18th September, 2003

GRAHAM LEWIS

While teaching at a local primary school, I recently covered the topic of species names for both plants and animals. The grade five and six class was soon immersed in what is termed “Latin Binomials” and were excited that they could now speak a third language.

In botanical circles, each plant species has a distinct name that can be recognised internationally and not allow the use of common names to cause confusion.

For example, the Red Flowering Gum often used as a street tree in Australia is called Eucalyptus ficifolia. The term Eucalyptus is the plant’s generic or genus name while ficifolia is the species name (which means “fig-like” and refers to the fact that this plant is shaped like a fig - ficus).

This may all seem very technical, however it is essential to ensure that you are planting the correct species. Genus and species names use Latin as this was considered to be the universal language in the 18th and 19th centuries during the period of exploration.

The species name was often related to the location in which the plant was first discovered, the person who discovered it or some particular characteristic of the plant such as leaf size, shape or flower colour.

Some names aare more emotive - members of the various mosquito genera, for example, have ben given the specific names of punctor, tormentor, vexans, horrida, abominator and excrucians.