Spelling of German plant names
The spelling of German plant names in specialist botanical literature differs in part from common usage . Behind this stands the endeavor to make the botanical systematics recognizable in the specialist literature also with the German plant names, similar to the case in the Latin-Greek binary nomenclature .
The common plant names do not always correspond to the underlying genera or do not allow them to be clearly identified, as they are mostly older than their taxonomic classification or were formed according to general linguistic and not scientific aspects. In addition, some plants have several names or different names or spelling variants, which can lead to inconsistencies or ambiguities in the scientific literature.
Spelling rules
Attempts to standardize German plant names from a scientific point of view have been around for a long time: Rudolf Mansfeld created the first standard list in 1940 with the directory of fern and flowering plants of the German Empire .
In a more recent publication in 2001 a set of rules was proposed that is suitable for all conceivable German-speaking plant names and - as far as possible - separates the genus identifying part of the name with a hyphen. This publication endeavors to standardize a tradition that has long been practiced in numerous important botanical works in the German language (e.g. Strasburger - Textbook of Botany , Helmut Genaust, Etymological Dictionary of Botanical Plant Names , Zander, Concise Dictionary of Plant Names , Gustav Hegi, Illustrated Flora von Mitteleuropa , Schmeil-Fitschen , Rothmaler , Flora Helvetica , Excursionsflora von Österreich (since 1994), Heinz Ellenberg , Vegetation Mitteleuropas 1986, Red List of Austria's Plants 1999, Erich Oberdorfer , Plant- Sociological Excursion Flora 1994; and partly already in Friedrich Ehrendorfer and Friedrich Starmühlner Natural history of Vienna 1972), which is also used in related areas such as B. gardeners gained enforcement (e.g. Jelitto, Schacht, Die Freiland-Schmuckstauden. ). The standard list of fern and flowering plants in Germany created by Rolf Wisskirchen and Henning Haeupler as part of a research project funded by the Federal Agency for Nature Conservation (BfN) has existed since 1998 , which is also followed by the FloraWeb database maintained by the Federal Agency for Nature Conservation. Numerous official publications such as the Red List Austria or the Red List Germany also use this spelling.
- The determiner is separated from the root word with a hyphen if the root word correctly describes a taxon, usually a genus. ("Chives" instead of "chives", "red beech" instead of "red beech", "moss rose" instead of "moss rose")
- Determinator and stem word are not separated by a hyphen if the stem word refers to an inapplicable taxon. ("Peony", "Hornbeam")
- If the root word does not refer to a taxon, but to a form of life or a part of a plant, the root word and determinant word are not separated by a hyphen. ("Schwarzdorn", "Sommerwurz")
- If the root word has no relation to plants, the root word and determiner are not separated by a hyphen. ("Dandelion", "Evening Primrose", these would not be separated as generic names anyway)
- If the root word and the determiner are separate words anyway, no hyphen is inserted. ("Black Nightshade")
Cases of doubt are e.g. B. “Thistle”, which cannot be clearly assigned to a genus, “Onion” which can be understood both as a plant genus or as part of a plant. The spelling “garlic” instead of “knob-leek” is recommended, contrary to the rules, since “knob” is no longer perceived as a separate word. If there are several group names for a genus (e.g. “plum”, “cherry”, “almond”), these should be understood as equivalent generic names in their respective context (“Briançon apricot”, “dwarf almond”, “common grapes” Cherry ”; all Prunus species).
See also
literature
- Manfred Adalbert Fischer: Why German plant names? In: Neilreichia. Volume 1, 2001, pp. 181-232.
- Friedrich Ehrendorfer (Hrsg.): List of vascular plants of Central Europe. 2nd edition, edited by Walter Gutermann and Harald Niklfeld. Gustav Fischer, Stuttgart 1973.
- Rolf Wisskirchen, Henning Haeupler: Standard list of fern and flowering plants in Germany. With chromosome atlas . Ed .: Federal Agency for Nature Conservation (= The fern and flowering plants of Germany . Volume 1 ). Eugen Ulmer, Stuttgart (Hohenheim) 1998, ISBN 3-8001-3360-1 .
- Jerry Stannard: Botanical data and late mediaeval “recipe literature”. In: Gundolf Keil , Peter Assion , Willem Frans Daems, Heinz-Ulrich Roehl (eds.): Specialized prose studies. Contributions to medieval science and intellectual history. Schmidt, Berlin 1982, ISBN 3-503-01269-9 , pp. 371-395.
- Robert Zander : Zander. Concise dictionary of plant names. Edited by Walter Erhardt , Erich Götz, Nils Bödeker, Siegmund Seybold . 19th updated edition. Eugen Ulmer, Stuttgart 2014, ISBN 978-3-8001-7953-4 .