Order from Chaos: Linnaeus Disposes The Linnaean system in action |
Classification | |
Linnaeus designated 24 classes into which to group plants initially and then divided those groups into orders, then genera. He put the genus Solidago in class 19, Syngenesia. There may be one or more species in a genus; the entry shown here is for the species Solidago sempervirens. |
Diagnostic polynomial | |
Linnaeus referred to this longer, descriptive name (diagnosing how this species differs from other species in the same genus) as the legitimate species name, for which the shorter binomial was merely a convenient short-hand reference. |
Binomial or scientific name | |
Each species will have its genus name (here repeating the genus name in capital letters, SOLIDAGO) as the first part of its scientific name, and then a unique "specific epithet" (here in italics in the margin) as the second part. Together these form the scientific name that identifies that species. This system was perfected and comprehensively applied by Linnaeus and is still used in both botany and zoology to this day. |
Synonyms | |
One or more additional diagnostic names, as cited in other literature, are listed for each species, and Linnaeus treats these as synonyms of the legitimate species name (the first diagnostic name in each entry). |
References | |
These italicized abbreviations refer to titles of previous publications by Linnaeus and others, and the numbers refer to page or plate numbers; together they show where that diagnostic name, a description, and/or an illustration were previously published. |
Geographic note | |
This note tells where the plant grows naturally (as opposed to where it grows in gardens, as garden plants might be imported from their native habitats). |
Additional description | |
Occasionally, Linnaeus gave further descriptive information at the end of an entry if he felt it was needed. |
(see this image enlarged) |
(see this image enlarged) |
Carolus Linnaeus (17071778). Hortus Cliffortianus (Amsterdam, 1737). In 1735 Linnaeus travelled to Holland, and while there he worked for George Clifford, a wealthy merchant with an extensive private botanical garden. This exposure to a wide range of exotic plants aided Linnaeus in developing his ideas about classification. A catalogue of plants in Clifford’s garden was published as Hortus Cliffortianus. |
Caroli Linnaei Classes S. Literae, plate by Georg Dionysius Ehret depicting the characters used in Linnaeus’ classification system for Genera Plantarum (Lieden, 1737). |