NAMED, AND STUDIED. 95 



Brown and James Brown, &c. In the same way, we name a plant by giving the 

 name of the genus along with that of the species ; as White Oak, Red Oak, Water 

 Oak. Here the first word is the name of the species, which is nothing by itself, 

 but joined to the second word, which is the name of the genus, it designates the 

 species of Oak; and the two together completely name the plant we mean. 

 These are 



299. Popular Names, or the common names in our own language. Plants also 

 have truly Scientific Botanical Names, which are the same in all countries. On 

 this account they are in Latin. Some of them are the ancient Latin or Greek 

 names ; others are words made in later times, but all are in Latin form. Thus, the 

 scientific name of the Oak genus is Quercus ; of the Ash genus, Fraxinus ; of the 

 Rose genus, Rosa ; of the Pear genus, Pyrus ; of the Bramble or Blackberry 

 genus, Rubus, &c. The names of some genera are in honor of botanists or discov- 

 erers ; as, Linnaa, named in honor of Linnaeus ; Magnolia, after Magnol ; Kalmia, 

 after Kalm, a pupil of Linnaeus, who travelled in this country ; Glaytonia, after 

 Clayton, a botanist of Virginia. 



300. In the Latin or scientific name, that of the genus comes before the species. 

 So the scientific name of the White Oak is Quercus alba; of Red Oak, Quercus: 

 rubra ; of Water Oak, Quercus aquatica. In fact, these are just the popular names 

 turned into Latin. It is not always so ; for what we call Post Oak is botanically 

 named Quercus obtusiloba, which means an Oak with blunt lobes to the leaves. 

 And our White Ash is Fraxinus Americana, meaning " American Ash " ; Red Ash 

 is Fraocinus pubescens, meaning " Downy Ash " ; Black Ash is Fraxinus sambuci- 

 folia, meaning "Elder-leaved Ash.'' But our Green Ash is Fraxinus viridis, 

 which means the same thing as the common name. 



301. The name of the genus is a substantive. That of the species is generally 

 an adjective; as, viridis, green; sambucifolia, Elder-leaved; ^men'cawa, Ameri- 

 can ; aquatica, growing in water ; and so forth. 



302. Accordingly, any plant is named in two words, that is, by giving the name 

 of its genus and of its species. 



303. The names of the class, order, &c. make no part of the name of the plant 

 itself. And these names diflfer in different systems of classification, while those of 

 the genus and species are the same in aU systems. 



7 



