Explaining basics of plant taxonomy and nomenclature in plant kingdom

1. NOMENCLATURE

2.  Many species especially the rare ones do not
have common names
 Sometimes 2 or more plants may have the same
common names
eg. Litsea, A lseodaphne, Lindera,
Cryptocarpa (Medang)
 Well known plants may have more than a dozen
names

3. VERNACULAR NAMES
( = LOCAL = COMMON NAMES)
(kepayang, payang, keluak, pangi)
Pangium edule

4. Eg. mahang, kubin, mahang gajah, mahe
Macaranga gigantea

5. - Governed by International Code of Botanical
Nomenclature
- Universal
Polynomial
- more than two words
Salix pumila alternanthera bijuga
SCIENTIFIC NAMES

6. Binomial System of Naming
1753 – Linnaeus ( Binomial)
Eg. Shorea leprosula
genus specific epithet

7. Contd:
 Parkia speciosa
(genus) (specific epithet)
‘speciosa’ cannot be
referred as species as
there are other species
with this term as part of
their names
(eg. Lagerstroemia speciosa)

8. Eg. Durio zibethinus
(genus) (specific epithet)

9. Eg. Hibiscus rosa-sinensis

10. Rafflesia tengku-adlinii
 Rafflesia is a parasite
plant that hosts on the
vine of Tetrastigma.
 It has no leaves, no
roots, no stem and no
leaves (chlorophyll), so
all its nutrients and
waters comes from the
Tetrastigma vines
 Pollination by flies, seeds
need 6-9 months to
bloom, but will
decompose in a week.
 15 spp. In the world

11. Family
Family name ends in ‘ …….ceae’
Eg. Dipterocarpaceae
Ebenaceae
Rubiaceae
Annonaceae

12. Exceptions
Eg. Guttiferae (= Clusiaceae)
Leguminosae (=Fabaceae)
Gramineae (=Poaceae)

13. Sub-family ends in ‘ oideae’
Eg. Sub-family Papilionoideae
Sub-family Mimosoideae
Subfamily Caesalpinoideae

14. Examples
Shorea, Anisoptera, Mangifera
_______________________________
Shorea is the largest timber producing genera.
Amongst the most common species are
S.leprosula, S. parvifolia and S. ovalis.

15. Examples of authorities and their
citation
1. Primula vulgaris Huds.
- means Hudson was the first person who
validly published the name Primula vulgaris
2. Viburnam ternatum Rehder in Sargent
- means Rehder was responsible for the valid
publication of the name Viburnam ternatum in
a work written or edited by Sargent

16. Contd.
Gossypium tomentosum Nutt. ex Seem.
-means Seeman was responsible for the valid
publication of the name Gossypium
tomentosum, which was originally coined by
Nuttall. Nuttall may have written the name on a
label of specimen or manuscript that did not
satisfy the criteria of valid publication

17. Contd.(new combinations)
 Althea rosea (L.) Cav.
- originally Malva rosea L.
- then Cavanilles placed it in genus
Althea, and he validly published the new
combination

18. Contd.
 Pfeifferella Labbe 1899 non
Buchanan 1918
- means it is the name Pfeifferella by Labbe in
1899 that is being referred to, NOT the taxon
Pfeifferella which Buchanan named in 1918

19. Examples of ways in citing authority
and year
Citrus L. (1758)
Citrus Linnaeus, 1758
Citrus Linnaeus (1758)