, Cohort,
ORDER, or FAMILY, Suborder, Tribe, Subtribe,
GENUS, Subgenus or Section,
SPECIES, Variety.

Sec. 2. NAMES, TERMS, AND CHARACTERS.

535. The name of a plant is the name of its genus followed by that of
the species. The name of the genus answers to the surname (or family
name); that of the species to the baptismal name of a person. Thus
_Quercus_ is the name of the Oak genus; _Quercus alba_, that of the
White Oak, _Q. rubra_, that of Red Oak, _Q. nigra_, that of the
Black-Jack, etc. Botanical names being Latin or Latinized, the adjective
name of the species comes after that of the genus.

536. =Names of Genera= are of one word, a substantive. The older ones
are mostly classical Latin, or Greek adopted into Latin; such as
_Quercus_ for the Oak genus, _Fagus_ for the Beech, _Corylus_, the
Hazel, and the like. But as more genera became known, botanists had new
names to make or borrow. Many are named from some appearance or property
of the flowers, leaves, or other parts of the plant. To take a few
examples from the early pages of the "Manual of the Botany of the
Northern United States,"--the genus _Hepatica_ comes from the shape of
the leaf, resembling that of the liver. _Myosurus_ means mouse-tail.
_Delphinium_ is from delphin, a dolphin, and alludes to the shape of the
flower, which was thought to resemble the classical figures of the
dolphin. _Xanthorrhiza_ is from two Greek words meaning yellow-root, the
common name of the plant. _Cimicifuga_ is formed of two Latin words
meaning to drive away bugs, i. e. Bugbane, the Siberian species being
used to keep away such vermin. _Sanguinaria_, the Bloodroot, is named
from the blood-like color of its juice. Other genera are dedicated to
distinguished botanists or promoters of science, and bear their names:
such are _Magnolia_, which commemorates the early French botanist,
Magnol; and _Jeffersonia_, named after President Jefferson, who sent the
first exploring expedition over the Rocky Mountains. Others bear the
name of the discoverer of the plant; as, _Sarracenia_, dedicated to Dr.
Sarrazin, of Quebec, who was one of the first to send the common
Pitcher-plant to the botanists of Europe; and _Claytonia_, first made
known by the early Virginian botanist Clayton.

537. =Names of Species.= The name of a species is also a single word,
appended to that of the genus. It is commonly an adjective, and
therefore agrees with the gene