Beech tree question

[Gary Prentice]

Can have three. The third is used to identify a sub-species.

 

Surely a binomial can only have two Fagus sylvatica f. purpurea (Aiton) Dippel,

[Gary Prentice]

fagus sylvatica purpurea pendula could be wrong but 4 names the fourth used to describe growth habit

 

Sorry - they are still formas or varieties and cultivars:001_tt2: and are synonyms

http://www.theplantlist.org/tpl1.1/record/kew-83891

 

If anyone's interested I've a couple of PDF's on nomenclature

Edited May 20, 2014 by Gary Prentice

[treequip]

Surely anything binomial with more than 2 names becomes a trinomial etc.

[Bren.]

Under the original Carl Linnaeus system all names were indeed only binomial, however this was before the existence of sub-species were recognised, so, for example the Tiger (Panthera tigris) was simply known as such across it's entire range. More recently the various sub-species have been recognised and so we now have the Tiger (Panthera tigris) and several sub-species such as The Bengal Tiger (P. tigris tigris). The tigris tigris descibing "the original species" if you will, but also Sumatran tiger (P. t. sumatrae),Siberian tiger (P. t. altaica) etc. They are all recognised as being of the same species, but are recognised as different races if you like (although biologically speaking a race is a slightly different thing).

Hope this helps.

[Gary Prentice]

Under the original Carl Linnaeus system all names were indeed only binomial, however this was before the existence of sub-species were recognised, so, for example the Tiger (Panthera tigris) was simply known as such across it's entire range. More recently the various sub-species have been recognised and so we now have the Tiger (Panthera tigris) and several sub-species such as The Bengal Tiger (P. tigris tigris). The tigris tigris descibing "the original species" if you will, but also Sumatran tiger (P. t. sumatrae),Siberian tiger (P. t. altaica) etc. They are all recognised as being of the same species, but are recognised as different races if you like (although biologically speaking a race is a slightly different thing).

Hope this helps.

 

I don't know without going back to the convention, but in plants, algae and fungi I don't think a name can be repeated. Animals are governed by a different convention. But I may be wrong.

[Gary Prentice]

Surely anything binomial with more than 2 names becomes a trinomial etc.

 

Yeah, when you get to the infraspecific level, but it has to be identified;

subsp. var. subvar. f, or subf:thumbup1:

[Bren.]

I don't know without going back to the convention, but in plants, algae and fungi I don't think a name can be repeated. Animals are governed by a different convention. But I may be wrong.

I'm not sure, I think you might be right, but I THINK (and I've got no references for this), that it might apply for the purposes of trade. However the binomial system does seem to be more strictly adhered to in the plant world generally. For example in the UK we have (if memory serves) 43 different sub-species of Bramble and they all have (again, if memory serves) seperate binomial names, but collectively are known as Rubus fruticosus sp. agg.

Taxonomy is a very complex subject and one I have a very limited knowledge of from my Ecology degree days.

Edited May 20, 2014 by Bren.

[mike1987]

Sorry - they are still formas or varieties and cultivars:001_tt2: and are synonyms

Fagus sylvatica L. ? The Plant List

 

If anyone's interested I've a couple of PDF's on nomenclature

 

like i said i could be wrong im only a lowly gardener after all if you could post links to the pdf files they could be useful next time i have an insomniac night. it has to be said that nomenclature wasn't my strongest point in collage especially when it came to pronunciation and spelling lol

[Bren.]

No one can tell you how to pronounce Latin names. All the Latin speakers died many, many years ago.:001_smile:

[mike1987]

No one can tell you how to pronounce Latin names. All the Latin speakers died many, many years ago.:001_smile:

 

yea at a place i volunteered whilst studying horticulture there was at least 3 different pronunciations of cotinus coggygria from 3 different sources in the end it was easier to use the common name when referring to it to avoid confusion in my eyes it kind of defeated the point of knowing botanical names