Botanical Nomenclature - History and Scope

History and Scope

Botanical nomenclature has a long history, going back to the period when Latin was the scientific language throughout Europe, and perhaps further back to Theophrastus. A key event was Linnaeus’ adoption of binomial names for plant species in his Species Plantarum (1753). Every plant species is given a name that remains the same no matter what other species were placed in the genus, and this separates taxonomy from nomenclature. These species names of Linnaeus together with names for other ranks (such as family, class, order, variety), can serve to express a great many taxonomic viewpoints.

In the nineteenth century it became increasingly clear that there was a need for rules to govern scientific nomenclature, and initiatives were taken to produce a body of laws. These were published in successively more sophisticated editions. For plants the key dates are 1867 (lois de Candolle), 1906 (International Rules of Botanical Nomenclature, 'Vienna Rules') and 1952 (International Code of Botanical Nomenclature, 'Stockholm Code'). The most recent is the Vienna Code, adopted in 2005.

Another development was the insight into the delimitation of the concept of 'plant'. Linnaeus held a much wider view of what a plant is than is acceptable today. Gradually more and more groups of organisms are being recognised as being independent of plants. Nevertheless the formal names of most of these organisms are governed by the (ICN), even today. A separate Code was adopted to govern the nomenclature of Bacteria, the ICNB.

All formal botanical names are governed by the ICN, and within the limits set by that code there is another set of rules, the International Code of Nomenclature for Cultivated Plants (ICNCP). This latter code applies to plant cultivars, that have been deliberately altered or selected by humans (see cultigen) and require separate recognition.