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Abre camino plant scientific name12/16/2023 ![]() ![]() Therefore, the binomial name for this species is Acer rubrum. The red maple is in the "maple" genus, which is called Acer, and its specific epithet is rubrum, which is Latin for red. The tree species that is commonly known in North America as red maple has been given the Latin binomial of Acer rubrum. (Latin: homo, man sapiens, wise or knowing hence, "wise man" or "knowing man") In this binomial system, humans are known taxonomically as: The custom of using latinized names and spelling originated from medieval scholarship and the use of Latin in most botanical publications until the middle of the nineteenth century. Thus each species has a two part name or binomial. The generic name in combination with the specific epithet constitutes the species name. In this system, biological organisms, such as plants, are given two latinized names, the Latin binomial or so-called "scientific name". This system, first published in 1753 in his Species Plantarum, is known as the Linnaean binomial system of nomenclature, or simply binomial nomenclature. The current system of using Latin to name biological organisms was developed by Carl von Linne (1707-1778), more commonly known by his pen name Linnaeus. William Stearn examined the names of 200 alphabetically consecutive genera in the orchid family ( Orchidaceae), he found that 132 were of Greek origin, 48 personal, 12 Latin, 4 obscure, 3 geographical, and 1 vernacular (Stearn, 2002). “A standard Latin dictionary may in fact be quite misleading when consulted for botanical information.” Only a limited number of plant names are genuine Latin used by the Romans. ![]() The Latin used by botanists today is very different from that of the Romans because it deals with many plants and plant structures unknown in classical times. Botanical names in Latin form are a legacy from the 18th century, derived from much earlier usage. Note on botanical Latin: The Latin used in naming plants is not classical (i.e., Roman) Latin, but an “expanded form of Latin derived from Latin used for many purposes in the Middle Ages and the Renaissance”. At this time Latin was still the most widely used international language of science and scholarship and this continued into the 18 th century, when the foundations were laid for the present system of naming plants (Stearn, 2002). Most notably by the German physician and herbalist Leonard Fuchs (1501-1566) and a French monk, Charles Plumier (1646-1704). In the meantime, this classical legacy was supplemented with additional plant names in the Latin-form. These Greek or Latin names were copied over and over by hand through the Middle Ages until the invention of printing in the 16 th century made them widely available. The ancient Greek or Roman authors, particularly Theophrastus (370-286 BC), Dioscorides (40-90 AD), and Pliny the Elder (23-78 AD), recorded hundreds of names of plants, mostly those of medical importance, that where in contemporary use at the time. ![]()
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