WHAT'S IN A NAME?

GLYN WILLIAMS

Well, let me shed some light for you onto this vast and interesting topic.

Karl von Linné and the binomial naming system

In the 1600-1700's, during a period of plant exploration, new plants from South America, Southeast Asia, Africa, and the Middle East were all coming to the attention of European scientists. Things became extremely difficult when it came to naming them, until a Swedish man by the name of Karl von Linné (known by his own Latin name, Carolus Linnaeus) in 1735, developed a standardized naming system for all living organisms called the binomial system.

The binomial system divides all individual species into two parts - the genus and the species name. Take for example the Acacia karroo, Acacia is the genus and karroo is the species name. In this manner, every species has a unique name composed of the two parts.

Further than this, plants are classified in a hierarchy of groups (called taxa) at different levels of classification, with similar species grouped together.

Kingdom
Division
Class
Sub-class
Order
Family
Genus
Species

For the purpose of plant identification, we will never need more than the three most basic levels of classification, namely family, genus and species.

Family: A family is nothing more than a group of closely related genera (plural for genus) that share common features or characteristics.

Genus: A group of plants that have practically identical features with each.

Species: A group of plants that have very specific features and consistently produce like plants.

Here is a human analogy to help explain the above a little further: you have a family made up of a father, a mother and a pair of identical twin brothers. All share the same surname, have similar features and are related by birth or marriage - this is the family. The twin boys are practically identical in looks, age and size. This makes them standout from the family. Even though they can be seen to be part of the family, the fact that they are younger and share similar features makes them "different". This is the genus of the family. Each twin has a characteristic that is unique to him that no one else in the family has, not even his identical twin brother, and that is his fingerprints. This is the species.

As an example to show how all the levels fit together, here is the breakdown of the different classification levels of the Prunus africana (i.e. the African Almond or Rooistinkhout):
Kingdom: Division: Class: Sub-class: Order:	plantae spermatophyta angiospermae dicotyledonae rosales
Family: Genus: Species:	Rosaceae Prunus Prunus africana	These are the three basic levels that we are concerned about.

Because these names are Latin (and sometimes Greek) they are italicized in order to distinguish them from English. It is also common practice that the first letter of the genus name is capitalized, while the species name is not.

Contrary to the understanding that the binomial system gives every living organism two names, there are exceptions to the rule where some plants do indeed have more than two names. They are sub-species and varieties, and apply to plants that are too closely related to define as a separate species. In these cases, the original form becomes the typical variety or subspecies and its species name is repeated in the sub-specific or varietal name.

An Example of this is the Olea europaea subsp. africana (African Olive or Olienhout), with the original species being the Olea europaea subsp. europaea.

Note that the sub-specific (subsp.) or varietal (var.) abbreviations are not Latinised and are therefore not written in italics.

Demystifying Latin Names

We as humans have a natural reaction to things of the unknown, and as a result we tend to resist the scientific or Latin names with comments like, "that's too difficult to remember, what's the common name?" Also, we as English speaking people tend to be too proud when it comes to other languages and often refuse to make the effort to speak to others in their own language. The key here is to make the effort. There is nothing intrinsically difficult with the Latin names; it is just a standardized method that allows us to differentiate one plant for another. Also, many English words are derived from Latin, so there are a many Latin words that would be recognizable and simple to remember.

I believe that as Bonsai enthusiasts, and indeed anybody with green fingers, should make the effort to learn and understand the botanical names. It opens up a whole new world of information about the plants that we would ordinarily forget after reading about it in a book. Details like the size, colour, distinguishing features of the species or even just its native location are hidden within these names.

I am not saying that we must not use the common names, but we must remember that the common names often hold a tremendous amount of cultural significance and are not always correct in terms of the characteristics of the plant. They can also make things a little more confusing. Many plants are widespread over large areas throughout Southern Africa and beyond. This has resulted in many plants having different common names, due to language and cultural differences of the area the plant is found. In other cases, the same common name has been given to more than one species, and many of the smaller plant species such as the wild flowers have never been given common names at all. So it is important to know the common and botanical names to really appreciate the plant.

An example of why just using the common name is not enough: we as South Africans have adopted the common name of Blue Gum for the entire Eucalyptus family. However, if you ever visit Australia, do not refer to it as the Blue Gum because you are likely to be told off by some local Sheila. Of the 300 plus species of Eucalyptus, there is only one that has the official common name of Blue Gum, and that is the Sydney Blue Gum (Eucalyptus saligna). Technically we should just call them Eucalyptus trees if we do not know the actual species.

Of course, sometimes the botanical name is also not enough. Take the small houseplant known to us as the Hen-and-chickens or Spider Plant. The botanical name for this plant is Chlorophytum comosum. But translated into English this name means a "green (Chloro) plant (phytum) with leaves (comosum)".

Identifying Plants
Let us now look at how we can identify plants using some of the common Latin words used in plant names, by looking at the two plants I mentioned right at the beginning of this article.
Pittosporum viridiflorum - Cheesewood, Kaasuur
Pterocelastrus tricuspidatus - Candlewood, Kershout

Whether you know these trees or not, they are two good examples of how the Latin can help us understand more about their features.

Pittosporum viridiflorum (Cheesewood, Kaasuur)

From the Latin we know that the different words that make up the name mean the following:
Pitto - resinous
sporum - seed
viridi - green
florum - flower

Logic therefore tells us that we are looking for a plant that has a resinous seed and green flowers. Here is the description as taken from Pelgrave's Trees of Southern Africa:

Flowers: small, greenish white to cream
Fruit: a small, creamy brown capsule, 5-8mm in diameter, splitting to release the 4 bright red seeds which are coated with a sticky, slow-drying resin. (2002, p242)

Pterocelastrus tricuspidatus (Candlewood, Kershout)

Again from the Latin we know that the different words that make up the name mean the following:
Ptero - winged
Celastrus - star
tri - three
cuspidatus - point

A little more difficult, but logic would tell us that we are looking for a plant that has something that has a feature that resembles a three pointed star. By understanding a bit about plants in general, we could assume that this feature is the fruit as it is usually the fruit that has some sort of wing. Again, from Pelgrave's:

Fruit: a 3-lobed capsule about 10mm in diameter, each lobe with 1-2 wing-like horns, becoming orange-yellow (2002, p598) Pictures taken from van Wyk & van Wyk, p171

Listed below are some common Latin words used specifically in plant names, along with their meanings and some examples:

Geographical references

Colour references

Size & number references

Nature or structure of plant

Other commonly used descriptive names

Conclusion
In writing this article I have come to understand just how plant names have come about. I hope that you have too and that you will be inspired to take that extra effort to learn, understand and remember the botanical names of your beloved Bonsai.

With that, I leave you with the words of Robert Frost:

Various Internet web sites. Search from www.google.com for "Latin" and "Linneaus".