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THE MICHIGAN BOTANIST
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ered to be in apposition with the generic name). The epithet in mullein, Verbascum thapsus, for instance, is an old classical name. Often the specific epithet is
a genitive (possessive), either singular or plural, masculine or feminine. Thus we
have Cirsium hillii for Hill's thistle (named for Rev. Ellsworth J. Hill); Crataegus coleae (a hawthorn named for Emma J. Cole, of Grand Rapids, Michigan);
Rubus florenceae (a blackberry named for Florence N. [Mrs. Clarence R.]
Hanes, of Kalamazoo County); and (in far northwestern North America) Potamogetom porsildiorum (named for the Canadian brothers Alf E. and Robert T.
Porsild).
The transfer of a species from one genus to another, therefore, may require
changing the termination on an adjectival species epithet if the name of the new
genus has a different gender in Latin. A potentially confusing name is borne by
our pale dogwood: Cornus amomum subsp. obliqua, where the generic name is
feminine (as were Latin names for trees ending in -us-which is usually a masculine ending), the species epithet is a neuter noun (an old Latin name in apposition), and the subspecies epithet a straightforward feminine adjective agreeing
in gender with the generic name.
There is, incidentally, no requirement of common sense that the species epithet be accurate if it refers to some aspect of the plant nor that, if it refers to a
person, the person should have had some connection with discovery or understanding of the plant. A name or specific epithet may even be complete nonsense. The genus Filago, originally described by Linnaeus and referring to
thread-like hairs, led to four anagrams when that genus was split up by
Cassini, a 19th century French specialist on Compositae, who named segregate
genera for certain of the species: Gifola, Ifloga, Logfia, and Ogilfa. These are
validly published names, whether or not one accepts the "splitting" classification that they represent. The frequent advice that one can learn something
about the characteristics or origins of plants from their names is also less than
universal truth. Under the Code, names may not be rejected merely because
they are inappropriate, offensive, or even inaccurate, When Linnaeus named
Asclepias syriaca, the common milkweed, a native of North America, he
thought that it had come from Syria. Similarly, Impatiens capensis, our common touch-me-not or jewelweed, was erroneously thought to have originated
at the Cape of Good Hope in Africa. Geographical concepts of Virginia, Carolina, Canada, and other places were often rather vague to European botanists
in the 18th Century. ["Virginia" at one time extended west to the Mississippi
and it has been noted that Linnaeus ascribed nothing to any area in North
America between "Virginia" and "Canada".] Similarly, we may not reject the
epithet in Lycopus uniflorus merely because in fact plants of that species bear
more than one flower!
It is customary, in formal usage, to follow the name of a taxon (a unit of
classification at any level (species, variety, family, etc.) with the name or
names of the person(s) who authored that scientific name. Much popular lore
notwithstanding, the names of authors are not part of the scientific name. The
botanical and the zoological codes both declare that the name of a species consists of two words; the name of the genus and the epithet for the species. The
name(s) of its authors may optionally be added after or following it! Authors'
