So, plant taxonomy. On its face, maybe not the most interesting topic to start with on this newsletter journey but certainly an important one for understanding the plants I’ll be writing about.
Before we get into the fun stuff (aka trees), I thought it would be worth spending a minute refreshing our taxonomy knowledge. I, for one, could use the reminder! Whether you’re a science-y person who knows plant taxonomy by heart or someone just looking to dip their toes into binomial nomenclature, this primer should help set up a good foundation for our journey.
Basics of Classification
Classifying various plants (and animals. and bacteria. etc.) helps us group organisms that share characteristic traits.
The broadest part of the taxonomic tree consists of three domains: Bacteria, Eukaryota, and Archaea. For our purposes, we’ll be focusing on Eukaryota, which contains all multi-cellular life. Kingdoms included in the Domain Eukaryota are Animalia, Fungi, Protozoa, and, most relevant to our purposes, Plantae. Organisms are classified, from most all-encompassing to most discrete, by kingdom, phylum (or division), class, order, family, genus, and species.
Side note: There are many mnemonic devices for remembering this order. You can find a few entertaining examples for taxonomy (and some other science-related) mnemonics here.
For a handy-dandy chart that lays out the narrower end of tree classification (from family on down) check out this table from the Arbor Day Foundation.
So who do we have to thank for binomial nomenclature?
That honor goes to Swedish scientist Carolus (or Carl) Linnaeus (1707-1778). Linnaeus had a deep interest in plants and their names that began early in his childhood. He studied botany and medicine as a young adult, later becoming a professor.
Our friend Carl wasn’t thrilled by the method for naming and classifying plants that existed at the time. He developed his own method: grouping plants based on their reproductive structure and their flowers' components. He was also intent on changing how plants were named - creating a two-name system similar to how people were named and how those names were written when alphabetized: Last, first. (Linnaeus borrowed heavily from Aristotle, who was the first to categorize animals with similar characteristics into genera and species, when developing this idea.) In this naming scheme, the first word indicates the genus (plural genera) and the last a specific epithet. The genus is a generic name, while the epithet adds a specific identifier. The two names together, a binomial, provide the species name. The names Linnaeus used for genera and species in his classification system were Latinized, or given a Latinate grammatical structure .
Linnaeus’ system wasn’t a hit with everyone at the time, and carries a waft of controversy along with it even today. Linnaeus was referred to as a “botanical pornographer” due to his focus on categorizing plants according to their reproduction methods. At the time of his publications, people worried his categorizations were too “immodest” to reach women and children's ears. One contemporary critic of Linnaeus went so far as to call his work “loathsome harlotry.” Linnaeus countered this criticism by naming a weed, Siegesbeckia, after the man who leveled that particular insult at his work.
Although modern technology and our understanding of molecular biology have resulted in changes to Linnaeus’ original system, his method informed the naming system we still rely on today (and stay up till all hours memorizing for biology classes the world over). Recent technological advancements have created a heated debate within scientific disciplines that rely on classification systems — “anatomists and palaeontologists on the one hand and molecular biologists on the other” argue whether classical taxonomy or DNA-based taxonomy should be the basis for our modern classification of species.
Alright, now how do I use these Latin names?
Distinct from plant taxonomy is botanical nomenclature. While the two are certainly related, botanical nomenclature focuses specifically on plant names and not their classification. An easy way to think about this is that taxonomy is the grouping system for plants, while botanical nomenclature is the set of rules used to name plants. These rules are governed by the International Code of Nomenclature for algae, fungi, and plants (ICN).
As I mentioned earlier, there are sometimes disagreements and controversy when it comes to circumscribing plants and naming them. Provided that taxonomists agree on where a plant should be classified, there will be one agreed-upon scientific name for that plant. If there are disagreements, however, a plant may end up with different names within its classification.
One example: when scientists disagree on whether two plants are actually distinct enough to be separate species. This can result in some taxonomists using one name for both plants or separate names.
There are many instances of such controversies; here are a couple of links to articles about a few notable examples:
Pacific Horticulture Society | Why Plant Names Change
Why names change: the new thinking in taxonomy
When referring to a taxonomic rank above the genus, a single word should be used to indicate the category. However, when referring to anything below generic rank (like a single species) binomial nomenclature is used. To make things a little more complex, cultivated plants may have extra parts added to their names that can be used to indicate a subspecies or variety.
Here is an example of how to read botanical nomenclature using the European Beech - Fagus sylvatica:
European Beech is the common name of this magnificent tree.
In the binomial, Fagus refers to the genus, while sylvatica is an epithet. When put together, these two components provide the species' name: Fagus sylvatica or F. sylvatica. Plant names in this binomial format are usually italicized, with the first letter of the genus capitalized and the entire epithet in lowercase.
Additionally, Fagus sylvatica has multiple cultivars. Cultivars, or cultured varieties, are named following their own specific set of rules outlined in the International’s Code of Nomenclature for Cultivated Plants. These cultivar names are added at the end of the binomial, are not in italics, are not Latinized, and are contained in single quotes:

While I’ve happened upon many bizarre and funny scientific plant names while researching for this week’s newsletter, the species I’ve found whose name tickled me the most is Stelis oscargrouchii, an orchid named, of course, after the trash-dwelling puppet everyone knows and loves:
Do you happen to have a favorite scientific plant name? Let me know in the comments!
Coming up next week
A belated happy Thanksgiving, and I hope you all are staying safe and healthy.
Next Friday, we’ll take our first deep dive into a tree (or, rather, a genus of trees). Some of the examples I used for this outline of botanical nomenclature might have provided a hint as to which one: grab your swimsuit and slather on that sunscreen because next week is beech (Fagus) week!
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I love Ginkgo Biloba!!! It's a living fossil, the only living member of its Phyla, Ginkgophyta. I like to imagine it's related to Bilbo the cat.