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For instance, Rosa canina L. is the scientific name of a wild
rose, whose common name is (the “L.” is the abbreviation for
Linneo, who is the author of this name). Rosa foetida Herrm, Rosa
multiflora Thunb., Rosa rugosa Thunb. ex Murray… are other
species of the same genus (all of them begin with Rosa, indicating
the genus they belong to, and each one has the name of the author).
Linneo wrote his research in Latin. This was the language
used throughout the Middle Ages as the vehicle for culture. In
Linneo’s time it was still used to communicate scientific
knowledge. In this way, botanical nomenclature uses expressions
generated according to Latin grammar, which is one of its
characteristics. The use of words belonging to modern languages
in order to generate scientific names of plants is possible, but they
have to be Latinised.
This nomenclature, that was originally designed for the plant
kingdom (Plantae), was adapted for other kingdoms with slight
variations related to taxa and suffixes: single celled eukaryotes
(Protista), single celled prokaryotes (bacteria and blue-green algae)
(Monera), fungi (Fungi) and animals (Animalia).
Some examples of names of taxa that are hierarchically
above genus are as follows:
• Magnolia is the name of a genus in which the species
Magnolia grandiflora L. (magnolia) is classified.
• The name of a family is generated adding the suffix –aceae
to a root formed on the basis of the genus name. For instance, the
name of the family Magnoliaceae is formed from the name of the
genus Magnolia.
• The name of the taxon immediately above is generated
from this root or one from another genus and so on until the name
of a division is generated. The root of the name Magnolia is one
example of a root used to generate names in all levels of the
hierarchy of plants: genus Magnolia, family Magnoliaceae,
suborder Magnoliineae, order Magnoliales, subclass Magnoliidae,

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