BOTANICAL NOMENCLATURE 223 



thus causing a duplication. In such a case the name Acer rubrum 

 could not inform us with certainty which species was referred to by the 

 writer or speaker. It might, for example, be an Acer rubrum made by 

 Linne in 1753 or one so named by some one else in 1880. It is therefore 

 necessary to add to the plant-name the name of its author, thus, Acer 

 rubrum Linne. This necessity for the use of the author's name is semi- 

 barbarous, and is a mere monument to the lack of sj^stem in plant- 

 naming which once existed. With the perfect systematizing of nomen- 

 clature this necessity will pass away. For convenience, it is customary 

 to abbreviate the name of the author thus, L. for Linne, Reichb. for 

 Reichenbach, or Benth. for Bentham. The generic name may also 

 be abbreviated in many cases by writing only its first letter, followed 

 by a period, thus, A. rubrum L. This of course can only be done when 

 it is well understood to what genus the writer is referring. For example, 

 in the above cases, where we have been speaking only of Acers, the 

 abbreviation "A." can be employed with entire satisfaction. 



A name in parenthesis will sometimes be found interposed between 

 the generic and specific names thus, Acer (Negundo) aceroides. This 

 indicates that the genus consists of two or more sub-genera, the one in 

 this case being Negundo. It is not customary to indicate the sub- 

 genus in this way, but a writer often desires for some special reason to 

 do so. 



The name of an author enclosed in parenthesis is often seen standing 

 between the specific name and that of the author, thus Acer aceroides 

 (Moench) Gray. This means that the botanist named in the paren- 

 thesis assigned to the plant its specific name, but connected it with 

 some other genus, the later author, whose name follows the parenthesis, 

 having transferred it to the present genus, thus creating the present 

 binominal. In all cases where a plant is thus transferred to a different 

 genus, it must retain its original specific name, unless the genus to which 

 it is so transferred already has a species with that name, in which case 

 a new specific name must be assigned, this necessity being to avoid 

 binomial duplication. 



When the name of the author in parenthesis is not followed by 

 another, it means that the writer claims that this binomial has never 

 been printed and that he must henceforward be cited as its author. 



We frequently see a trinomial used as the name of a plant, thus, 

 Viola tricolor alba, no parenthesis being used for the middle name. 

 This indicates that the species Viola tricolor sometimes exhibits a form 

 possessing white flowers, and that this form is regarded as a variety of 



