In the beginning…
“Can I eat this?”
Why do plant names change?
Dr. Lena Struwe
Trees vs. herbs (“flowers”)
Edible or poisonous
Focused on useful plants
(FOOD, MEDICINE)
Short lecture: Taxonomy and
classification
Hands-on: Identifying plant families
Mandrake
Milkweed, Asclepias
Ancient times
Carl Linnaeus
1500-1300 BC: Ebers Papyrus scroll, lists 800
plants; Tutankhamen tomb, storage of many plants
500 BC: Indian herbal described 700 plants
500 BC: Oldest known Chinese herbal
Carl Linnaeus (1707-1778)
Invented the Sexual System of Plants
and first to consistently use binomial
Latin names
.
Described many new species
of plants and animals.
400 BC: Hippocrates (Greece), medicinal plants
Theophrastus (ca. 372-287 B.C.),
Father of Greek Botany (work reprinted in 1483)
c 50 AD: Dioscorides, Father of Medical Botany
Sent students all over the world
to explore (Kalm, Thunberg…).
Middle Ages = Dark Ages of Botany (and Science)
in Europe
"Father of taxonomy"
Species Plantarum
Linnaeus (1753)
Carl Linnaeus dressed in
traditional Laplander outfit after
his ethnobotanical trip to northern
Sweden.
Brassica campestris
Ending (suffix)
for different ranks
© Univ. of Wisconsin-Madison
© Lindman, Nordens Flora
Class
Subclass
Superorder
Order
Family
Subfamily
Tribe
Subtribe
Genus
Species
-opsida
-idae
-anae
-ales
-aceae
-oideae
-eae
-inae
N/A
N/A
Magnoliopsida
Magnoliidae
Magnolianae
Magnoliales
Magnoliaceae
Magnolioideae
Magnolieae
Magnoliinae
Magnolia
Magnolia grandiflora
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Phylogenetic classifications (1998-present)
Principles of Phylogenetic Classification
APG (Angiosperm Phylogeny Group, 1998, updated 2003;
based on evolutionary relationships)
BEFORE:
Familial relationships
in Gentianales based
on DNA sequences
71
100
75
100
Geniostoma
Labordia
Mitrasacme
Logania
Mitreola
Gardneria
Neuburgia
Strychnos
100
100
100
92
Apocynum
Periploca
Stephanotis
Nerium
Wrightia
Thevetia
100
100
100
99
100
NOTE – floras and older books will have older classifications
– some family and genus classifications have changed.
Kopsia
Alstonia
Gelsemium
Mostuea
100
93
79
99
99
Gentianales
Anthocleista
Fagraea
Potalia
Gentiana
Irlbachia
Chironia
Gentianaceae
100 Sabatia
98 Blackstonia
99
Canscora
100
Coutoubea
Exacum
Sebaea
100
100
51
Apocynaceae
95 Chelonanthus
79
100
Most recent classification:
Angiosperm Phylogeny Website:
http://www.mobot.org/MOBOT/research/APweb/
Loganiaceae
Spigelia
Antonia
Bonyunia
Usteria
Saccifolium
Chiococca
Erithalis
Cephalanthus
Rogiera
Rondeletia
Guettarda
Cinchona
100
Ixora
Vangueria
Gardenia
Mussaenda
Pinckneya
100
51
100
99
99
97
100
100
100
100
100
Olea
100
Oldenlandia
Pentas
Nicotiana
Petunia
Antirrhinum
Verbena
Jasminum
100
Rubiaceae
100
100
100
100
Or get David Mabberley’s The Plant Book.
89
100
79
Mitchella
Ophiorrhiza
Valeriana
Viburnum
Hydrangea
Which family is not a natural group?
50 changes
Principles of Phylogenetic Classification
BEFORE:
Familial relationships
in Gentianales based
on DNA sequences
71
100
75
100
Geniostoma
Labordia
100
100
92
Antonia
Bonyunia
Usteria
100
Kopsia
Alstonia
Gelsemium
Mostuea
79
79
100
100
100
100
51
100
Anthocleista
Fagraea
Potalia
Gentiana
Irlbachia
Chironia
Gentianaceae
79
79
100
100
100
51
100
100
100
100
100
100
100
99
99
100
100
Olea
100
79
89
100
100
51
100
Rubiaceae
100
100
Oldenlandia
Pentas
Mitchella
Ophiorrhiza
100
100
100
100
100
100
Olea
100
Valeriana
99
99
97
Viburnum
Hydrangea
50 changes
Anthocleista
Fagraea
Potalia
Gentiana
Irlbachia
Chironia
Gentianaceae
Coutoubea
Exacum
Sebaea
Saccifolium
Chiococca
Erithalis
Cephalanthus
Rogiera
Rondeletia
Guettarda
Cinchona
100
Ixora
Vangueria
Gardenia
Mussaenda
Pinckneya
100
100
Nicotiana
Petunia
Antirrhinum
Verbena
Jasminum
51
95 Chelonanthus
100 Sabatia
98 Blackstonia
99
Canscora
100
Coutoubea
Exacum
Sebaea
Apocynaceae
Gelsemiaceae
99
99
Gentianales
100
97
Apocynum
Periploca
Stephanotis
Nerium
Wrightia
Thevetia
100
Kopsia
Alstonia
Gelsemium
Mostuea
100
Loganiaceae
Spigelia
Antonia
Bonyunia
Usteria
99
100
95 Chelonanthus
Saccifolium
Chiococca
Erithalis
Cephalanthus
Rogiera
Rondeletia
Guettarda
Cinchona
100
Ixora
Vangueria
Gardenia
Mussaenda
Pinckneya
Mitrasacme
100
Apocynaceae
100 Sabatia
98 Blackstonia
99
Canscora
Geniostoma
Labordia
100
92
93
99
99
Gentianales
100
Logania
Mitreola
Gardneria
100
Apocynum
Periploca
Stephanotis
Nerium
Wrightia
Thevetia
75
Neuburgia
Strychnos
100
99
100
100
71
100
Loganiaceae
Spigelia
100
100
93
Reclassified:
Mitrasacme
Logania
Mitreola
Gardneria
Neuburgia
Strychnos
100
Results of phylogenetic classification
79
89
100
100
Rubiaceae
100
Nicotiana
Petunia
Antirrhinum
Verbena
Jasminum
Oldenlandia
Pentas
Mitchella
Ophiorrhiza
Valeriana
Viburnum
Hydrangea
Which family is not a natural group?
Each family = one group (clade) only
50 changes
Binomial names
Why do we need
Latin names?
Rosa rugosa L.
Genus
Species epithet
Authority
(Auctor)
But what happens if the plant gets moved to another genus?
2
Parenthetical authority
Rubus rugosa (L.) Gray
Genus
Species epithet
Authority
for placing
Authority
for original species in
this genus
species
Infraspecific names
(within species)
Sedum laxum ssp. flavidum
Denton
– roseflower stonecrop
Sedum laxum ssp. heckneri
(M. Peck) R.T. Clausen
– Heckner's stonecrop
ssp. = subspecies
var. = variety
f. = form
Hybrids
both are Sedum laxum
Crassulaceae
Cultivar names
Sarracenia flava × S. purpurea
OR
Sarracenia × catesbaei
Not as strictly regulated as Latin names, follows
International Code of Nomenclature for
Cultivated Plants
Single quotation marks
No intellectual property rights
Must be in a language other than Latin
Must be unique within the genus
Example: Cryptomeria japonica 'Elegans'
Why do Latin names change?
1. The species name was misapplied to the wrong
species.
2. New classifications (moves to a new genus)
3. A genus is divided up into two or more genera.
Example: Aceraceae RIP
lychee (Litchi)
Acer (maples) are no
longer Aceraceae, they
are in Sapindaceae.
Species only change names when they move to a
different genus – not to a different order, family, etc.
Maple (Acer)
3
Example: Malvaceae,
bigger than ever
Example: So long Asclepiadaceae
Milkweeds (Asclepiadaceae), now in
Apocynaceae (rosy periwinkle and
dogbanes)
Cacao
(Theobroma)
Basswood
(Tilia)
OLD
APOCYN
-ACEAE
Cotton
(Gossypium)
Asclepiadaceae
Baobab
(Adansonia)
Example: Where is my Chrysanthemum?
Example: Tomato no longer Lycopersicon
It is a Solanum.
SOLANUM
Potato and tomato in the
same group inside
Solanum.
The ‘mums’ split from Chrysanthemum and
were treated as Dendranthema until 1999,
but are now back into Chrysanthemum to
preserve the Latin name with this important
cultivar (ruling by ICBN, type species for
the genus was changed).
The problems with taxonomy in horticulture
Many Latin names in common use that
are no longer correct.
Hard to find updated information.
Not used to changes in Latin names.
General public doesn’t like change?
Scientists are not good at
communicating new findings to the
horticultural community.
Anything else?
Hot enough?
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