales : Jungermanniaceae : 



Aploziinae 



Pteridophyta : Filiceae : Filicales : Polypodiaceae : Onocleinae 

 Spermatophyta : Angiospermateae: Glumales : Graminaceae : Fes- 



tucinae 



81 



