Names, was Re: [Herbalist] saffron

[Kathleen H. Keeler]

Greetings
  I know they wrote it this way on the web, but

rachel at stayintouch.co.uk wrote:

> from
> http://greekproducts.com/greekproducts/saffron/index.html
> Saffron is the most precious and most expensive spice in the world.
> The Saffron filaments, or threads, are actually the dried stigmas of the saffron flower, "Crocus Sativus Linneaus". Each flower contains only three stigmas.

The biology of this seems right but the naming is all wrong.

Linnaeus created a two-word (post period) system of plant (and animal) nomenclature.  It has been very successful because it gives each species exactly one name in one language (Latin) so people with different native languages can more clearly talk about plants (and animals).

The idea is a genus (larger group) name and a species (particular plant, i.e.specific) name.  There may be many kinds of crocus, but the saffron crocus is _Crocus sativus_.  (I indicate italics by _word_, because not all email systems handle italics.  Explanation below).

Genus name always comes first and is capitalized, the species name always comes second and is never capitalized in modern American usage (historically, when the species is a person's name, it was capitalized, but that is currently out of style).

In Latin the genus is usually a noun, _crocus_ being the Latin word for the crocus, _brassica_ the Latin word for cabbage.

The species name is usually an adjective, or a noun in the genitive (possessive) form, so _Crocus sativus_ is "garden crocus".  _Brassica oleracea_ is "vegetable cabbage" (ie edible cabbage), _Brassica juncea_ is "rush-like cabbage" that is slender-leafed cabbage.  [Also place names _Linum austriacum_ Austrian flax, and _Artemisia ludoviciana_ Louisiana
sage, _Dianthus chinensis_, Indian pink but in Latin, pink from China, and plants named for a person:  Rosa brunonii, Brown's rose, for Robert Brown, Scots botanist and _Rosa moyesii_ Moyes' rose, for Reverend Moyes a missionary in China who presumably brought it to European attention, and _Rosa wichuriana_, after Prussian diplomat Max Wichura.]

You can use the genus name alone, in which case you are talking about cabbages generally or many types of crocus.  You can't use the species name alone, because these adjectives get used widely:  there is _Lactuca sativa_ the "garden lettuce" and _Cucurbita sativus_ the garden cucumber, as well as _Crocus sativus_ .

The endings vary because in Latin the adjective agrees with the noun.  _Lactuca_ is feminine, _Crocus_ is masculine.  [Latin nouns have 5 declentions and some irregularities, so you get 1 datum, 2 data, 1 thesis 2 theses, 1 alga 2 algae, 1 species 2 species, 1 genus 2 genera, just to show you variations on endings in singular and plural nouns.

The whole thing is italicized because in English, we indicate foreign words by putting them in italics. _Achtung_, or _Que paso?_ Scientific names are in the foreign language Latin.  Underlining is the tradition way of indicating to the printer that the text should be set in italics. So underlining is an acceptable alternate to italics, very important
when we didn't have italic fonts or computers.

To make plant names simple and coherent, there's a International Code of Nomenclature.  People publish names.  But perhaps one person (Lois) thinks cabbages and radishes are so similar they should be in the same genus, which will require that the radish _Raphanus sativus_ come into the genus _Brassica_, perhaps as _Brassica sativus_.  Another
(Rosemary-Ann) might think cabbage and cauliflower, generally both _Brassica oleracea_ should be different and splits out cauliflower as something like _Brassica alba_ (white cabbage).  Now we have a confusion of names, and it is useful to stick the author after the name _Brassica sativus_ Lois,  or _Brassica oleracea_ Rosemary-Ann, which says you are
using the term the same way Lois and Rosemary-Ann did, respectively.  Rosemary-Ann's name is very long, so she'd likely be shortened to something official and distinctive. There's probably already a botanist named Rose who named things, so _Brassica oleracea_ Rosem.    Note:  the author (Lois, Rosemary-Ann) is not in italics because its not in Latin.
Linneaus's official abbreviation is L.  For many species there is no conflict, everyone uses the names the same, and so you rarely need to carry the author's name.  And L. for Linneaus is universal, it would be plenty.

So the website should say _Crocus sativus_ L. the first time, and then just _Crocus sativus_ or _C. sativus_ (where it is absolutely clear what the C refers to, genus names can be abbreviated.  Species names should never stand alone or be abbreviated.)

Rachael, are you part of that website or should I copy this to them myself?

 The rules are really quite sensible and can be very useful.  But most people use them without any explanation. I was trained as an ecologist, I blundered into plant science from an odd angle and every so often a light went off as I figured out a pattern of name use.

 Alas, they are postperiod so we only can guess what exactly the period herbals refer to when they say "brassica." or "crocus"

Agnes