botanical latin

The language used to denote the scientific names of plants. In the 18th century, when Carolus Linnaeus invented the binomial system for plant classification, Latin was the universal language of scientists. In his system (still in use today) the first Latin word indicated the genus and the second pinpointed the species. Since that time, many new names for plants have been derived from other languages, especially Greek, or from the name of the place where a previously unknown plant was first found or the person who discovered or cultivated it. Whatever their origin, however, all scientific plant names are treated as Latin. Thus the redbud tree is Cercis (from the Greek) canadensis (from the place where it was first identified). The Siberian wallflower is Cheiranthus (from the Greek) allionii (after the Italian botanist Carlo Allioni). See also Linnaeus, Carolus; binomial.