Binomial Nomenclature
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Plant Identification
NC Unit H1JB 11 — Outcome 2a
Thomas Sigurdsen — S30018261
Binomial Nomenclature is a system used for naming and classifying objects
currently used for living units in the natural world. Attributed to Carl Von
Linné (also known by the latinized name Carl Linnaeus) with the publication of
his book Species Plantarum in 1753.
History
Taxonomy, or the classification and naming of objects, is an ancient activity.
The first known western example1 have been found as illustrations of medicinal
plants from Egyptian wall paintings c. 1500 BC2 .
In pre-Linnaean taxonomy, formal names commonly described the plant uniquely.
This meant that plants given names early could have shorter names, as short
as two words3 . Using this system of plural naming quickly turns names into
sentences or longer descriptions; Wikipedia presents a good example of this4 :
Plantago foliis ovato-lanceolatus pubescentibus, spica cylindrica, scapo
tereti (Plantain with pubescent ovate-lanceolate leaves, a cylindric
spike and a terete scape), which we know today as Plantago media.
Carl Von Linné used binary naming (now known as binomial nomenclature)
throughout his work as a de facto standard, continuing and affirming the work
of some taxonomists before him.
1 Sheng Nun, Emperor of China around 3000 BC. produced ‘Divine Husbandman’s Materia
Medica’ 2 . This would be unknown to western taxonomists at least until the middle ages.
2 Manktelow, M. (2010) History of Taxonomy. Lecture from Dept. of Systematic Biology,
Uppsala University.
3 To my knowledge there are no entities formally classified by a single word.
4 Wikipedia contributors, ‘Binomial nomenclature’, Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia, 2 January 2016, 02:08 UTC, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Binomial_nomenclature&
oldid=697810560 [accessed 4 January 2016]
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Function & Definition
Binomial Nomenclature is a system of binary naming. It works by having a
simple hierarchy of two levels where the first word is the genus and the second
word is the species. It is used in several of the taxonomical kingdoms with slight
variations in usage and application.
The name uses Latin grammar, but the words are traditionally from classical
Greek, botanists names in addition to Latin and other old or dead languages.
The word used for genus must fit as a Latin singular noun and be unique within
kingdoms.
The species is a trivial name whose primary function is to make the genus and
species couple unique5 . This in turn leads to using the species name for example
to express reverence (e.g. Chamaecyparis lawsoniana or Lawson cypress) or
comedy (e.g. Cyclocephala nodanotherwon); though describing words seems to
be more common. The word used for species must be unique only within a genus.
A cultivar epithet is sometimes added to the end of binomial names of plants to
describe a particular group of plants within a species. For a group of plants to
be regarded as cultivars they need to retain qualities of distinctness, uniformity
and stability. In other words a group of plants with a set of characteristics that
are uniform while distinct within a species and keep these characteristics when
propagated. Most countries have systems for registering cultivars, in addition to
the Switzerland based intergovernmental organization International Union for
the Protection of New Varieties of Plants.
Why Dead Languages?
The short answer is to avoid confusion and preserve semantics. To understand
this better, Wiktionary helps us define a dead language as6 :
a language which no longer has any native speakers
Dead languages are therefore by definition not changing or evolving. This is
particularly useful with names because the same names and grammar will be
valid, effective and carry the same semantic meaning when our current common
language (e.g. English) has changed to become unrecognizable. Examples of
words that has changed in meaning includes broadcast (previously used for a
method of sowing seeds: “broad casting”) and gay (which used to refer to a
happy or joyous mood).
5 It seems the genus and species couple is universally unique, yet it seems the reason for this
has more to do with the name for species commonly being descriptors or taxonomists names
making it unlikely for a couple to be repeated across kingdoms.
6 Wiktionary contributors, ‘dead language’, Wiktionary, The Free Dictionary, 23 November 2015, 11:32 UTC, https://en.wiktionary.org/w/index.php?title=dead_language&oldid=
35490339 [accessed 4 January 2016]
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