Xavier Vanbecelaere writes
I have a question concerning the Latin names
Where does the "L." stands for
example: Ceratonia Siliqua L.
Olea Sylvestris L.
Are there other Letters like these used?
Stewart Robert Hinsley schreef
As has already been said L. is an abbreviation for Linnaeus. (L. f. is
an abbrevation for his son.)
There is a strong tendency to abbreviate the names of authors of
scientific names of organisms (e.g. Hook. for Hooker, Lam. for Lamarck,
Cav. for Cavanilles), but they're rarely shortened as far as one letter
- even Linnaeus is sometimes abbreviated as Linn. rather than L.
I've seen T. for Tournefort [1], and H., B. & K. for Humbert, Bonpland
and Kunth. DC. is the abbreviation for De Candolle. Another book is
using F. & R., but I don't know who this refers to.
[1] Tournefort predates Linnaeus, and as year zero for priority of names
is Linnaeus's Species Plantarum of 1753, Tournefort doesn't count for
authorship; however some older literature recognised pre-Linnaean
authors, in some cases as far back as Pliny.
--
Stewart Robert Hinsley
+ + +
Careful. These days there is a list of standard abbreviations of author
names, which was published in book form in 1992. These days it can be
consulted online:
http://www.us.ipni.org/ipni/query_author.html
In earlier days single letters were used as abbreviations for the best known
authors for example "W." for Willdenow but I think these days Linnaeus is
the only one, with indeed "L.f." the abbreviation for his son.
There were a number of combinations of letters, for example:
B.S.P. = Britton, Sterns & Poggenburg
H.B.K. = Humbold, Bonpland & Kunth
R. & P. = Ruiz & Pavon
T. & B. = Teijsman & Binnendijk
These are out and have to be updated to: "Britton & al.", "Kunth", "Ruiz &
Pav." and "Teijsm. & Binn.". Don't know about "F. & R." There was an "F. &
M." also an "Fr."
Linnaeus indeed was not so much the first to coin plant names, but the one
to have his magnum opus of 1753 accepted as the starting point of binary
nomenclature. Obviously this was not a random decision but the result of his
merit and hard work. This year was the 250 year anniversary!
PvR