Genera Plantarum

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Title page of the 2nd edition of Genera Plantarum . Leiden, 1742

Genera Plantarum is the title of a work by Carl von Linné in which he described the plant genera he accepted . Seven editions were published during his lifetime.

plant

The first edition appeared in 1737 under the full title Genera plantarum eorumque characteres naturales secundum numerum, figuram, situm, & proportionem omnium fructificationis partium (German: "The genera of plants and their natural characterization, according to number, shape, position and proportion of all fruiting organs" ) in Leiden with Conrad Wishoff.

The first edition is dedicated to the Dutch doctor and botanist Herman Boerhaave . It contains a panel drawn by Georg Dionysius Ehret with the title Caroli Linnaei classes sive literae , on which the distinguishing features of the 24 plant classes are shown, which Linnaeus, however, used without Ehret's knowledge.

History of origin

On September 24, 1735, Linne moved to George Clifford's estate in Hartekamp to catalog his extensive collection. As early as 1735, in the first edition of Systema Naturae , he had divided the plant kingdom into 24 classes with numerous orders . In Fundamenta Botanica , published a year later , he set out his definition of the individual fruiting organs (Chapter IV.) And rules for naming plants (Chapter VII.).

On this basis, Linnaeus examined the flowers of more than 8000 plants. He discarded more than half of the existing generic names and described numerous genera for the first time . A little later he provided the explanation for his rigorous handling of the existing generic names in Critica Botanica .

content

In the first edition of Genera Plantarum , Linné described 935 genera . In the same year he described Corollarium generum plantarum, exhibens genera plantarum sexaginta, addenda prioribus characteribus, expositis in generibus plantarum. Accedit methodus sexualis (Leiden, 1737) another 60 genera. The sixth edition from 1764, still edited by Linnaeus himself, already comprised 1239 genres.

He identified the genera on the basis of 26 characteristics:

"The natural characteristics are all parts of the floral organs:

  • on the calyx: shell (1), scabbard (2), flower cover (3), kitten (4), belly (5), hood (6)
  • on the crown: tube or nails (7), mouth (8), honey container (9)
  • on stamens: carrier (10), dust bag (11)
  • on the pistil: ovary (12), stylus (13), stigma (14)
  • Fruits: capsule (15), pod (16), pod (17), nut (18), stone fruit (19), berry (20), pome fruit (21)
  • Seeds (22) and its crown (23)
  • Bottom of the flower (24), the stamens (25) and the ovary (26). "

Linné's generic diagnoses are structured according to the following scheme:

abbreviation Latin German
Cal. Calyx Chalice
Cor. Corolla Crown
Stam. Stamina Stamens
Pist. Pestle stamp
By. Pericarp Pericarp
Sem. Semen Seeds

For example, its Latin description of the genus Plumeria looks like this: 

219.    PLUMERIA. Tournef. 439.
 

Cal. Perianthium quinquepartitum, obtusum, minimum.

Cor. Petalum infundibuliforme. Tubus longus, sensim amplia-
   tus. Limbus quinquepartitus, erecto-patens: laciniis ovato-
   oblongis, cum sole flexis.

Stam. Filamenta quinque, subulata, e medio tubi. Antherae con-

   niventes
Pist. Germen oblongum, bifidum. Styli vix ulli. Stigma du-

   plex, acuminatum.

Per. Folliculi duo, longi, acuminati, ventricosi, deorsum fle-

   xi, nutantes, uniloculares, univalves.
Sem. numerosa, oblonga, membranae majori ovatae ad basin in-

   serta, imbricata.

aftermath

Linné's approach was not without criticism. Most prominent critics were Johann Amman and especially Johann Georg Siegesbeck .

After Linné's death, the German authors Johann Jacob Reichard , Johann Christian Daniel Schreber and Kurt Sprengel published extended new editions of Genera Plantarum .

pads

  • 1st edition, Leiden, 1737, 4 ° - 935 genera
  • 2nd edition, Leiden, 1742, 4 ° - 1021 genera
  • 3rd edition, Paris, 1743, 8 °
  • 4th edition, Halle-Magdeburg, 1752, 8 ° - 1090 genera
  • 5th edition, Stockholm, 1754, 8 ° - 1105 genera
  • 6th edition, Stockholm, 1764, 8 ° - 1239 genera
  • 7th edition, Frankfurt am Main, 1778, 8 °; by Johann Jacob Reichard - 1343 genera
  • 8th edition, Frankfurt am Main, 1789–1791, 8 °; by Johann Christian von Schreber - 1766 genera
  • 9th edition, Göttingen, 1830–1831, 8 °; by Kurt Sprengel

proof

literature

  • Kurt Sprengel : history of botany . Altenburg and Leipzig, 1818, Volume 2, p. 236
  • Richard Pulteney : A General View of the Writings of Linnaeus . London, 1781, p. 57ff.
  • Ilse Jahn, Rolf Löther, Konrad Senglaub: History of Biology. Theories, methods, institutions, short biographies . 2nd, reviewed edition, VEB Gustav Fischer Verlag: Jena, 1985. S. 272ff.

Notes and individual references

  1. ↑ The foreword is dated November 20, 1736.
  2. ↑ Published as Hortus Cliffortianus whose preface is dated July 30, 1737.
  3. ↑ The foreword is dated May 31, 1737.
  4. ↑ That corresponds to the number of letters in the Latin alphabet. Quote Linnaeus: “We have to study these letters.” Quoted from Jahn et al., P. 274
  5. ^ Translation from: Jahn et al., P. 274, from Ratio Operis . Item 11, pp. VII-VIII. In: Genera Plantarum . lat:
    CALYCIS 1 involucre . 2 spathe . 3 perianthium . 4 amentum . 5 cluma . 6 Calyptra .
    COROLLAE 7 Tube seu ungues. 8 Limbus . 9 nectarium .
    STAMINUM 10 filamenta . 11 Antherae .
    PISTILLI 12 Germen . 13 stylus . 14 stigma .
    PERICARPII 15 capsules . 16 siliqua . 17 legumes . 18 Nux . 19 Drupa .
    SEMEN 22 ejusque . 23 Corona .
    RECEPTACULUM 24 fructificationis . 25 floris . 26 fructus .
  6. ^ Letter of November 26, 1737 from Johann Amman to Carl von Linné

further reading

  • Felice Bryk: Bibliographia Linnaeana ad Genera Plantarum Pertinens . In: Taxon . Volume 3, Number 6, 1954, pp. 174-183.
  • Staffan Müller-Wille, Karen Reeds: A translation of Carl Linnaeus's introduction to Genera plantarum . In: Studies in History and Philosophy of Science Part C: Studies in History and Philosophy of Biological and Biomedical Sciences . Volume 38, Number 3, 2007, pp. 563-572, doi : 10.1016 / j.shpsc.2007.06.003 .
  • Staffan Müller-Wille: Collection and collation: theory and practice of Linnaean botany . In: Studies in History and Philosophy of Science Part C: Studies in History and Philosophy of Biological and Biomedical Sciences . Volume 38, Number 3, 2007, pp. 541-562, doi : 10.1016 / j.shpsc.2007.06.010 .

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