Question

Brassica campestris Linn

1. Give the common name of the plant.
2. What do the first two parts of the name denote?
3. Why are they written in italics?
4. What is the meaning of Linn written at the end of the name?

Answer 1

1. Mustard
2. The first word in a biological name represents the genus while the second component denotes the specific epithet.
3. Both words in a biological name, when handwritten, are separately underlined, or printed in italics to indicate their Latin origin.
4. The name of the author appears after the specific epithet, i.e. at the end of the biological name and is written in an abbreviated form, e.g., Brassica compestris Linn. It indicates that this species was first described by Linnaeus.