60.1. The original spelling of a name or epithet is to be retained, except for the correction of typographical or orthographical errors and the standardizations imposed by Art. 60.5 (u/v or i/j used interchangeably), 60.6 (diacritical signs and ligatures), 60.8 (compounding forms), 60.9 (hyphens), 60.10 (apostrophes), and 60.11 (terminations; see also Art. 32.6), as well as Rec. 60H.
Ex. 1. Retention of original spelling: The generic names Mesembryanthemum L. (1753) and Amaranthus L. (1753) were deliberately so spelled by Linnaeus and the spelling is not to be altered to "Mesembrianthemum" and "Amarantus" respectively, although these latter forms are philologically preferable (see Bull. Misc. Inform. Kew 1928: 113, 287. 1928). -- Phoradendron Nutt. (1848) is not to be altered to "Phoradendrum". -- Triaspis mozambica A. Juss. (1843) is not to be altered to "T. mossambica", as in Engler (Pflanzenw. Ost-Afrikas C: 232. 1895). -- Alyxia ceylanica Wight (1848) is not to be altered to "A. zeylanica", as in Trimen (Handb. Fl. Ceylon 3: 127. 1895). -- Fagus sylvatica L. (1753) is not to be altered to "F. silvatica". The classical spelling silvatica is recommended for adoption in the case of a new name (Rec. 60E), but the mediaeval spelling sylvatica is not an orthographical error. -- Scirpus cespitosus L. (1753) is not to be altered to "S. caespitosus".
*Ex. 2. Typographical errors: Globba "brachycarpa" Baker (1890) and Hetaeria "alba" Ridl. (1896) are typographical errors for Globba trachycarpa Baker and Hetaeria alta Ridl. respectively (see J. Bot. 59: 349. 1921).
*Ex. 3. Orthographical error: Gluta "benghas" L. (1771), being an orthographical error for G. renghas, should be cited as G. renghas L., as by Engler (in Candolle & Candolle, Monogr. Phan. 4: 225. 1883); the vernacular name used as a specific epithet by Linnaeus is "renghas", not "benghas".
Ex. 4. The misspelled Indigofera "longipednnculata" Y. Y. Fang & C. Z. Zheng (1983) is presumably a typographical error and is to be corrected to I. longipedunculata.
Note 1. Art. 14.11 provides for the conservation of an altered spelling of a generic name.
Ex. 5. Bougainvillea (see App. IIIA, Spermatophyta, No. 2350).
60.2. The words "original spelling" in this Article mean the spelling employed when the name was validly published. They do not refer to the use of an initial capital or small letter, this being a matter of typography (see Art. 20.1 and 21.2, Rec. 60F).
60.3. The liberty of correcting a name is to be used with reserve, especially if the change affects the first syllable and, above all, the first letter of the name.
*Ex. 6. The spelling of the generic name Lespedeza Michx. (1803) is not to be altered, although it commemorates Vicente Manuel de Céspedes (see Rhodora 36: 130-132, 390-392. 1934). -- Cereus jamacaru DC. (1828) may not be altered to C. "mandacaru", even if jamacaru is believed to be a corruption of the vernacular name "mandacaru".
60.4. The letters w and y, foreign to classical Latin, and k, rare in that language, are permissible in Latin plant names. Other letters and ligatures foreign to classical Latin that may appear in Latin plant names, such as the German ß (double s), are to be transcribed.
60.5. When a name has been published in a work where the letters u, v or i, j are used interchangeably or in any other way incompatible with modern practices (one of those letters is not used or only in capitals), those letters are to be transcribed in conformity with modern botanical usage.
Ex. 7. Uffenbachia Fabr. (1763), not "Vffenbachia"; Taraxacum Zinn (1757), not "Taraxacvm"; Curculigo Gaertn. (1788), not "Cvrcvligo".
Ex. 8. "Geastrvm hygrometricvm" and "Vredo pvstvlata" of Persoon (1801) are written respectively Geastrum hygrometricum Pers. and Uredo pustulata Pers.
60.6. Diacritical signs are not used in Latin plant names. In names (either new or old) drawn from words in which such signs appear, the signs are to be suppressed with the necessary transcription of the letters so modified; for example ä, ö, ü become respectively ae, oe, ue; é, è, ê become e, or sometimes ae; ñ becomes n; becomes oe; å becomes ao. The diaeresis, indicating that a vowel is to be pronounced separately from the preceding vowel (as in Cephaëlis, Isoëtes), is permissible; the ligatures -æ- and -o-, indicating that the letters are pronounced together, are to be replaced by the separate letters -ae- and -oe-.
60.7. When changes made in orthography by earlier authors who adopt personal, geographic, or vernacular names in nomenclature are intentional latinizations, they are to be preserved, except for terminations covered by Art. 60.11.
Ex. 9. Valantia L. (1753), Gleditsia L. (1753), and Clutia L. (1753), commemorating Vaillant, Gleditsch, and Cluyt respectively, are not to be altered to "Vaillantia", "Gleditschia", and "Cluytia"; Linnaeus latinized the names of these botanists deliberately as Valantius, Gleditsius, and Clutius.
Ex. 10. Zygophyllum "billardierii" was named by Candolle (1824) for J. J. H. de Labillardière (de la Billardière). The intended latinization is "Billardierius" (in nominative), but that termination is not acceptable under Art. 60.11 and the name is correctly spelled Z. billardierei DC.
60.8. The use of a compounding form contrary to Rec. 60G in an adjectival epithet is treated as an error to be corrected.
Ex. 11. Pereskia "opuntiaeflora" of Candolle (1828) is to be cited as P. opuntiiflora DC. However, in Andromeda polifolia L. (1753), the epithet is a pre-Linnean plant name ("Polifolia" of Buxbaum) used in apposition and not an adjective; it is not to be corrected to "poliifolia".
Ex. 12. Cacalia "napeaefolia" and Senecio "napeaefolius" are to be cited as Cacalia napaeifolia DC. (1838) and Senecio napaeifolius (DC.) Sch. Bip. (1845) respectively; the specific epithet refers to the resemblance of the leaves to those of the genus Napaea L. (not "Napea"), and the substitute (connecting) vowel -i should have been used instead of the genitive singular inflection -ae.
60.9. The use of a hyphen in a compound epithet is treated as an error to be corrected by deletion of the hyphen, except if an epithet is formed of words that usually stand independently, or if the letters before and after the hyphen are the same, when a hyphen is permitted (see Art. 23.1 and 23.3).
Ex. 13. Hyphen to be omitted: Acer pseudoplatanus L. (1753), not A. "pseudo-platanus"; Ficus neoëbudarum Summerh. (1932), not F. "neo-ebudarum"; Lycoperdon atropurpureum Vittad. (1842), not L. "atro-purpureum"; Croton ciliatoglandulifer Ortega (1797), not C. "ciliato-glandulifer"; Scirpus sect. Pseudoëriophorum Jurtzev (in Bjull. Moskovsk. Obš{c`´}. Ips. Prir., Otd. Biol. 70(1): 132. 1965), not S. sect. "Pseudo-eriophorum".
Ex. 14. Hyphen to be used: Aster novae-angliae L. (1753), Coix lacryma-jobi L. (1753), Peperomia san-felipensis J. D. Sm. (1894), Arctostaphylos uva-ursi (L.) Spreng. (1825), Veronica anagallis-aquatica L. (1753; Art. 23.3), Athyrium austro-occidentale Ching (1986).
Note 2. Art. 60.9 refers only to epithets (in combinations), not to names of genera or taxa in higher ranks; a generic name published with a hyphen can be changed only by conservation.
Ex. 15. Pseudo-salvinia Piton (1940) cannot be changed to "Pseudosalvinia", but "Pseudo-elephantopus" was changed by conservation to Pseudelephantopus Rohr (1792).
60.10. The use of an apostrophe in an epithet is treated as an error to be corrected by deletion of the apostrophe.
Ex. 16. Lycium "o'donellii", Cymbidium "i'ansoni" and Solanum tuberosum var. "muru'kewillu" are to be corrected to L. odonellii F. A. Barkley (1953), C. iansonii Rolfe (1900) and S. tuberosum var. murukewillu Ochoa (in Phytologia 65: 112. 1988), respectively.
60.11. The use of a termination (for example -i, -ii, -ae, -iae, -anus, or -ianus) contrary to Rec. 60C.1 (but not 60C.2) is treated as an error to be corrected (see also Art. 32.6).
Ex. 17. Rosa "pissarti" (Carrière in Rev. Hort. 1880: 314. 1880) is a typographical error for R. "pissardi" (see Rev. Hort. 1881: 190. 1881), which in its turn is treated as an error for R. pissardii Carrière (see Rec. 60C.1(b)).
Note 3. If the gender and/or number of a substantival epithet derived from a personal name is inappropriate for the sex and/or number of the person(s) whom the name commemorates, the termination is to be corrected in conformity with Rec. 60C.1.
Ex. 18. Rosa x"toddii" was named by Wolley-Dod (in J. Bot. 69, Suppl.: 106. 1931) for "Miss E. S. Todd"; the name is to be corrected to R. xtoddiae Wolley-Dod.
Ex. 19. Astragalus "matthewsii", dedicated by Podlech and Kirchhoff (in Mitt. Bot. Staatssamml. München 11: 432. 1974) to Victoria A. Matthews, is to be corrected to A. matthewsiae Podlech & Kirchhoff; it is not therefore a later homonym of A. matthewsii S. Watson (1883) (see Agerer-Kirchhoff & Podlech in Mitt. Bot. Staatssamml. München 12: 375. 1976).
Ex. 20. Codium "geppii" of O. C. Schmidt (in
Biblioth. Bot. 91: 50. 1923), which commemorates "A. &
E. S. Gepp", is to be corrected to C. geppiorum O.
C. Schmidt.
60A.1. When a new name or its epithet is to be derived from Greek, the transliteration to Latin should conform to classical usage.
60A.2. The spiritus asper should be transcribed in Latin
as the letter h.
60B.1. When a new generic name, or subgeneric or sectional epithet, is taken from the name of a person, it should be formed as follows:
| (a) | When the name of the person ends with a vowel, the letter -a is added (thus Ottoa after Otto; Sloanea after Sloane), except when the name ends with -a, when -ea is added (e.g. Collaea after Colla), or with -ea (as Correa), when no letter is added. |
| (b) | When the name of the person ends with a consonant, the letters -ia are added, but when the name ends with -er, either of the terminations -ia and -a is appropriate (e.g. Sesleria after Sesler and Kernera after Kerner). |
| (c) | In latinized personal names ending with -us this termination is dropped (e.g. Dillenia after Dillenius) before applying the procedure described under (a) and (b). |
| (d) | The syllables not modified by these endings retain their original spelling, unless they contain letters foreign to Latin plant names or diacritical signs (see Art. 60.6). |
Note 1. Names may be accompanied by a prefix or a suffix, or be modified by anagram or abbreviation. In these cases they count as different words from the original name.
Ex. 1. Durvillaea Bory (1826) and Urvillea Kunth
(1821); Lapeirousia Pourr. (1788) and Peyrousea
DC. (1838); Engleria O. Hoffm. (1888), Englerastrum
Briq. (1894), and Englerella Pierre (1891); Bouchea
Cham. (1832) and Ubochea Baill. (1891); Gerardia
L. (1753) and Graderia Benth. (1846); Martia Spreng.
(1818) and Martiusia Schult. & Schult. f. (1822).
60C.1. Modern personal names may be given Latin terminations and used to form specific and infraspecific epithets as follows (but see Rec. 60C.2):
| (a) | If the personal name ends with a vowel or -er, substantive epithets are formed by adding the genitive inflection appropriate to the sex and number of the person(s) honoured (e.g., scopoli-i for Scopoli (m), fedtschenko-i for Fedtschenko (m), glaziou-i for Glaziou (m), lace-ae for Lace (f), hooker-orum for the Hookers), except when the name ends with -a, in which case adding -e (singular) or -rum (plural) is appropriate (e.g. triana-e for Triana (m)). |
| (b) | If the personal name ends with a consonant (except -er), substantive epithets are formed by adding -i- (stem augmentation) plus the genitive inflection appropriate to the sex and number of the person(s) honoured (e.g. lecard-ii for Lecard (m), wilson-iae for Wilson (f), verlot-iorum for the Verlot brothers, braun-iarum for the Braun sisters). |
| (c) | If the personal name ends with a vowel, adjectival epithets are formed by adding -an- plus the nominative singular inflection appropriate to the gender of the generic name (e.g., Cyperus heyne-anus for Heyne, Vanda lindley-ana for Lindley, Aspidium bertero-anum for Bertero), except when the personal name ends with -a in which case -n- plus the appropriate inflection is added (e.g. balansa-nus (m), balansa-na (f), and balansa-num (n) for Balansa). |
| (d) | If the personal name ends with a consonant, adjectival epithets are formed by adding -i- (stem augmentation) plus -an- (stem of adjectival suffix) plus the nominative singular inflection appropriate to the gender of the generic name (e.g. Rosa webb-iana for Webb, Desmodium griffith-ianum for Griffith, Verbena hassler-iana for Hassler). |
Note 1. The hyphens in the above examples are used only to set off the total appropriate termination.
60C.2. Personal names already in Greek or Latin, or possessing a well-established latinized form, should be given their appropriate Latin genitive to form substantive epithets (e.g. alexandri from Alexander or Alexandre, augusti from Augustus or August or Auguste, martini from Martinus or Martin, linnaei from Linnaeus, martii from Martius, beatricis from Beatrix or Béatrice, hectoris from Hector). Treating modern names as if they were in third declension should be avoided (e.g. munronis from Munro, richardsonis from Richardson).
60C.3. In forming new epithets based on personal names the original spelling of the personal name should not be modified unless it contains letters foreign to Latin plant names or diacritical signs (see Art. 60.4 and 60.6).
60C.4. Prefixes and particles ought to be treated as follows:
| (a) | The Scottish patronymic prefix "Mac", "Mc" or "M'", meaning "son of", should be spelled "mac" and united with the rest of the name, e.g. macfadyenii after Macfadyen, macgillivrayi after MacGillivray, macnabii after McNab, mackenii after M'Ken. |
| (b) | The Irish patronymic prefix "O" should be united with the rest of the name or omitted, e.g. obrienii, brienianus after O'Brien, okellyi after O'Kelly. |
| (c) | A prefix consisting of an article, e.g. le, la, l', les, el, il, lo, or containing an article e.g. du, de la, des, del, della, should be united to the name, e.g. leclercii after Le Clerc, dubuyssonii after DuBuysson, lafarinae after La Farina, logatoi after Lo Gato. |
| (d) | A prefix to a surname indicating ennoblement or canonization should be omitted, e.g. candollei after de Candolle, jussieui after de Jussieu, hilairei after Saint-Hilaire, remyi after St. Rémy; in geographical epithets, however, "St." is rendered as sanctus (m) or sancta (f), e.g. sancti-johannis, of St. John, sanctae-helenae, of St. Helena. |
| (e) | A German or Dutch prefix when it is normally treated as part of the family name, as often happens outside its country of origin, e.g. in the United States, may be included in the epithet, e.g. vonhausenii after Vonhausen, vanderhoekii after Vanderhoek, vanbruntiae after Mrs Van Brunt, but should otherwise be omitted, e.g. iheringii after von Ihering, martii after von Martius, steenisii after van Steenis, strassenii after zu Strassen, vechtii after van der Vecht. |
60D.1. An epithet derived from a geographical name is preferably an adjective and usually takes the termination -ensis, -(a)nus, -inus, or -icus.
Ex. 1. Rubus quebecensis L. H. Bailey (from Quebec), Ostrya
virginiana (Mill.) K. Koch (from Virginia), Eryngium amorginum
Rech. f. (from Amorgos), Polygonum pensylvanicum L. (from
Pennsylvania).
60E.1. The epithet in a new name should be written in conformity with the original spelling of the word or words from which it is derived and in accordance with the accepted usage of Latin and latinization (see also Art. 23.5).
Ex. 1. sinensis (not chinensis).
60F.1. All specific and infraspecific epithets should be
written with a small initial letter, although authors desiring
to use capital initial letters may do so when the epithets are
directly derived from the names of persons (whether actual or
mythical), or are vernacular (or non-Latin) names, or are former
generic names.
60G.1. A compound name or an epithet which combines elements derived from two or more Greek or Latin words should be formed, as far as practicable, in accordance with classical usage (see Art. 60.8). This may be stated as follows:
| (a) | In a true compound, a noun or adjective in non-final position appears as a compounding form generally obtained by |
| (1) | removing the case ending of the genitive singular (Latin -ae, -i, -us, -is; Greek -os, -es, -as, -ous and the latter's equivalent -eos) and | |
| (2) | before a consonant, adding a connecting vowel (-i- for Latin elements, -o- for Greek elements). | |
| (3) | Exceptions are common, and one should review earlier usages of a particular compounding form. |
| (b) | A pseudocompound is a noun or adjectival phrase treated as if it were a single compound word. In a pseudocompound, a noun or adjective in a non-final position appears as a word with a case ending, not as a modified stem. Examples are: nidus-avis (nest of bird), Myos-otis (ear of mouse), cannae-folius (leaf of canna), albo-marginatus (margined with white), etc. In epithets where tingeing is expressed, the modifying initial colour often is in the ablative because the preposition e, ex, is implicit, e.g., atropurpureus (blackish purple) from ex atro purpureus (purple tinged with black). Others have been deliberately introduced to reveal etymological differences when different word elements have the same compounding forms, such as tubi- from tube (tubus, tubi, stem tubo-) or from trumpet (tuba, tubae, stem tuba-) where tubaeflorus can only mean trumpet-flowered; also carici- is the compounding form from both papaya (carica, caricae, stem carica-) and sedge (carex, caricis, stem caric-) where caricaefolius can only mean papaya-leaved. The latter use of the genitive singular of the first declension for pseudocompounding is treated as an error to be corrected unless it makes an etymological distinction. |
| (c) | Some common irregular forms are used in compounding. Examples are hydro- and hydr-(Hydro-phyllum) where the regular noun stem is hydat-; calli- (Calli-stemon) where the regular adjective stem is calo-; and meli- (Meli-osma, Meli-lotus) where the regular noun stem is melit-. |
Note 1. The hyphens in the above examples are given solely
for explanatory reasons. For the use of hyphens in botanical names
and their epithets see Art. 20.3, 23.1,
and 60.9.
60H.1. Epithets of fungus names derived from the generic name of the host plant are spelled in accordance with the accepted spelling of this name; other spellings are regarded as orthographical variants to be corrected (see Art. 61).
Ex. 1. Phyllachora "anonicola" (Chardon in Mycologia
32: 190. 1940) is to be altered to P. annonicola Chardon,
since the spelling Annona is now accepted in preference
to "Anona". -- Meliola "albizziae"
(Hansford & Deighton in Mycol. Pap. 23: 26. 1948) is to be
altered to M. albiziae Hansf. & Deighton, since the
spelling Albizia is now accepted in preference to "Albizzia".
60I.1 The etymology of new names and their epithets should
be given when the meaning of these is not obvious.