Authors of Plant Names

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Authors of Plant Names (Brummitt & Powell) by Richard Kenneth Brummitt and C. Emma Powell, 1992, is a print database of accepted standardized abbreviations used for citing the author who validly published the name of a taxon. [1] [2] The database is now maintained online at the International Plant Names Index. [3] The book provides recommended abbreviations for authors' names that help to distinguish authors with the same surname when giving the full name of a taxon. It deals authors who validly published the name of a flowering plant, gymnosperm, fern, bryophyte, algae, fungi or fossil plants. [1] [3] Prior to its publication in 1992, many abbreviations for authors to be cited could be found in Taxonomic literature. A selective guide to botanical publications and collections with dates, commentaries and types. by F. A. Stafleu & R. F. Cowen, 1976–1988. [4]

The International Code of Nomenclature for algae, fungi, and plants (ICN) governs the naming of these organisms, and suggests that a taxon be fully identified by its name and the author, but does not require that abbreviations be used when citing an author for a taxon. When abbreviations are used, the ICN recommends that Brummitt & Powell's Authors of plant names (1992), and the websites, the International Plant Names Index and the Index Fungorum can be used to find "unambiguous" abbreviations. [5] Brummitt & Powell may not be international in scope, and it may be missing abbreviations for authors who validly published taxa during some time spans. [1] A full name, rather than an abbreviation, may also make it easier to locate the original publication for the taxon name. [1]

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Genus</span> Taxonomic rank directly above species

Genus is a taxonomic rank above species and below family as used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms as well as viruses. In binomial nomenclature, the genus name forms the first part of the binomial species name for each species within the genus.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">International Plant Names Index</span> Database of plant names

The International Plant Names Index (IPNI) describes itself as "a database of the names and associated basic bibliographical details of seed plants, ferns and lycophytes." Coverage of plant names is best at the rank of species and genus. It includes basic bibliographical details associated with the names. Its goals include eliminating the need for repeated reference to primary sources for basic bibliographic information about plant names.

<i>International Code of Nomenclature for algae, fungi, and plants</i> Code of scientific nomenclature

The International Code of Nomenclature for algae, fungi, and plants is the set of rules and recommendations dealing with the formal botanical names that are given to plants, fungi and a few other groups of organisms, all those "traditionally treated as algae, fungi, or plants". It was formerly called the International Code of Botanical Nomenclature (ICBN); the name was changed at the International Botanical Congress in Melbourne in July 2011 as part of the Melbourne Code which replaced the Vienna Code of 2005.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Botanical name</span> Scientific name for a plant, alga or fungus

A botanical name is a formal scientific name conforming to the International Code of Nomenclature for algae, fungi, and plants (ICN) and, if it concerns a plant cultigen, the additional cultivar or Group epithets must conform to the International Code of Nomenclature for Cultivated Plants (ICNCP). The code of nomenclature covers "all organisms traditionally treated as algae, fungi, or plants, whether fossil or non-fossil, including blue-green algae (Cyanobacteria), chytrids, oomycetes, slime moulds and photosynthetic protists with their taxonomically related non-photosynthetic groups ."

The International Association for Plant Taxonomy (IAPT) is an organization established to promote an understanding of plant biodiversity, facilitate international communication of research between botanists, and oversee matters of uniformity and stability in plant names. The IAPT was founded on July 18, 1950, at the Seventh International Botanical Congress in Stockholm, Sweden. The IAPT headquarters is located in Bratislava, Slovakia. Its president, since 2023, is Lúcia G. Lohmann of the Universidade de São Paulo; vice-president is Fabián Michelangeli of the New York Botanical Garden; and secretary-general is Mauricio Bonifacino of the Universidad de la República, Montevideo, Uruguay.

Botanical nomenclature is the formal, scientific naming of plants. It is related to, but distinct from taxonomy. Plant taxonomy is concerned with grouping and classifying plants; botanical nomenclature then provides names for the results of this process. The starting point for modern botanical nomenclature is Linnaeus' Species Plantarum of 1753. Botanical nomenclature is governed by the International Code of Nomenclature for algae, fungi, and plants (ICN), which replaces the International Code of Botanical Nomenclature (ICBN). Fossil plants are also covered by the code of nomenclature.

Nomenclature codes or codes of nomenclature are the various rulebooks that govern the naming of living organisms. Standardizing the scientific names of biological organisms allows researchers to discuss findings.

In botany, the correct name according to the International Code of Nomenclature for algae, fungi, and plants (ICN) is the one and only botanical name that is to be used for a particular taxon, when that taxon has a particular circumscription, position and rank. Determining whether a name is correct is a complex procedure. The name must be validly published, a process which is defined in no less than 16 Articles of the ICN. It must also be "legitimate", which imposes some further requirements. If there are two or more legitimate names for the same taxon, then the correct name is the one which has priority, i.e. it was published earliest, although names may be conserved if they have been very widely used. Validly published names other than the correct name are called synonyms. Since taxonomists may disagree as to the circumscription, position or rank of a taxon, there can be more than one correct name for a particular plant. These may also be called synonyms.

In botany, an infraspecific name is the scientific name for any taxon below the rank of species, i.e. an infraspecific taxon or infraspecies. A "taxon", plural "taxa", is a group of organisms to be given a particular name. The scientific names of botanical taxa are regulated by the International Code of Nomenclature for algae, fungi, and plants (ICN). This specifies a three part name for infraspecific taxa, plus a connecting term to indicate the rank of the name. An example of such a name is Astrophytum myriostigma subvar. glabrum, the name of a subvariety of the species Astrophytum myriostigma.

In botanical nomenclature, author citation is the way of citing the person or group of people who validly published a botanical name, i.e. who first published the name while fulfilling the formal requirements as specified by the International Code of Nomenclature for algae, fungi, and plants (ICN). In cases where a species is no longer in its original generic placement, both the authority for the original genus placement and that for the new combination are given.

In biology, a homonym is a name for a taxon that is identical in spelling to another such name, that belongs to a different taxon.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Conserved name</span> Conserved name (a protected scientific name)

A conserved name or nomen conservandum is a scientific name that has specific nomenclatural protection. That is, the name is retained, even though it violates one or more rules which would otherwise prevent it from being legitimate. Nomen conservandum is a Latin term, meaning "a name to be conserved". The terms are often used interchangeably, such as by the International Code of Nomenclature for Algae, Fungi, and Plants (ICN), while the International Code of Zoological Nomenclature favours the term "conserved name".

In botanical nomenclature, autonyms are automatically created names, as regulated by the International Code of Nomenclature for algae, fungi, and plants that are created for certain subdivisions of genera and species, those that include the type of the genus or species. An autonym might not be mentioned in the publication that creates it as a side-effect. Autonyms "repeat unaltered" the genus name or species epithet of the taxon being subdivided, and no other name for that same subdivision is validly published. For example, Rubus subgenus Eubatus is not validly published, and the subgenus is known as Rubus subgen. Rubus.

MycoBank is an online database, documenting new mycological names and combinations, eventually combined with descriptions and illustrations. It is run by the Westerdijk Fungal Biodiversity Institute in Utrecht.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Taxonomic rank</span> Level in a taxonomic hierarchy

In biology, taxonomic rank is the relative level of a group of organisms in an ancestral or hereditary hierarchy. A common system of biological classification (taxonomy) consists of species, genus, family, order, class, phylum, kingdom, and domain. While older approaches to taxonomic classification were phenomenological, forming groups on the basis of similarities in appearance, organic structure and behavior, methods based on genetic analysis have opened the road to cladistics, a method of classification of animals and plants according to the proportion of measurable or like characteristics that they have in common. it is assumed that the higher the proportion of characteristics that two organisms share, the more recently they both came from a common ancestor.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Glossary of scientific naming</span>

This is a list of terms and symbols used in scientific names for organisms, and in describing the names. For proper parts of the names themselves, see List of Latin and Greek words commonly used in systematic names. Note that many of the abbreviations are used with or without a stop.

In botanical nomenclature, a validly published name is a name that meets the requirements in the International Code of Nomenclature for algae, fungi, and plants for valid publication. Valid publication of a name represents the minimum requirements for a botanical name to exist: terms that appear to be names but have not been validly published are referred to in the ICN as "designations".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Interim Register of Marine and Nonmarine Genera</span> Taxonomic database

The Interim Register of Marine and Nonmarine Genera (IRMNG) is a taxonomic database which attempts to cover published genus names for all domains of life, from 1758 in zoology up to the present, arranged in a single, internally consistent taxonomic hierarchy, for the benefit of Biodiversity Informatics initiatives plus general users of biodiversity (taxonomic) information. In addition to containing just over 500,000 published genus name instances as at May 2023, the database holds over 1.7 million species names, although this component of the data is not maintained in as current or complete state as the genus-level holdings. IRMNG can be queried online for access to the latest version of the dataset and is also made available as periodic snapshots or data dumps for import/upload into other systems as desired. The database was commenced in 2006 at the then CSIRO Division of Marine and Atmospheric Research in Australia and, since 2016, has been hosted at the Flanders Marine Institute (VLIZ) in Belgium.

Richard Kenneth "Dick" Brummitt was a British botanist.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 Jones, Stanley D.; Wipff, Joseph K.; Montgomery, Paul M. (1997). Vascular Plants of Texas: A Comprehensive Checklist Including Synonymy, Bibliography, and Index. University of Texas Press. pp. 5–6. ISBN   978-0-292-72962-9. Archived from the original on 10 November 2014. Retrieved 7 July 2013.
  2. Davis, Elisabeth B.; Schmidt, Diane (1996). Guide to information sources in the botanical sciences (2. ed.). Englewood, Colo.: Libraries Unlimited. p. 188. ISBN   1563080753.
  3. 1 2 "Authors of Plant Names Where is the Brummitt & Powell "Authors of Plant Names" database?". Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. Retrieved 7 July 2013.
  4. Biodiversity Research in the Horn of Africa Region: Proceedings of the Third International Symposium on the Flora of Ethiopia and Eritrea. Copenhagen: Carlsberg Academy. 1999.
  5. McNeill, J.; Barrie, F. R.; Buck, W. R.; Demoulin, V., eds. (2012), International Code of Nomenclature for algae, fungi, and plants (Melbourne Code), Article 46 (electronic ed.), Bratislava: International Association for Plant Taxonomy, retrieved 2012-12-20