PBG 101

Lecture 1 B. International
code of botanical
nomenclature and its
major guidelines –
author citation
 PLANT NOMENCLATURE
• Nomenclature – Latin name for naming plants.
• Nomen means Name
• Clare means Call

The science providing distinct and proper

names to plants to differentiate them from
other plants and taxonomic groups
 Why scientific naming of plants?

1. Common names- have very limited usage

2. Not available for all species
3. Available in Single or few languages or to a restricted
locality
4. Not providing proper information on generic and
family relationship
5. Two or more species are given with the same name
6. Several names are given to the same species in
different regions
 Why Latin Language for naming plants?
1. Latin is a dead language
2. Latin is specific and indicate genetic
relationships
3. Grammatical sense of the word is exact
4. It employs the Roman alphabet, that fits well
in the text of other languages
5. About 80% of the plants were already named
in Latin before 1780.

Accepted as an official and universal language for

naming plants
 POLYNOMIAL NOMENCLATURE
• Before the middle of the 18th century, the names of
plants were commonly polynomials
• i.e. they were composed of several words in series
constituting more or less the description of the plant.
Example Caryophyllum.
• The name was Caryophyllum saxatilis folis gramineus
umbellatis corymbis
• Meaning: Caryophyllum growing on rocks, having
grass like leaves with umbellate corymbose
inflorescence.
• Since lengthy names are difficult to remember and
use, attempts were made to shorten these names.
Binomial Nomenclature
LINNAEUS (1707-1778)

Binomial nomenclature.

Important publications
‘Genera Plantarum’
Species Plantarum’.
Garden at Uppasala
• Key notes to 600 species in 1000 genera

• His contribution to plant classification was tremendous

and considered as the
Founder of Modern Plant Classification
Father of Taxonomic Botany’
 Introduced by Gaspard Bauhin as early as 1623, but properly
been used by Linnaeus in his book Species Plantarum.
 In binomial nomenclature, every species is given a name with
two words.
 For example, the binomial nomenclature of Rice is Oryza
sativa
 First word Oryza refers to the genus
 Second word sativa to the species.
 The two words in combination comprise the name of the
plant. Thus the binomial is a binary name.

Hence, from the days of Linnaeus, two different kinds of plants

could not have the same generic and specific names.
Codes of Nomenclature
 Paris code [1867]
Ist International Botanical
Congress(IBC) at Paris with 150
Botanists

 Rochester Code [1892]

II IBC at USA

 Vienna code [1905]

III IBC at Austria
 International Code of Botanical
Nomenclature (ICBN)
 In 1930, the 5th International Botanical Congress
was held at Cambridge, England to frame rules and
regulations for naming plants and to harmonize the
basic difference between the Vienna rules and the
American Code.
 T. A. Sprague, M. L. Green and A. S. Hitchcock are
the pioneers to bring out the ICBN at the VII
International Botanical congress (1950)

 Based on the resolutions of this meeting, the

current system of International Code of Botanical
Nomenclature was adapted from 1978.
 Rules of Nomenclature

1. No two genera could have the same generic name

2. No two species within a genus could have the same species
name
3. When a genus was divided into two or more genera the
original generic name must be retained
4. When a variety was recognized it must be associated
nomenclaturally with that species as a variant
5. Principle of priority or priority of publication was recognized
Divisions of ICBN
1. Principles
2. Rules and regulations
3. Provisions for the Governance of
the Code
 1. PRINCIPLES OF ICBN
1. Botanical nomenclature is independent of zoological nomenclature.
2. The application of names of taxonomic groups is determined by means
of nomenclatural types.
3. The nomenclature of a taxonomic group is based upon priority of
publication.
4. Each taxonomic group with a particular circumscription
(circumscription -limits of a taxonomic group of organisms,
a taxon), position and rank can bear only one correct name, the earliest
that is in accordance with the Rules, except in specified cases.
5. Scientific names of taxonomic groups are treated as Latin regardless of
their derivation.
6. The Rules of Nomenclature are retroactive unless expressly limited.
2. Rules and regulations
1. The rank of taxa
2. The type method
3. Typification
4. Author citation
5. Latin diagnosis
6. Publication of names
7. Effective or valid publication
8. Rejection of names
9. Principle of Priority
10.Retention of names of taxa which are divided
11.Changes in name of taxa
1. The rank of taxa
 The term taxon- 1956 edition
 Covered under Chapter I (Articles 1-5)
 Hierarchial arrangement – species -the basic unit
 Seven principal ranks in the descending order
• Kingdom
• Division
• Class
• Order
• Family
• Genus
• Species
• The ending of the name – Rank
• -ales: Order; ineae: Sub order; -aceae: Family
 2.The Type method
• Names of the plants are based on nomenclatural
types – usually a herbarium specimen
• Type specimen- collected by an investigator for the
first time, not identified earlier and new name will
be given according to the rules of nomenclature
• Officially designated types: Holotype,
isotype, paratype, Lectotype, Neotype,
Syntype, Topotype and Cotype
• A holotype is the one specimen or other
element used by the author or designated
by him as the nomenclatural type.”(Art.7)
Taxonomic “Types”
 Type Specimen -
 one representative of the taxon
 Holotype -
 specimen designated by the author in the original
publication (nomenclatural type)
 Isotype -
 a duplicate specimen of the holotype collected at the
same time and place (may be in other herbarium)
 Lectotype -
 a specimen chosen from the author’s original material
when no holotype has been designated.
Taxonomic “Types”
 Neotype-
 selected when all original specimens have been
destroyed
Syntype
 A syntype is any specimen cited in the protologue
when no holotype was designated, or any one of
two or more specimens simultaneously esignated as
types
Topotype
 A specimen of an organism taken from the type
locality of that species.
Cotype
 cotype —an additional type specimen from the
same brood as the original type specimen
3.Typification

It is strictly recommended by the

code that a holotype should be
designated and deposited in a
permanent responsible herbarium or
institution that that is scrupulously
conserved
 4. AUTHOR CITATION
The person who publishes the description of any
plant for the first time or giving a new name to a
plant is considered as author.

and the author’s abbreviated name should be

placed at the end of specific epithet.
This is called author citation.
 WHY AUTHOR CITATION

• For a name to be complete, accurate and readily verifiable,

it should be accompanied by the name of the AUTHOR or AUTHORS
WHO PUBLISHES THE NAME.
• The names of the authors are commonly abbreviated
Example:
Linn. or L. for Linnaeus
Benth. for G. Bentham
Hook. for William Hooker
Hook. f for Sir J. D. Hooker (‘f’ stands for filius; means the son)
R.Br. for Robert Brown
Lamk. For J. P. Lamarck
A. DC. for Alphonse de Candolle
Pers. for C. H. Persoon
1. Single Author

• Name of a single author follows the name of a

species when the new name is proposed by
him
• Example: Solanum nigrum Linn.
 Multiple Authors
1. Use of et.: When two or more authors publish a new species or
propose a new name; their names are linked by et
Example:
• Delphinium viscosum Hook.f. et Thomson

2. Use of parantheses: Transfer of a taxon from one genus to another

or upgrading or downgrading the level of the taxon
Example:
New name: Cyanodon dactylon (Linn.)Pers
Original name : Panicum dactylon Linn.

3.Use of ex: The first author had proposed the name but validly
published by the second author
Example: Cerasus cornuta Wall. ex Royle.
4. Use of in: The first author published a new species in the
publication of another author
Example: Carex kashmirensis Clarke in Hook.f.
ie., Clarke published this new species in the Flora of British
India whose author was Sir J. D. Hooker

5. Use of emend: When the second author make some

change in the diagnosis of a taxon without altering the
type.
Eg: Phyllanthus Linn. emend. Mull

6. Use of Square brackets: to indicate prestarting point author.

Generic name Lupinus was published by Tournefort in1719.
But the starting year for Botanical nomenclature based on
Species plantarum of Linnaeus was 1753
Eg: Lupinus (Tourne.) Linn.
5. Latin diagnosis
• Names of all new species published
on January 1, 1935 onwards
should have Latin diagnosis
• Description in any language followed
with Latin translation of diagnostic
features.
6. Publication of names
 First published taxon should fulfill
certain requirements so as to become
legitimate name for consideration

7. Effective or valid publication

A validly published name is one which has been

•Effectively published
•Accompanied by a description of the taxon
Eg: Phalaris arundinacea L. Sp. Pl. 55, 1753
[accompanied by latin diagnosis]
This publication is effective and valid
8. Rejection of names
 A name must be rejected if it is illegitimate
[badly chosen/ disagreeable]
 “A name is rejected if there is an older valid
name based on the same type (typonym)
 If it is nomenclaturally superflous
 If published in controversy with specified
rules
 If it is a Tautonym [generic name repeated
fro species name]
9. Principle of Priority
 Whoever publishes the name valid and
effectively first will be given the credit and
all subsequently published names will be
rejected
 Eg; the name published by Linnaeus in
1753 followed by publication of the same
name by two or more authors in 1780 or
1790
 In this case, the name published by
Linnaeus is valid; the others rejected.
10. Retention of names of taxa which are divided

 When a genus is divided into 2 or more genera,

the generic name must be retained
 When a species is divided into two or more
species, the species name must be retained for
one of them.
Eg: Sugar maple: Acer saccharum Marsh.

Francois Michaux proposed two species

Acer saccharum Marsh. (retained as such for one
species)
Acer nigrum Michaux. (for another species)
11. Changes in name of taxa
 By transfer of taxon
 By its union with another taxon
1. When a genus is transferred to
another genus, the original name
should be retained.
2. When two or more taxa of the same
rank are united into one,the oldest
legitimate name is retained for the
combined taxon.
3. Provisions for the Governance of Code

• Permanent Nomenclatural committees

established under International Association for
Plant Taxonomy [IAPT]
• Members of this committee are elected by the
IBC
• Power to co-opt and establish sub committees
• Desired office bearers may be elected for proper
implementation of the provisions
 Salient features of ICBN
1. The generic name is a singular noun.
2. The first letter of generic name is always written in capital.
3. The specific epithet is an adjective and is always written with
small letter.
4. Derived from many sources and consist of one or two words
eg. Oryza sativa
5. The name should be short, precise and easy to pronounce.

6. The binomials are printed in italics or underlined.

7. The generic and specific epithets are underlined separately.

eg. Abutilon neilgherrense or Abutilon neilgherrense