Understanding Botanical Author Abbreviations (e.g., L.)

Understanding Botanical Author Abbreviations (e.g., L.)

A reader asks why some plant names have "(L.)" after them, if it's italicized, and if other similar abbreviations exist.

Meaning of "L."

"L." stands for Carolus Linnaeus (Carl von Linné), the father of binomial nomenclature. It indicates he originally named the species. It is not italicized.

Other Author Abbreviations

• Other botanists have their own standard abbreviations (e.g., "Lam." for Lamarck, "Willd." for Willdenow).
• These denote who first validly published the name.
• Full names may be used to distinguish authors with same initials.
• No author abbreviation pre-dates Linnaeus (1753).

Reference

Standard abbreviations are listed in Authors of Plant Names (Brummitt & Powell) and the International Plant Names Index (IPNI).