Botanical nomenclature is the formal, scientific naming of plants. It is related to, but distinct from taxonomy. Plant taxonomy is concerned with grouping and classifying plants; botanical nomenclature then provides names for the results of this process. The starting point for modern botanical nomenclature is Linnaeus' "Species Plantarum" of 1753. Botanical nomenclature is governed by the "International Code of Nomenclature for algae, fungi, and plants" ("ICN"), which replaces the "International Code of Botanical Nomenclature" ("ICBN"). Fossil plants are also covered by the code of nomenclature.

Within the limits set by that code there is another set of rules, the "International Code of Nomenclature for Cultivated Plants (ICNCP)" which applies to plant cultivars that have been deliberately altered or selected by humans (see cultigen).

Botanical nomenclature has a long history, going back beyond the period when Latin was the scientific language throughout Europe, to Theophrastus (c. 370287 BC), Dioscorides (c. 40 90 AD) and other Greek writers. Many of these works have come down to us in Latin translations. The principal Latin writer on botany was Pliny the Elder (2379 AD). From Mediaeval times, Latin became the universal scientific language (lingua franca) in Europe. Most written plant knowledge was the property of monks, particularly Benedictine, and the purpose of those early herbals was primarily medicinal rather than plant science "per se". It would require the invention of the printing press (1450) to make such information more widely available.

Answer this series of questions:

1. Is Botanical nomenclature the same as taxonomy?
2. What it taxonomy about?
3. And then what does nomenclature do?
4. Who started it?
5. What was the name of his book?
6. When was it published?
7. Is there a code of nomeclature?
8. What's the abbreviation for its name?
9. What does it stand for?
10. Was there one before it?
11. What was the abbreviation for the name of that one?
12. And what did that stand for?
13. Are fossill plants part of the code?
14. Early nomenclature works were written in which language?
15. Any other?
16. Can you name one of the early writers?
17. How about another?
18. When was he around?
19. Who had the most written plant information in Mediaeval times?
20. Which monks in particular?
1. no
2. grouping and classifying plants
3. provides names for the results of this process
4. Linnaeus
5. "Species Plantarum"
6. 1753
7. yes
8. ICN
9. International Code of Nomenclature
10. yes
11. ICBN
12. International Code of Botanical Nomenclature
13. yes
14. Latin
15. Greek
16. Theophrastus
17. Dioscorides
18. c. 40 90 AD
19. monks
20. Benedictine