Examples: Rosaceae (from Rosa), Salicaceae (from Salix), Caryophyllaceae (from Dianthus
Caryophyllus), etc.
Art. 22. The following names, owing to long usage, are an exception to the
rule: Palmae, Gramineae, Cruciferae, Leguminosae, Guttiferae, Umbelliferae,
Labiatae, Compositae.
Art. 23. Names of subfamilies {subfamiliae) are taken from the name of one
of the genera in the group, with the ending -oideae. The same holds for the tribes
(tribus) with the ending -eae, and for the subtribes (subtribus) with the ending -inae.
Examples of subfamilies: Asphodehideae (from Asphodelus), Rumicoideae (from Runux)\
tribes: Asclepiadeae (from Asclepias), Phyllantheae (from Phyllanthus); subtribes: Metastelmatinae (from
Metastelma), Madiinae (from Madia).
§ 3. Names o f genera and divisions o f genera.
Art. 24. Genera receive names, substantives (or adjectives used as substantives)
in the singular number and written with a capital letter, which may be compared
with our own family names. These names may be taken from any source
whatever and may even be composed in an absolutely arbitrary manner.
Examples: Rosa, Convolvulus,Hedysarum, Bartramia, Liquidambar, Gloriosa, Impatiens, Manihot.
Art. 25. Subgenera and sections also receive names, usually substantives and
resembling the names of genera. Names of subsections and other lower subdivisions
of genera are preferably adjectives in the plural number and written with a capital
letter, or their place may be taJien by an ordinal number or a letter.
Examples. — Substantives: Praxinaster, Trifoliastrum, Adenoscilla, Euhermannia, Archie-
racium, Micromelilotus, Pseudinga, Heterodraba, Gymnocimum, Neoplantago, Stachyotypus. Adjectives:
Pleiostylae, Fimbriati, Bibracteolaia, Pachycladae.
R e com men d a tio n s .
IV. When the name of a genus, subgenus or section is taken from the name of a person,
ti is formed in the following manner:
a) When the name ends in a vowel, the letter a is added (for example Bouteloua after
Boutelou; Ottoa after Otto; Sloanea after Sloane), except when the name already ends in a, in which
case ea is added (e. g. Collaea after Colla).
b) When the name ends in a consonant, the letters ia are added (thus Magnusia after
Magnus; Ramondia after Ramond), except when the name ends in er, in which case a is added
(e. g. Kernera after Kerner).
c) The spelling of the syllables unaffected by these finals is retained, even with the
consonants k and w or with groupings of vowels which were not used in classic latin. Letters
which are unknown to botanical latin must be transcribed, diacritic signs are suppressed. The german
a, 5, Ü become ae oe, ue, the French é, é and é become generally e.
d ) Names may be accompanied by a prefix, or a suffix, or modified by anagram or
abbreviation. In these cases they count as different words from the original name. E. g. Durvillea
and Urvillea, Lapeyrousea and Peyrousea, Engiera, Englerastrum and Englerella, Bouchea and Ubochea,
Gerardia and Graderia, Martia and Martiusia.
V. Botanists who are publishing generic names show judgement and taste by attending
to the following recommendations:
d) Not to mane names very long or difficult to pronounce.
b) Not to use again a name which has already been used and has lapsed into synonymy
quoted
and to
(homonym).
c) Not to dedicate genera to persons who are in all respects strangers to botany, or at
least to natural science, nor to persons quite unknown.
d ) Not to take names from barbarous tongues, unless those names are frequently
in books of travel, and have an agreeable form that is readily adapted to the latin tongue
the tongues of civilized countries.
e) To recall, if possible, by the formation or ending of the name, the affinities or the
analogies of the genus.
/ ) To avoid adjectives used as nouns.
g ) Not to give a genus a name whose form is rather that of a subgenus or section (e. g.
Eusideroxylon, a name given to a genus of Lauraceae, which, however, being valid, cannot be changed).
h) Not to make names by the combination of two languages (nomina hybrida).
VI. Botanists constructing names for subgenera or sections, will do well to attend to the
preceding recommendations and also to the following:
a) Give, where possible, to the principal division of a genus, a name which, by some modification
or addition, calls the genus to mind (for instance, Eu placed at the beginning of the name,
when it is of greek oi’igin; -astrum, -ella at the end of the name, when latin, or any other modification
consistent with the grammar and usages of the latin language).
b) Avoid calling a subgenus or a section by the name of the genus to which it belongs,
with the final -oides or -opsis; on the contrary reserve this ending for a section which resembles
another genus, by adding in that case -oides or -opsis to the name of that other genus, if it is of
greek origin, to form the name of the section.
c) Avoid taking as the name of a subgenus or section a name which is already in use as
such in another genus, or which is the name of an admitted genus.
V I I . When it is required to express a subgeneric or sectional name together with the
name of the genus and the name of the species, the name of the section is p u t between the others
in a parenthesis. E. g. Astragalus (Cycloglottis) contortuplicatus.
§ 4. Names o f species and o f subdivisions o f species.
Art. 26. All species, even those that singly constitute a genus, are designated
by the name of the genus to which they belong followed by a name (or epithet)
termed specific, usually of the nature of an adjective (forming a combination of two
names, a binomial, or binary name).
Examples: Dianthus monspessulanus, Papaver Rhoeas, Fumaria Gussonei, Uromyces Fabae,
Geranium Robertianum, Embelia Sarasinorum, Adiantum Capillus-Veneris. Linnaeus has sometimes
introduced symbols in specific names; these must according to art. 26 be transcribed. Ex.: Scandix
Pecten-Veneris ( = Scandix Pecten Veronica Anagallis-aquatica ( = Veronica Anagallis "TJ).
R e commen d a tio n s .
V I I I . The specific name should, in general, give some indication of the appearance, the
characters, the origin, the history or the properties of the species. If taken from the name of a
person, it usually recalls the name of the one who discovered or described it, or was in some way
concerned with it.
IX. Names of men and women and also names of countries and localities used as
specific names, maybe substantives in the genitive (Clusii, or adjectives (Clusianus, dahuricus).
I t will be well, in the future, to avoid the use of the genitive and the adjectival form of the same
name to designate two different species of the same genus: for example Lysimachia Hemsleyana
Maxim. (1891) and L. Hemsleyi Franch. (1895).