What

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Whats in a Name?Nomenclature for Plant
Professionals

• Advanced Master Gardening
• February 4, 1999
• Ohio State University Extension
• Clark County

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Latin is a language,as dead as dead can
be.First it killed the RomansNow its killing
me.
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A name is a handle by which we get to know
certain people, places and plants. - Michael
Dirr
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Good knowledge of plant names helps with
questions such as

• A. Is a red maple a good choice for a wet, sunny
  site?
• B. Are all ornamental pears equally susceptible
  to storm damage?
• C. What is the size of the species Viburnum
  opulus vs. the cultivar V. opulus Compactum
  vs. the cultivar V. opulus Nanum?
• D. Are chokeberries susceptible to bacterial
  fireblight?

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The five kingdoms of life on Earth

• Plants
• Animals
• Bacteria
• Fungi
• Protists

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Basic Classification Scheme

• Species
• Genus
• Family
• Order
• Class
• Subdivision
• Division
• Kingdom

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Example Cinnamon rose (Rosa cinnamomea)

• Specific epithet --- cinnamomea
• Genus --- Rosa
• Family --- Rosaceae
• Order --- Rosales
• Class --- Dicotyledonae
• Subdivision --- Angiospermae
• Division --- Spermatophyta
• Kingdom --- Plantae

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What is a species?

• A natural group of plants composed of similar
  individuals which can produce similar offspring,
  usually including minor variations. - Michael
  Dirr
• The primary or fundamental concept in the
  under-standing of the forms of life the basic
  unit of classifi-cation. - from Hortus Third
• Plants of one kind. - from How to Identify
  Plants
• A reproductively isolated population of plants.
  - common usage

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What is a species?

• Human beings
• The fungus that causes apple scab
• Dawn redwood trees
• Coast redwood trees
• Red maple trees
• Silver maple trees

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But what about rilver maple trees?

• PLANTS MAKE
• BUT DO NOT
• READ BOOKS!

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The Latin Binomial System

• Linnaeus, Species Plantarum (1753)
• Which do you prefer?
• A. Dianthus floribus solitaris, squamis calycinus
  subovatus brevissimis
• OR
• B. Dianthus caryophyllus L.

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Dianthus caryophyllus L.

• Dianthus is the genus
• caryophyllus is the specific epithet
• Together they are the species, expressed as a
  Latin binomial
• L. stands for Linnaeus, who is the authority
  who first named this plant.

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According to the International Code of Botanical
Nomenclature

• Latin names, used in print shall be
• Either italicized or underlined.
• EXAMPLE
• Dianthus caryophyllus
• or
• Dianthus caryophyllus

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According to the International Code of Botanical
Nomenclature

• The first letter of the genus is capitalized the
  first letter of specific epithet usually is not.
• EXAMPLES
• Dianthus caryophyllus
• Rosa cinnamomea

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According to the International Code of Botanical
Nomenclature

• When related species in a genus are in a list, it
  is acceptable after the first species to list
  them by the first letter of the genus.
• EXAMPLE
• Dianthus caryophyllus, D. chinensis,
• D. giganteus

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According to the International Code of Botanical
Nomenclature

• If you know the genus (eg. Dianthus) but do not
  know or do not want to specify the species you
  can so indicate as follows
• EXAMPLE
• Dianthus sp.
• Or if plural --- Dianthus spp.

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REVIEW Latin binomials for some organisms
mentioned above

• Human beings --- Homo sapiens
• Apple scab fungus --- Venturia inaequalis
• Dawn redwood --- Metasequoia glyptostroboides
• Coast redwood --- Sequoia sempervirens
• Red maple --- Acer rubrum
• Silver maple --- Acer saccharinum

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WHY NOT JUST USE COMMON NAMES?

• EXAMPLE from Dirrs Manual of Woody Landscape
  Plants
• Nymphaea alba L. has
• 15 common names in English (including European
  white waterlily)
• 44 common names in French
• 105 common names in German
• 81 common names in Dutch
• 245 total common names--but only one
• Latin name

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WHY NOT JUST USE COMMON NAMES?

• EXAMPLE from Liberty Hyde Bailey
• Babys-breath in the U.S. is Gypsophila
  paniculata
• Babys-breath in Europe is a number of Gallium
  spp.

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If asked to pick up red chokeberries from a
garden center, should you takeAronia
melanocarpaORAronia arbutifolia
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Which of the following is a true rose in the
genus Rosa and in the rose family
(Rosaceae)? A. Moss rose B. Rose-of-Sharon C.
Lenten rose D. Hairy alpine rose
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Answer NONE OF THE ABOVE! A. Moss rose is in
the genus Portulaca in the purslane
family.B. Rose-of-Sharon is in the genus
Hibiscus in the cotton family.C. Lenten rose
is in the genus Helleborus in the buttercup
family.D. Hairy alpine rose is in the genus
Rhododendron in the heath family.
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Which of the following might be called a red
maple?A. Acer palmatum BloodgoodB. Acer
platanoides Crimson KingC. Acer rubrum
October GloryWhich would thrive in an open,
wet site?
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BEYOND SPECIESAdditional namesA. Botanical
VarietiesB. CultivarsC. HybridsD. Trademarks
and Patents
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BOTANICAL VARIETY a sub-grouping of species with
inheritable differences from the straight
species.EXAMPLE - Common honeylocust---Gledits
ia triacanthos - Thornless honeylocust---Gleditsi
a triacanthos var. inermisNote With a
botanical variety there is actually a trinomial
and the third part of the Lain name is either
italicized or underlined.
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CULTIVAR CULTIVATED VARIETYAssemblage of
cultivated plants which is clearly distinguished
by any characters and which, when reproduced
(sexually or asexually) retains its
distinguishing characters. - L.H.
BaileyBotanical varieties naturally breed true
from seedCultivars are asexually cloned or by
controlled sexual crossing of breeding
lines
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Cultivar Example IA. The species for Norway
maple is Acer platanoidesB. In a seedling
population some had a wider spread and purplish
spring leaf coloration. These seedlings were
selected for these traits, cloned and
named Acer platanoides Schwedleri
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Cultivar Example IIC. Some Acer platanoides
Schwedleri seeds were planted, and some of
these seedlings were selected and subsequently
cloned for their maroon foliar color that
persisted all season. These were named Acer
platanoides Crimson KingNote Cultivars are
denoted either by putting the cultivar name in
single quotes or by using their abbreviation
cv. before the cultivar name. As in Acer
platanoides Crimson King Acer platanoides cv.
Crimson King
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Cultivar Example IIIWhat is the difference
between the following?A. Bradford pearsB.
Callery pearsC. Pyrus calleryana BradfordD.
Pyrus calleryana Aristocrat
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Cultivar Example IVWhich of the following is a
dwarf cranberrybush viburnum that tends to max
out at 2 feet in height?A. Viburnum opulusB.
Viburnum opulus CompactumC. Viburnum opulus
Nanum
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Cultivar Example VT or F. There can be
cultivars of botanical varieties.Answer
True.EXAMPLES Gleditsia triacanthos var.
inermis Moraine- Moraine honeylocust Viburnum
plicatum var. tomentosum Shasta- Shasta
doublefile viburnum
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International Code of Nomenclature For
Horticultural Plants Note If you do not know
the species of a cultivar, it is acceptable to
list it with just the genus name. EXAMPLES M
alus Prairifire Malus Mary Potter Malus
Golden Raindrops

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HYBRID NAMESInterspecific hybrid EXAMPLE
The cross between sycamore Platanus
occidentalis And Oriental planetree Platanus
orientalis Is the London planetree Platanus
x acerifolia (with the unitalicized x
indicating the cross)
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HYBRID NAMES

• Intergeneric hybrid
• If you cross
• Mahonia aquifolium
• with
• Berberis candidula
• you get the intergeneric hybrid
• XMahoberberis aquicandidula

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HYBRID NAMES

• Is it possible to have a cultivar of a hybrid?
• Yes. EXAMPLE
• Viburnum x burkwoodii Mohawk

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PLANT PATENTS

• Patents
• A.Last 17 years, and control royalty agreements,
  propagation, distribution and sale of the
  patent holder for a plant
• B. After 17 years, plant material becomes part
  of public domain.

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PLANT TRADEMARKS

• Trademarks
• A. Are for the name, not the plant germplasm
  itself
• B. Last in perpetuity

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PLANT TRADEMARKS

• A trademark is legally defined as a word(s) or
  symbol which identifies the place or origin of a
  product. Conard-Pyles Star trademark is a good
  example. The consumer recognizes that roses with
  the Star designation are from Conard-Pyle and can
  make an assumption of quality with this
  information.
• -Denise Adams

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TRADEMARKS AND PATENTS

• Potential confusion When cultivars are given
• trademark names.
• HYPOTHETICAL EXAMPLE
• A. Chatmandu Nursery clones a new golden-fruited
  beautyberry, and obtains a patent. He loves the
  name Amber Goldberry for this plant.
• B. Chatmandu gives it cultivar name of Chatty
  Gold and patents it and sells it Amber
  Goldberry. It captures the imagination of the
  public and sweeps the industry.
• C. For 17 years, his patent controls royalties,
  propagation, distribution and sales.
• D. Once the 17 years are up, anyone can propagate
  this plant.

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CHATMANDU EXAMPLE (contd)

• E. They can propagate, but . . .
• F. Since Chatmandu holds the trademark of
• Amber Goldberry, by which everyone recognizes
  the plant, if someone else wants to propagate
  and sell the plant, they must sell it by the
  cultivar name of Chatty Gold.
• This helps with name recognition for Chatmandu
  Nurseries, extending the 17 years by which he was
  aided by his giving names to the plant.
• POINT - COUNTERPOINT Is this good?

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PLANT FAMILIES
What is the plant family for these ornamentals?

• A. Amelanchier --- serviceberry
• B. Aronia --- chokeberry
• C. Cotoneaster --- cotoneaster
• D. Crataegus --- hawthorn
• E. Malus --- crabapple
• F. Potentilla --- potentilla or cinquefoil

G. Prunus --- cherry, almond, plum H. Pyracantha
--- firethorn I. Pyrus --- pear J. Sorbus ---
mountainash K. Rosa --- rose L. Spiraea ---
spiraea
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These plants are all in the rose family
(Rosaceae).

• True or False
• Bacterial fireblight occurs only on plants in the
  rose family.

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Are the following two plants in the same family?

• A. Celastrus scandens --- American bittersweet
• B. Euonymus europaeus --- European euonymus
• What family is this?

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What family are the following plants in and what
are a few cultural requirements that they share?

• A. Enkianthus
• B. Kalmia
• C. Rhododendron
• D. Vaccinium

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Root meanings of plant names

• Ageratum from the Greek a (without)
  and geras (age) for long-lasting flowers.
• Gypsophila from the Greek gypsos (lime) and
  philos (loving) for alkaline soil preference.
• Hemerocallis from the Greek hemera (day) and
  callos for the flowers that each last but for
  a day.
• Philodendron from the Greek phileo (to love)
  and dendron a tree for the many plants in
  this genus that have a vining growth habit.

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What do you think that the following Homo
sapiens have in common?

• A. Baron Claus Alstroemer
• B. Michael Begon
• C. Louis Antonie de Bouganville
• D. Anders Dahl
• E. J.F. Dieffenbach
• F. William Forsyth

G. Alexander Garden H. Gottlieb
Gleditsch I. Nicolas Tomas Host J. George Josef
Kamel K. Pierre Magnol L. Jean Nicot M. And good
old Johann Gottfried Zinn
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What are the common names of these plants?

• A. Liquidambar styraciflua
• B. Liriodendron tulipifera
• C. Narcissus poeticus
• D. Zizyphus jujube

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REVIEW Which of the following is a plant species?

• A. Pyrus
• B. calleryana
• C. Pyrus calleryana
• D. Rosaceae

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REVIEW Which of the following is true?

• A. The genus name and the specific epithet
  should be either italicized or underlined.
• B. The cultivar name should be preceded by the
  abbreviation cv. Or set off with single
  quotation marks.
• C. The first letter of the genus name should be
  capitalized.
• D. A genus is a group of related species.
• E. All of the above

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Now will you agree with Liberty Hyde Bailey when
he says?

• Whats in a name? cries Juliet that which
  we call a rose by any other word would smell as
  sweet. Yet Shakespeare might admit that a rose
  is not less sweet because we know its name.