Plant Classification &

Naming

Wildland Plant Identification

University of Idaho

Botanical NomenclaturePlants are described and grouped based mostly on

their flowering structure or other reproductive parts.

kingdom (plant)

division (phylum)

class

order

family

tribe

genus

specific epithet

General

Specific

Plant Family Plants with similar flower/fruit structure

Number of sepals and petals

Type and number of stamens and pistels

Similar fruits

Name ends in “aceae”

Fabaceae, Chenodiaceae, Asteraceae, Rosaceae,

etc.

Tribes

Large families are further separated into

Tribes

In this class, will recognize tribes in the Poaceae

& Asteraceae

Tribe names end in “eae” without an “ac” before the

“eae”

Astereae, Heliantheae, Poeae, Aveneae, etc.

Genus

Based on similarities in flowers/fruits

Also, similar morphological or other plant

characteristics

Genus is capitalized and is italicized or

underlined when typed in a document

Leafy Spurge

Euphorbia esula

In the Euphorbiaceae family

Specific epithet

Second part of the scientific name

May be several species in a genus –

distinguished by different specific epithets

Not capitalized and is italicized or underlined

when typed in a document

Shadescale Saltbrush

Atriplex confertifolia

Fourwing Saltebrush

Atriplex canescens

In the Chenopodiaceae family

Authority

A species name would include a Genus and

Specific Epithet

Initials at end of name are abbreviation of

name of person who named plant

L. = Carolus Linnaeus (1707–1778), Swedish

botanist and author of Species Plantarum, which is the

starting point for botanical nomenclature

Nutt. = Thomas Nuttall (1786–1859), English-

American naturalist who collected in western United

States

Meaning of Plant Names

Plant names reflect a Greek or Latin term to

highlight a characteristics of the plant or the

person it was named for. For example, leafy

spurge

Euphorbia esula L.

Eu= "good" + “phorbe” = pasture or fodder

“euphorbia” = good feed.

Many members of this genus are good feed. In fact,

leafy spurge is pretty good forage for goats and sheep.

esula = “sharp” referring to the acrid juice of this species

L. = named by Linnaeus

Meaning of Plant Names

Shadscale saltbrush

Atriplex confertifolia (Torr. & Frém.) S. Watson

Atriplex = Old Latin name for this plant

confertifolia = with crowded leaves

Torr. & Frém. for John Torrey (1796–1873), American

physician and botanist, and John Charles Frémont

(1813–1890), soldier, explorer, and presidential candidate.

S. Watson for Sereno Watson (1826–1892), curator of the

Gray Herbarium, Harvard University who reclassified

this plant.

Meaning of Plant Names

Fourwing saltbrush

Atriplex canescens (Pursh) Nutt

Atriplex = Old Latin name for this plant

canescens = covered with short gray or white hairs

Pursh for Fredrick Traugott Pursh (1774–1820), German

author and botanical collector who first named the plant

Nutt for Thomas Nuttall (1786–1859), English-American

naturalist who collected in western United States who

reclassified the plant.

Scientific Names

It often helps to learn to understand what or

who the plant was named for to help

recognize the plant.

To figure out want plant names mean, visit

the following websites:

http://www.calflora.net/botanicalnames/

http://davesgarden.com/guides/botanary/

http://theseedsite.co.uk/latin.html

Plant Names

Poison Hemlock

Conium maculatum L.

Apiaceae (Carrot Family

For this class, know

Family/Tribe + Genus + specific eptithet

Genus

Common Name

Specific epithetAuthority

Family