What do the botanical terms mean?
Botany is the science of plants, so far, everyone agrees. But when you get into botanical terms, everything gets complicated, and you hear everything and its opposite! In terms of botanical naming of a plant, it can be difficult to find your way between families, species, varieties, upper case and lower case… We help you to see more clearly:
The great family of plants
How many plants are there on Earth?
To date, 2 million animal and plant species have been inventoried on Earth, and it is estimated that there are between 8 and 20 million depending on the source, so reasonably around 12 to 14 million. Many new species are discovered every year, thanks to the progress of DNA sequencing and the evolution of technical progress, which allows, among other things, to explore the seas and oceans more deeply.
In terms of plant life, it is estimated that there are around 350,000 flowering plants, the most numerous, as well as 1,000 species of conifers, 13,000 species of ferns and 20,000 species of mosses and the like.
Where do the names given to plants come from?
The names given to plants usually come from the botanists who discovered them (the dahlia comes from the botanist Dahl, the famous Frangipani, the Plumeria, from the botanist Charles Plumier).
But their characteristics also inspire the names that are attributed to them, such as the color of the flower, its flowering season, the shape of the foliage, the originality of its silhouette, its propensity to attract pollinators, the texture of its stem … The place where the plant grows can also influence (the anemone comes from the Greek anemos which means wind because it resides in windy places), as well as its toxicity or conversely its curative virtues (valerian comes from the Latin valeo which means to be well). Mythology can also play a role, such as narcissus coming from the legend of the great beauty of Narcissus.
The names of plant characteristics can also be inspired by famous people, such as the active substance of tobacco, named nicotine because the diplomat Jean Nicot introduced
How were plants perceived through the centuries?
In ancient times, plants were mainly considered as decorations, ornaments.
Then, in the Middle Ages, the medicinal properties of plants began to be discovered. They would be then only seen in terms of their ability to heal people and were only considered as potential medicine providers. In fact, only medicinal plants were to be found in herbalists’ books.
It is really from the Renaissance onwards that one will start to be interested in plants as a whole; botany will become a science distinct from medicine and will take a real rise. The microscopic study and the understanding of the physiological mechanisms specific to plants will not cease to advance our discovery and understanding of the amazing organisms that are plants.
Nowadays, plants are regaining interest by combining both botanical knowledge that is now associated with them, and their medicinal interest by seeking and rediscovering the traditional uses that brought many benefits to indigenous populations. We also understand their importance within the biodiversity of our planet and the importance to preserve them…
How did the classification of plants come about?
Plants were first classified in the most visual and simple way: by their size. Then, certain organs, notably their fruits and reproductive organs, were taken into consideration to clarify these classifications.
As knowledge of plant physiology developed, along with the invention of the microscope in the 1600s, plant anatomy was born. Plants were better understood, and a tendency was born to think of them, and thus classify them, not in terms of forms, but in terms of functions.
In the eighteenth century, the Swedish naturalist, Carl von Linné proposed to name each plant species according to the following system: the name of the genus beginning with a capital letter (eg Ravenala) supplemented by its epithet written in lower case (eg madagascariensis). The association of these two Latin words constitutes the name of the species (ex. Ravenala madagascariensis) which is, by convention, written in italics in order to distinguish it from the vernacular names given to the species (ex. Traveler’s tree).
Plant classification in botanical terms
The Linnaean system : taxonomy
The classification of Linnaeus (Carl von Linnaeus, 1707 – 1778) is broken down into 7 “ranks”, called taxa.
1. The kingdom
For plants, this is the plant kingdom (note that fungi, for example, which do not carry out photosynthesis, are another kingdom)
2. The phylum
3. The class
4. The order
5. The family
6. Gender
7. The species
Taxa 2, 3, and 4 are first sorts in the chosen kingdom.
Taxa 5, 6, and 7 are commonly used to refer to plants.
The taxa family
The botanical family is a classification that brings together plants that look alike, have common genes and appearances because they are descended from the same parents. Recent advances in DNA are helping to refine these family groupings.
Traditionally, botanical family names end in “aceae”.
Take the example of the tomato, which is its common name. It is part of the Solanaceae family.
The taxa genus and specie
Botanical nomenclature, taxonomy, designates each plant by its genus followed by its species.
The “genus” groups all the species of a plant. It is written in Latin, in italics, with its first letter in capital letter.
The “species” is attached to the “genus”, it is also written in Latin and in italics, but in lower case.
In our example of tomato, it is defined by the botanical name: Solanum lycopersicum, “Solanum” being its genus and “lycopesicum” its species.
It is important to know that plants of the same species can reproduce among themselves, but cannot reproduce with members of another species. Their unique genetic characteristics are therefore reproduced identically from generation to generation.
Subspecies, variety, hybrid and cultivar
In addition to the taxa and the botanical designation of genus and species, additional levels of detail can be added. These are minor subdivisions.
Botanical variety
Botanical varieties allow to differentiate plants of the same species. They are written after the genus and species by the abbreviation “var.” followed by the name of the variety in italics and lower case.
Varieties reproduce with the same characteristics.
In the example of our tomato, we can find for example Solanum lycopersicum var. cerasiforme, which designates the cherry tomato.
Cultivar
As its name indicates, the cultivar designates a cultivated variety, i.e. a plant obtained by horticultural selection.
Contrary to a variety, its descendants cannot transmit its characteristics by seed, there will be only the cutting to find the characteristics of the mother plant.
It is written between apostrophes with a capital letter, after the genus and the species. Most of the time, it is the family name of the inventor of the cultivar in question.
Thus, our tomato would be: Solanum lycopersicum ‘Marmande’.
Hybrid
A hybrid is the result of a cross between two plants of the same genus or species. They can be natural or intentionally manufactured by man.
They are designated by a lower case “x” placed either in front of the genus if it is a hybridization of genera, or in front of the species if it is a hybridization of species.
For example, the tangelo, Citrus x tangelo, a citrus fruit resulting from the hybridization of Citrus x paradisi (the pomelo) and Citrus reticulata (the mandarin), was invented
Hybrid
A subspecies presents a morphological or genetic variation compared to its species, or even a different geographical distribution. This variation occurs spontaneously.
It is designated by the indication “ssp.” (or “subsp”) in lower case followed by the name of the subspecies in italics.
For example, the Portuguese Laurel found in the Azores is called: Prunus lusitanica ssp. azorica
These classifications help us to understand the biodiversity around us. They are still in flux, thanks to research on DNA, which can change our knowledge of plants.
