International Code of Botanical Nomenclature (ICBN)

In 1930, the fifth International Botanical Congress was held at Cambridge, England to frame rules and regulations for naming plants. The twelfth meeting was held at Leningrad, USSR in July 1975.  Based on the resolutions of this meeting, the current system of International Code of Botanical Nomenclature was adapted from 1978.

Some of the salient features of  ICBN:

• The generic name is a singular The first letter of generic name is always written in capital. The specific epithet is an adjective and is always written with small letters. It is derived from many sources and may consist of one or two words.

Example: Oryza sativa and Oldenlandia albo- nervia.

• The name should be short, precise and easy to.
• The binomials are printed in italics or The generic and specific epithets are underlined separately.

Example: Abutilon neilgherrense or Abutilon neilgherrense.

• When new names are given to any plant, then the herbarium preparation of the same specimen with its original description is preserved in any recognized herbarium. This specimen is denoted as type specimen. It is to be preserved on herbarium.
• The person who publishes the description of any plant for the first time or giving a new name to a plant is considered as The name of plant should bear the author’s abbreviated name at the end of specific epithet.  This is called author citation.  Abbreviations were made for eminent taxonomists. The name Linnaeus was abbreviated to L. or Linn., Robert  Brown  to R.Br.  and Sir  Joseph  Dalton  Hooker  to Hook. eg. Malva sylvestris Linn.
• The original description of the plant should accompany the latin.
• If naming the plant is from a source of error, it is regarded as ambiguous    It is also called nomen ambiguum and is completely ignored from use.
• If the generic and specific epithets are the same,  it is called tautonym.

Example: Sassafras sassafras.  Such names are not accepted in the system of nomenclature.

QUESTION FOR THE TOPIC:

Write a brief note about ICBN?