Flora Lapponica

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Frontispiece of Flora Lapponica

Flora Lapponica (Amsterdam, 1737) [1] is an account of the plants of Lapland written by botanist, zoologist and naturalist Carl Linnaeus (1707-1788) following his expedition to Lapland.

Contents

Background

Over the period from 12 May 1732 to 10 September 1732, and with a grant from the Royal Society of Sciences in Uppsala for his journey, [2] [3] Linnaeus was able to combine his interest in medicine with that of natural history to travel for five months in Lapland collecting animals, plants, and minerals.

Classification used

In Flora Lapponica Linnaeus's ideas about nomenclature and classification were first used in a practical way, making this the first proto-modern flora. [4] The account covered 534 species, used the Linnaean classification system and included, for the described species, geographical distribution and taxonomic notes. It was Augustin Pyramus de Candolle who attributed Linnaeus with Flora Lapponica as the first example in the botanical genre of Flora writing. Botanical historian E.L. Greene described Flora Lapponica as “the most classic and delightful of Linnaeus’s writings”.

Commemorative personal names

A Lapland plant, Linnaea borealis , was named by the eminent botanist Jan Frederik Gronovius in commemoration of Linnaeus's achievements. In the Critica Botanica Linnaeus uses this name to advocate the use of commemorative personal names as botanical names:

it is commonly believed that the name of a plant which is derived from that of a botanist shows no connection between the two...[but]...Linnaea was named by the celebrated Gronovius and is a plant of Lapland, lowly, insignificant, disregarded, flowering but for a brief space — after Linnaeus who resembles it. [5]

Updated edition

An update of this work was published in 1792 by James Edward Smith, citing Linnaeus as the main author and using Linnaeus' binomial nomenclature. [6] These books are not to be confused with Gerog (Göran) Walhenberg's 1812 "Flora Lapponica", who organized species according to their vegetation types and geographic areas. [7]

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Carl Linnaeus, also known after ennoblement in 1761 as Carl von Linné, was a Swedish biologist and physician who formalised binomial nomenclature, the modern system of naming organisms. He is known as the "father of modern taxonomy". Many of his writings were in Latin; his name is rendered in Latin as Carolus Linnæus and, after his 1761 ennoblement, as Carolus a Linné.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Linnaean taxonomy</span> Rank based classification system for organisms

Linnaean taxonomy can mean either of two related concepts:

  1. The particular form of biological classification (taxonomy) set up by Carl Linnaeus, as set forth in his Systema Naturae (1735) and subsequent works. In the taxonomy of Linnaeus there are three kingdoms, divided into classes, and they, in turn, into lower ranks in a hierarchical order.
  2. A term for rank-based classification of organisms, in general. That is, taxonomy in the traditional sense of the word: rank-based scientific classification. This term is especially used as opposed to cladistic systematics, which groups organisms into clades. It is attributed to Linnaeus, although he neither invented the concept of ranked classification nor gave it its present form. In fact, it does not have an exact present form, as "Linnaean taxonomy" as such does not really exist: it is a collective (abstracting) term for what actually are several separate fields, which use similar approaches.

In biology, taxonomy is the scientific study of naming, defining (circumscribing) and classifying groups of biological organisms based on shared characteristics. Organisms are grouped into taxa and these groups are given a taxonomic rank; groups of a given rank can be aggregated to form a more inclusive group of higher rank, thus creating a taxonomic hierarchy. The principal ranks in modern use are domain, kingdom, phylum, class, order, family, genus, and species. The Swedish botanist Carl Linnaeus is regarded as the founder of the current system of taxonomy, as he developed a ranked system known as Linnaean taxonomy for categorizing organisms and binomial nomenclature for naming organisms.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Order (biology)</span> Taxonomic rank between class and family

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<i>Species Plantarum</i> Book by Carl Linnaeus

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<i>Philosophia Botanica</i>

Philosophia Botanica was published by the Swedish naturalist and physician Carl Linnaeus (1707–1778) who greatly influenced the development of botanical taxonomy and systematics in the 18th and 19th centuries. It is "the first textbook of descriptive systematic botany and botanical Latin". It also contains Linnaeus's first published description of his binomial nomenclature.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Johannes Browallius</span>

Johannes Browallius, also called John Browall, was a Finnish and Swedish Lutheran theologian, physicist, botanist and at one time friend of Swedish taxonomist Carl Linnaeus.

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<i>Genera Plantarum</i>

Genera Plantarum is a publication of Swedish naturalist Carl Linnaeus (1707–1778). The first edition was issued in Leiden, 1737. The fifth edition served as a complementary volume to Species Plantarum (1753). Article 13 of the International Code of Nomenclature for algae, fungi, and plants states that "Generic names that appear in Linnaeus' Species Plantarum ed. 1 (1753) and ed. 2 (1762–63) are associated with the first subsequent description given under those names in Linnaeus' Genera Plantarum ed. 5 (1754) and ed. 6 (1764)." This defines the starting point for nomenclature of most groups of plants.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Carl Linnaeus bibliography</span>

The bibliography of Carl Linnaeus includes academic works about botany, zoology, nomenclature and taxonomy written by the Swedish botanist Carl Linnaeus (1707–1778). Linnaeus laid the foundations for the modern scheme of binomial nomenclature and is known as the father of modern taxonomy. His most famous works are Systema Naturae which is considered as the starting point for zoological nomenclature together with Species Plantarum which is internationally accepted as the beginning of modern botanical nomenclature.

<i>Critica Botanica</i>

Critica Botanica was written by Swedish botanist, physician, zoologist and naturalist Carl Linnaeus (1707–1778). The book was published in Germany when Linnaeus was 29 with a discursus by the botanist Johannes Browallius (1707–1755), bishop of Åbo. The first edition was published in July 1737 under the full title Critica botanica in qua nomina plantarum generica, specifica & variantia examini subjiciuntur, selectoria confirmantur, indigna rejiciuntur; simulque doctrina circa denominationem plantarum traditur. Seu Fundamentorum botanicorum pars IV Accedit Johannis Browallii De necessitate historiae naturalis discursus.

<i>Fundamenta Botanica</i>

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<i>Bibliotheca Botanica</i>

Bibliotheca Botanica is a botany book by Swedish naturalist Carl Linnaeus (1707–1778). The book was written and published in Amsterdam when Linnaeus was twenty-eight and dedicated to the botanist Johannes Burman (1707–1779). The first edition appeared in 1736 with the full title Bibliotheca Botanica recensens libros plus mille de plantis huc usque editos secundum systema auctorum naturale in classes, ordines, genera et species; it was an elaborate classification system for his catalogue of books.

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Commemoration of Carl Linnaeus has been ongoing for over two centuries. Celebrated for his scientific work, Linnaeus was knighted and granted nobility in life. After his death, he has been featured in sculpture, on postage stamps and banknotes, as well as by a medal from the eponymous Linnean Society of London. Several notable people have the given names Linnaeus/Linné or Linnea/Linnéa. Among other things named in his honor are plants, astronomical features, towns, an arboretum, a mineral and a university.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Expedition to Lapland</span>

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References

  1. Linnaeus, Carl (1737). Flora Lapponica. Amsterdam. Archived from the original on 2016-06-03. Retrieved 2019-02-13.
  2. Anderson (1997), pp. 42–43.
  3. Blunt (2001), p. 38.
  4. Frodin, David 2002. Guide to Standard Floras of the World, 2nd ed. Cambridge University Press: Cambridge. p. 27.
  5. Stafleu, Frans A. 1971. Linnaeus and the Linnaeans: the Spreading of their Ideas in Systematic Botany, 1735–1789. Utrecht: International Association for Plant Taxonomy. ISBN   90-6046-064-2. p. 83.
  6. Smith, J.E. (1792). Flora Lapponica (Second ed.). London.
  7. Georg, Walhenberg (1812). Flora Lapponica. New York.