There are thousands of plant species in the world. In order to establish a system where each species would have a unique name understandable regardless of the spoken language, Swedish botanist Carl Linnaeus invented a revolutionary naming system that is still applied today. For this reason, Linnaeus is known as the father of taxonomy, which is the science of naming and classifying organisms.
Previously, plant names were in Latin, but they were very long and impractical (e.g. Plantago foliis ovato-lanceolatis pubescentibus spica cylindrica scapo terete). Linnaeus named this species simply Plantago media. In this way, he established a name for each species composed of only two words. In addition to specificity, Linnaeus’s naming system often includes relationships between different species. Thus, he divided plants and animals into classes, orders, genera, and species. Organisms were placed at different hierarchical levels based on shared characteristics such as similarities in body parts, size, shape, and mode of nutrition.
The established system of classification and naming different types of organisms is still in use today.
Author: Master of science Marija Trencheva, teaching assistant of the Institute of Biology