Genera Plantarum
Encyclopedia
Genera Plantarum is a publication of Swedish naturalist Carl Linnaeus (1701–1778). The fifth edition served as a complementary volume to Species Plantarum
(2 vols., 1753). Article 13 of the International Code of Botanical Nomenclature states that "It is agreed to associate generic names which first appear in Linnaeus' Species Plantarum ed. 1 (1753) and ed. 2 (1762–63) 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.
The first edition
of Genera Plantarum contains brief descriptions of the 935 plant genera that were known to Linnaeus at that time and it is dedicated to Herman Boerhaave
, a Leiden physician who introduced Linnaeus to George Clifford
and the medico-botanical Dutch establishment of the day. Genera Plantarum employed his “sexual system” of classification, in which plants are grouped according to the number of stamens and stigmas in the flower. Genera Plantarum was revised by Linnaeus, the fifth and final edition being published in August 1754 (eds. 3 and 4 were not edited by Linnaeus) and linked to Species Plantarum. Over the 16 years that passed between the publication of the first and fifth editions the number of genera listed had increased from 935 to 1105.
Linnaeus established the system of binomial nomenclature
through the widespread acceptance of his list of plants in the definitive 1753 edition of Species Plantarum, which is now taken as the starting point for all botanical nomenclature
. Genera Plantarum was an integral part of this first stepping stone towards a universal standardised biological nomenclature.
(1685–1760) a wealthy Anglo-Dutch merchant–banker with an impressive garden containing four large glasshouses that were filled with warmth-loving plants from overseas. Linnaeus was enthralled by these collections and prepared a detailed systematic catalogue of the plants in the garden, which he published in 1738 as Hortus Cliffortianus
. This list was published with engravings by Georg Ehret
(1708–1770) and Jan Wandelaer (1690–1759). Linnaeus included Ehret's Tabella (an illustration of his "Sexual System" of plant classification) in his Genera Plantarum but without credit to the artist. This provoked the accusation from Ehret that "When he was a beginner [Linnaeus] appropriated everything for himself which he heard of, to make himself famous". Nevertheless, Ehret probably met Linnaeus again when the latter visited London for a month. The time in the Netherlands was a productive one for Linnaeus because in these four years he also published Systema Naturae
(1735), Bibliotheca Botanica
(1736), Fundamenta Botanica
(1736), Flora Lapponica
(1737) and Critica Botanica
(1737), this is in addition to his Genera Plantarum (1737).
One of Linnaeus's main points is that a botanist can and must know all genera, and must memorise their ‘definitions’ (diagnosis). The natural definitions given in the various editions of the Genera Plantarum are intended to facilitate this. Stability of generic taxonomy was one of his first aims, and the way he went about achieving it aroused the criticism of many of his contemporaries. Yet, this generic reform was one of his greatest achievements: his genera and their nomenclature stand at the beginning of the victory of Linnaean taxonomy
. He dealt with the theory of generic names in the Critica Botanica which was a prelude to his main practical work on the subject, the Genera Plantarum. The rules for the formation of generic names are contained in the Fundamenta but are worked out in greater detail in the Critica. The result was a reform of generic definitions that appeared in the Genera Plantarum.
, the great Leiden physician to whom Linnaeus owed his introduction into the medico-botanical Dutch establishment of the day. Linnaeus published a revised edition in 1742, and five editions were produced in total, the fifth in 1753.
in London, he has written the name of the plant he had chosen as an example of each particular class, but only for the first ten and last four classes. Each of the first ten classes (A–K) is named according to the number of stamens, beginning with Monandria (one stamen), Diandria (two stamens), etc. up to Decandria (ten stamens). The flowers in the eleventh (L) class, Dodecandria, have 12–19 stamens. The following four classes (M–P) are characterized not only by the number of stamens but also by their position; the four classes (Q–T) have stamens united in a bundle or phalanx, the next three classes (V–Y) have stamens and pistils in separate flowers. The whole is completed with Cryptogamia (Z), which are plants without proper flowers. For this class Ehret chose the fig as an example.
The genus descriptions in this edition were original, methodically and tersely drafted according to his own plan, with an asterisk * following the generic name to indicate that he had studied living material, a dagger † to indicate that he had seen only herbarium material, and the absence of these signs to indicate he had seen no material himself and hence depended upon the literature or correspondence. In preparing a description of a genus he would describe the flower and fruit of the main species most familiar to him and then remove the characters that did not occur in other species. As new species were added Linnaeus should have updated his genus descriptions but in practice did not have time to do so. As a result, some species listed in Species Plantarum do not fir the descriptions in Genus Plantarum.
All generic names in Genera Plantarum ed. 5 are treated as validly published on 1 May 1753.
Frans Stafleu
regards Genera Plantarum as Linnaeus’s most important book with respect to the practical introduction of his ideas – even more than Systema Naturae. The notion that the genus is the basic unit of taxonomy remained in force until the advent of evolutionary biology and biosystematics. “His reform was daring and thorough, based on an exceptional and practical knowledge of plants; although influenced by somewhat outmoded ideas, it had exactly the salutary effect which he wanted it to have: consistency and simplicity. These two were prime needs for taxonomy in 1737."
Species Plantarum
Species Plantarum was first published in 1753, as a two-volume work by Carl Linnaeus. Its prime importance is perhaps that it is the primary starting point of plant nomenclature as it exists today. This means that the first names to be considered validly published in botany are those that appear...
(2 vols., 1753). Article 13 of the International Code of Botanical Nomenclature states that "It is agreed to associate generic names which first appear in Linnaeus' Species Plantarum ed. 1 (1753) and ed. 2 (1762–63) 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.
The first edition
First edition
The bibliographical definition of an edition includes all copies of a book printed “from substantially the same setting of type,” including all minor typographical variants.- First edition :...
of Genera Plantarum contains brief descriptions of the 935 plant genera that were known to Linnaeus at that time and it is dedicated to Herman Boerhaave
Herman Boerhaave
Herman Boerhaave was a Dutch botanist, humanist and physician of European fame. He is regarded as the founder of clinical teaching and of the modern academic hospital. His main achievement was to demonstrate the relation of symptoms to lesions...
, a Leiden physician who introduced Linnaeus to George Clifford
George Clifford
George Clifford may refer to:* George Clifford, 3rd Earl of Cumberland* George Clifford III, Dutch banker* George Clifford Sziklai, electronics engineer* George Clifford Wilson, cricketer...
and the medico-botanical Dutch establishment of the day. Genera Plantarum employed his “sexual system” of classification, in which plants are grouped according to the number of stamens and stigmas in the flower. Genera Plantarum was revised by Linnaeus, the fifth and final edition being published in August 1754 (eds. 3 and 4 were not edited by Linnaeus) and linked to Species Plantarum. Over the 16 years that passed between the publication of the first and fifth editions the number of genera listed had increased from 935 to 1105.
Linnaeus established the system of binomial nomenclature
Binomial nomenclature
Binomial nomenclature is a formal system of naming species of living things by giving each a name composed of two parts, both of which use Latin grammatical forms, although they can be based on words from other languages...
through the widespread acceptance of his list of plants in the definitive 1753 edition of Species Plantarum, which is now taken as the starting point for all botanical nomenclature
Botanical nomenclature
Botanical nomenclature is the formal, scientific naming of plants. It is related to, but distinct from taxonomy. Plant taxonomy is concerned with grouping and classifying plants; botanical nomenclature then provides names for the results of this process. The starting point for modern botanical...
. Genera Plantarum was an integral part of this first stepping stone towards a universal standardised biological nomenclature.
History
From 1735 to 1738 Linnaeus worked in the Netherlands where he was personal physician to George CliffordGeorge Clifford III
George Clifford III was a wealthy Dutch banker and one of the directors of the Dutch East India Company. He is known for his keen interest in plants and gardens...
(1685–1760) a wealthy Anglo-Dutch merchant–banker with an impressive garden containing four large glasshouses that were filled with warmth-loving plants from overseas. Linnaeus was enthralled by these collections and prepared a detailed systematic catalogue of the plants in the garden, which he published in 1738 as Hortus Cliffortianus
Hortus Cliffortianus
The Hortus Cliffortianus is a work of early botanical literature published in 1738.The work was a collaboration between Carl Linnaeus and Georg Dionysius Ehret, financed by George Clifford in 1735-1736. Clifford, a wealthy Amsterdam banker was a keen botanist with a large herbarium and governor of...
. This list was published with engravings by Georg Ehret
Georg Dionysius Ehret
Georg Dionysius Ehret was a botanist and entomologist, and is best known for his botanical illustrations.Ehret was born in Germany to Ferdinand Christian Ehret, a gardener and competent draughtsman, and Anna Maria Ehret. Beginning his working life as a gardener's apprentice near Heidelberg, he...
(1708–1770) and Jan Wandelaer (1690–1759). Linnaeus included Ehret's Tabella (an illustration of his "Sexual System" of plant classification) in his Genera Plantarum but without credit to the artist. This provoked the accusation from Ehret that "When he was a beginner [Linnaeus] appropriated everything for himself which he heard of, to make himself famous". Nevertheless, Ehret probably met Linnaeus again when the latter visited London for a month. The time in the Netherlands was a productive one for Linnaeus because in these four years he also published Systema Naturae
Systema Naturae
The book was one of the major works of the Swedish botanist, zoologist and physician Carolus Linnaeus. The first edition was published in 1735...
(1735), Bibliotheca Botanica
Bibliotheca Botanica
Bibliotheca Botanica was written by Swedish botanist, physician, zoologist and naturalist Carl Linnaeus . The book was written and published in Amsterdam when Linnaeus was twenty-eight and dedicated to the botanist Johannes Burman...
(1736), Fundamenta Botanica
Fundamenta Botanica
Fundamenta Botanica was one of the major works of the Swedish botanist, zoologist and physician Carl Linnaeus and issued both as a separate work and part of the Bibliotheca Botanica.This book states, for the first time, Linnaeus's ideas for the reformation of botanical taxonomy...
(1736), Flora Lapponica
Flora Lapponica
Flora Lapponica is an account of the plants of Lapland written by botanist, zoologist and naturalist Carl Linnaeus following his expedition to Lapland....
(1737) and Critica Botanica
Critica Botanica
Critica Botanica was written by Swedish botanist, physician, zoologist and naturalist Carl Linnaeus . The book was published in Germany when Linnaeus was twenty-nine with a discursus by the botanist Johannes Browallius , bishop of Åbo...
(1737), this is in addition to his Genera Plantarum (1737).
One of Linnaeus's main points is that a botanist can and must know all genera, and must memorise their ‘definitions’ (diagnosis). The natural definitions given in the various editions of the Genera Plantarum are intended to facilitate this. Stability of generic taxonomy was one of his first aims, and the way he went about achieving it aroused the criticism of many of his contemporaries. Yet, this generic reform was one of his greatest achievements: his genera and their nomenclature stand at the beginning of the victory of Linnaean taxonomy
Linnaean taxonomy
Linnaean taxonomy can mean either of two related concepts:# the particular form of biological classification set up by Carl Linnaeus, as set forth in his Systema Naturæ and subsequent works...
. He dealt with the theory of generic names in the Critica Botanica which was a prelude to his main practical work on the subject, the Genera Plantarum. The rules for the formation of generic names are contained in the Fundamenta but are worked out in greater detail in the Critica. The result was a reform of generic definitions that appeared in the Genera Plantarum.
Publication and dedication
The type-setting of Genera Plantarum started in 1736 leading to the first edition publication in early 1737; the book was dedicated to Herman BoerhaaveHerman Boerhaave
Herman Boerhaave was a Dutch botanist, humanist and physician of European fame. He is regarded as the founder of clinical teaching and of the modern academic hospital. His main achievement was to demonstrate the relation of symptoms to lesions...
, the great Leiden physician to whom Linnaeus owed his introduction into the medico-botanical Dutch establishment of the day. Linnaeus published a revised edition in 1742, and five editions were produced in total, the fifth in 1753.
Botanical background
In the work Linnaeus divided the plant kingdom into 24 classes, each of which he named according to the number of stamens and their arrangement in the flowers. In Ehret’s engraved plate these classes are represented by the 24 letters of the Latin alphabet. In Ehret’s original drawing for the plate, preserved in the Natural History MuseumNatural History Museum
The Natural History Museum is one of three large museums on Exhibition Road, South Kensington, London, England . Its main frontage is on Cromwell Road...
in London, he has written the name of the plant he had chosen as an example of each particular class, but only for the first ten and last four classes. Each of the first ten classes (A–K) is named according to the number of stamens, beginning with Monandria (one stamen), Diandria (two stamens), etc. up to Decandria (ten stamens). The flowers in the eleventh (L) class, Dodecandria, have 12–19 stamens. The following four classes (M–P) are characterized not only by the number of stamens but also by their position; the four classes (Q–T) have stamens united in a bundle or phalanx, the next three classes (V–Y) have stamens and pistils in separate flowers. The whole is completed with Cryptogamia (Z), which are plants without proper flowers. For this class Ehret chose the fig as an example.
Nomenclatural importance
By far the most important edition for nomenclature today is the fifth, published in August 1754 (editions 3 and 4 were not edited by Linnaeus); this is the edition which is linked nomenclaturally with the Species Plantarum, the starting point for the naming of most groups of plants, so the International Code of Botanical Nomenclature states:“Generic names which first appear in Linnaeus’s Species Plantarum, ed. 1 (1753) and ed. 2 (1762–1763), are associated with the first subsequent description given under those names in Linnaeus’s Genera Plantarum, ed. 5 (1754) and ed. 6 (1764). The spelling of the generic names included in Species Plantarum, ed. 1, is not to be altered because a different spelling has been used in Genera Plantarum, ed. 5.”
The genus descriptions in this edition were original, methodically and tersely drafted according to his own plan, with an asterisk * following the generic name to indicate that he had studied living material, a dagger † to indicate that he had seen only herbarium material, and the absence of these signs to indicate he had seen no material himself and hence depended upon the literature or correspondence. In preparing a description of a genus he would describe the flower and fruit of the main species most familiar to him and then remove the characters that did not occur in other species. As new species were added Linnaeus should have updated his genus descriptions but in practice did not have time to do so. As a result, some species listed in Species Plantarum do not fir the descriptions in Genus Plantarum.
All generic names in Genera Plantarum ed. 5 are treated as validly published on 1 May 1753.
Significance
William Stearn states: “The clear typographical layout, the elimination of verbs such as est, occupant and abit, and the much greater detail given for all floral parts … immediately catch the attention. Such improvements in technique made Linnaeus's Genera Plantarum the model for later works on the genera of plants.”Frans Stafleu
Frans Stafleu
Frans Antonie Stafleu was a Dutch systematic botanist, former Chair of the Institute of Systematic Botany at the University of Utrecht, and author of Taxonomic Literature: A Selective Guide to Botanical Publications and Collections, with Dates, Commentaries, and Types along with 644 other...
regards Genera Plantarum as Linnaeus’s most important book with respect to the practical introduction of his ideas – even more than Systema Naturae. The notion that the genus is the basic unit of taxonomy remained in force until the advent of evolutionary biology and biosystematics. “His reform was daring and thorough, based on an exceptional and practical knowledge of plants; although influenced by somewhat outmoded ideas, it had exactly the salutary effect which he wanted it to have: consistency and simplicity. These two were prime needs for taxonomy in 1737."
External links
- Genera Plantarum online (the second edition (Leiden, 1742) on Google books)
- A translation of Carl Linnaeus’s introduction to Genera Plantarum (1737)