National Botanical Garden: enjoy the flowers and learn the names of plants

National Botanical Garden: enjoy the flowers and learn the names of plants

Ginger Union

During the May Day holiday, the National Botanical Garden was filled with the singing of birds and the fragrance of flowers. Peonies reflected in the pavilion, tassels overflowed with fragrance, wisteria hung down gracefully, maple leaves swayed in the wind, there were rest pavilions, green waves and blue sea, and dead trees came back to life in spring, the whole garden was full of vitality.

While enjoying the green scenery of the flowers, you will often see some plants with an identity card hanging on them, which indicates the plant's Latin name, distribution, characteristics, etc.

"Plant ID Card" (Photo by Jiang Lianhe)

The Latin names of plants look very long and consist of multiple words. Some plants have many common names, such as Ginkgo, also known as White Nut and Maidenhair Tree, but the Latin name is the only identifier of the plant's identity and is also the only scientific naming method.

The major classifications of plant species are: phylum, class, order, genus, and species. The Latin name of a plant generally consists of two parts, namely, genus name + species name, commonly known as plant binomial nomenclature; some plants consist of genus name + species name + name person; some plants have classifications below genus and species, and the classification units below species also include subspecies ssp., variant var., deformation f., cultivated variety cv., etc.

In scientific standard publications, there is also a distinction between straight and italic fonts. For example, genus names and species names are generally written in italics, while the names of the nomenclature are written in straight font. Species and abbreviations below the species that represent taxa are written in straight font.

Of course, outdoor signs are not so strict, and some plants are only marked with the genus name and species name.

While viewing the scenery and appreciating the flowers, learn about the naming rules of plants to identify the names of the plants in the beautiful scenery.

The intoxicating wisteria (Wisteria sinensis), the pure white tassel flower (Chionanthus retusus Lindl.et Paxt.), the endangered ginkgo (Ginkgo biloba L.), the blooming peony (Paeonia suffruticosa Andr.), the swaying maple leaves (Acer palmatum 'Atropurpureum' (Van Houtte) Schwerim), and many more...

While enjoying the scenery, let’s also commemorate the scientists who discovered and named plants, such as Carolus Linnaeus (L.), the founder of modern biological classification and nomenclature.

"The Peony Pavilion" (Photo by Jiang Lianhe)

"Fragrant Tassels" (Photo by Jiang Lianhe)

"The Wind Shakes the Maple Leaves" (Photo by Jiang Lianhe)

"Resting Pavilion" (Photo by Jiang Lianhe)

Green Waves and Blue Sea (Photo by Jiang Lianhe)

Dead Trees Revived in Spring (Photo by Jiang Lianhe)

"Full of Vitality" (painting by Jiang Lianhe)

Originated from the public account of "Self-Recognized Ecological Science Culture".