ABSTRACT
There are quite a few conventions that it is worth being aware of when it comes to using names. Scientific names can also be in great (taxonomic) flux, but at least there is definitive help. This chapter outlines the interpretation of what is what in using names. There is only one valid scientific name for a species. This is expressed in a binomial: two names, first the genus (with an initial capital letter) and then the species name. In taxonomic papers and certain journals with a taxonomic focus, there is an insistence that students cite the ‘taxonomic authority’ after the species name when used for the first time. Nomenclatural codes exist to ensure stability in names. Like Linneaus, other prolific plant taxonomists can have their names abbreviated, but plant taxonomists became so numerous that there needed to be some standardisation of names and their abbreviations.
