Linnaeus, Carolus

Swedish naturalist and physician. His botanical work Systema naturae (1735) contained his system for classifying plants into groups depending on shared characteristics (such as the number of stamens in flowers), providing a much-needed framework for identification. He also devised the concise and precise system for naming plants and animals, using one Latin (or Latinized) word to represent the genus and a second to distinguish the species.

For example, in the Latin name of the daisy, Bellis perennis, Bellis is the name of the genus to which the plant belongs, and perennis distinguishes the species from others of the same genus. By tradition the generic name always begins with a capital letter. The author who first described a particular species is often indicated after the name, for example, Bellis perennis Linnaeus, showing that the author was Linnaeus.