ric name in case, gender, etc. Sometimes
it relates to the country the species inhabits; as, Claytonia
_Virginica_, first made known from Virginia; Sanguinaria _Canadensis_,
from Canada, etc. More commonly it denotes some obvious or
characteristic trait of the species; as, for example, in Sarracenia, our
northern species is named _purpurea_, from the purple blossoms, while a
more southern one is named _flava_, because its petals are yellow; the
species of Jeffersonia is called _diphylla_, meaning two-leaved, because
its leaf is divided into two leaflets. Some species are named after the
discoverer, or in compliment to a botanist who has made them known; as,
Magnolia _Fraseri_, named after the botanist Fraser, one of the first
to find this species; and Sarracenia _Drummondii_, for a Pitcher-plant
found by Mr. Drummond in Florida. Such personal specific names are of
course written with a capital initial letter. Occasionally some old
substantive name is used for the species; as Magnolia _Umbrella_, the
Umbrella tree, and Ranunculus _Flammula_. These are also written with a
capital initial, and need not accord with the generic name in gender.
Geographical specific names, such as _Canadensis_, _Caroliniana_,
_Americana_, in the later usage are by some written without a capital
initial, but the older usage is better, or at least more accordant with
English orthography.

538. =Varietal Names=, when any are required, are made on the plan of
specific names, and follow these, with the prefix _var_. Ranunculus
Flammula, var. _reptans_, the creeping variety: R. abortivus, var.
_micranthus_, the small-flowered variety of the species.

539. In recording the name of a plant it is usual to append the name, or
an abbreviation of the name, of the botanist who first published it; and
in a flora or other systematic work, this reference to the source of the
name is completed by a further citation of the name of the book, the
volume and page where it was first published. So "_Ranunculus acris_,
L.," means that this Buttercup was first so named and described by
Linnaeus; "_R. multifidus_, Pursh," that this species was so named and
published by Pursh. The suffix is no part of the name, but is an
abbreviated reference, to be added or omitted as convenience or
definiteness may require. The authority for a generic name is similarly
recorded. Thus, "_Ranunculus_, L.," means that the genus was so named by
Linnaeus; "_Myosurus_, Dill.," that the Mo