More About those A.L.N.s (Awful Latin Names)
When checking out plant names on the web or in books, you will probably come across some other strange words added to the ends of names. Most of these relate to aspects of the plants name. They are:
aff.
Abbreviation of "affinity". e.g. Notocactus aff. submammulosus, means the plant in question appears to be related to N. submammulosus.
comb. nova.
Abbreviation of "combination nova". Indicates that the plant in question has been reclassified into a new genus, species etc.
c.v.
Indicates that a plant is a horticultural cultivar.
et
Means "and". e.g. Link et Otto means Link and Otto
ex
Used to indicate that a name has been proposed, but not validly published, by one author and subsequently validated by another. e.g. N. mueller-melchersii Fric ex Backeberg, indicates that the name N. mueller-melchersii was first used by A.V. Fric, but only later was it validly published by Curt Backeberg.
Hort.
Indicates that a plant has not been formally described, but its name is in common usage in horticulture, i.e. gardens.
nomen illegitium or nom. illeg.
An illegitimate name. Usually because the author did not follow the appropriate rules, established by the ICBN (International Code of Botanical Nomenclature).
nomen invalidium or nom. inval.
An invalid name. Usually because the author did not follow the appropriate rules, established by the ICBN (International Code of Botanical Nomenclature).
nomen nudem, nom. nud. or n.n.
Indicates that the plant in question has not yet been validly described.
nomen provisorium or nom. prov.
A provisional name. i.e. a name that may be changed in the future e.g. Notocactus roseoluteus was known by the provisional name Notocactus cupreatus.
non
Means "not". e.g. Malacocarpus Salm Dyck non Fisch & Mey, means that we are referring to the members of Malacocarpus as Salm Dyck saw it and not as seen by Fisch & Mey.
sensu
In the sense of. e.g. Notocactussensu Buxbaum means "the genus Notocactus as seen by Buxbaum".
sbf.
Sub-form, a taxonomic rank below form. Very rarely seen.
s.n.
Abbreviation of "sine numero". A plant without a collection number. e.g. Notocactus nilsonii Stockinger s.n., refers to a plant collected by Fransisco Stockinger that was not given a collection number.
ssp, subsp.
Abbreviation of "sub-species". A taxonomic rank between species and variety.
sp.
Abbreviation of "species". A species of unknown name. i.e. Notocactus sp. means a Notocactus of unknown or uncertain species.
spp.
Abbreviation used for a group of species, eg. we can use the form Turbinicarpus spp. to refer to all species of the genus Turbinicarpus.
spec. nova
A new species.
st., stat.
Abbreviation of "status". The rank of a plant. When used as stat. nova. or comb. et stat. nova. indicates that the plants name has been changed to a different rank. e.g. When Norbert Gerloff reduced N. eremiticus to a variety of concinnus he gave the following: Notocactus concinnus (Monville) Berger ex Backeberg var. eremiticus (Ritter) Gerloff comb. et stat. nov., indicating that Ritter had given the original name as one rank (species) and Gerloff had given the new name at a different rank (variety).
Syn, Synonym
Another name under which a plant can also be found. This is usually because the plant has been moved into a different genus. e.g. Eriocactus claviceps & Notocactus claviceps are synonyms of the same plant. And sometimes this is because some people regard a plant as a separate species and others regard it to be only a variety or form. e.g. Notocactus uebelmannianus fa. pleiocephalus & Notocactus pleiocephalus are synonyms.
X
Used to indicate a hybrid plant. This can used in two ways:
e.g. Notocactus herteri x uebelmannianus
This form indicates this plant is a hybrid between Notocactus herteri and N. uebelmannianus. The convention is that the female parent plant is listed first followed by the male. Which in this case means the seed was set on plant of N. herteri which was pollenated by N. uebelmannianus.
e.g. Turbinicarpus x mombergeri
This is the form used for naturally occurring hybrids, in this case between T. laui and T. pseudopectinatus.
For further information, check out http://www.answers.com/topic/international-code-of-botanical-nomenclature.
As an example of the system of botanical names for plants, the following is the classification system for cacti as advocated for by the International Cactaceae Systematics Group (I.D.S.G.).
Family Cactaceae
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