Surnames in Plant Names

Abstract

The article offers an insight into the plant names connected with surnames. There are four general groups of such plant names: 1) Latin scientific names with abbreviations of botanists’ surnames, 2) L L atin scientific names containing references to surnames, 3) names of plants containing surnames, 4) plant names derived from surnames. The last group is particularly interesting because it is the most variegated. What is more, these names do not “betray” the surnames at first glance. The plant names and their analysis show that scientific botanical names are often motivated by surnames. Such names become a peculiar monument to certain individuals, in the great majority of botanists who are well-deserved in research on particular species of plants. The names of people outside of the sphere of botanic research are quite rarely the motivation of plant names. It can also be stated that the plant names connected with surnames usually refer to genera and species that are relatively late-discovered and described (often also newly-grown ornamental plants), so they are usually exotic, and native to sparsely populated areas.