Latin Species Names For Plants & Animals

Binomial nomenclature is used to provide each of the Earth's species with its own unique name, albeit in Latin. This is done to get around the confusion of the many common names that a specie may have, whatever its geographic distribution. Many issuers put the Latin name of whatever plant or animal that is depicted on the stamp and I thought such stamps would make an informative thread.

I am going to cheat and use as an example a reduced version of an image that Nethryk placed in the "Engraver" thread as it was his informative posts and use of Latin binomials that prompted the idea. The tags that he places in his posts make searching the database an enjoyable experience. In this particular case the image was of a Red Deer, whose Latin name is "Cervus elaphus". To facilitate future searches related to specific species I would ask that you type the name into your post as I have done here.




edit: forgot - 1959 Czech Scott#937

I would personally love to see a stamp with the Balantiocheilos melanopterus on it. I have personally raised a small scholl of 5 of them and my largest one was 9". They was just to keep my Osteoglossum bicirrhosum and Potamotrygon motoros company of course. :P














edited: added italics...and pics.

A stamp like this one?

Balantiocheilos melanopterus


web photo

Lavandula Vera, lavender


Rhamnus Frangula, alder buckthorn


Scopolia Carniolica, henbane bell


Aconitum Napellus, wolf's bane


Vaccinium Myrtillus, bilberry


Juniperus Communis, juniper


Primula Veris, cowslip


Punica Granatum, pomegranate


Datura Stramonium, thorn apple

80c – Otis Kori
The bustards of South Africa are known as paauw, the largest being the great paauw or kori bustard

Web photo
Never heard of a bustard, now I know a few censored ones...sorry

and from my collection two Russian stamps. Straight scans. Second beer. SSSB.

Boletus Elegans.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iDMAXtQr7d0



and Psalliota Silvatica

My major in college was Forest Industry Management so I am very familiar with having to learn and use scientific names. Latin is used since Latin is an unchanging language (please don't say Latin is a "dead" language, it is alive and well). My absolute favorite tree is the Metasequoia glyptostroboides - common name is Dawn Redwood. This is a tree thought to be extinct for eons, but discovered in 1943 surviving in a remote valley in China.

The last one for today.

The Dalmatian Pelican (Pelecanus crispus) is a member of the pelican family. It breeds from southeastern Europe to India and China in swamps and shallow lakes. The nest is a crude heap of vegetation.

Two of the Chinese stamps shown below illustrate Metasequoia glyptostroboides and Cryptomeria fortunia, both of which are members of the redwood family (Taxodiaceae)



ok...which are the ones? ncbuckeye?

and here is a stamp from Polen

Great Idea Cynical

The man who started it all.........

GB
Bewick's Swan:
Cygnus Columbianus.
Stamp celebrating the (SCF) Linnean Society



Yellow Waterlily
Nuphar Lutea

A few down and somewhere between 1 and 10 million to go.
This promises to be a long thread.
In a few more days my dialup will be swamped!

Twist of fate - funny how things happen. I introduced a thread. I_Love_Stamps shows some fantastic personal fish tank photos and Fifia produces a stamp within minutes depicting the species. A bit of serendipity - yesterday I was researching the difference between Rwanda, Ruanda and Urundi.

Kuhli: great presentation. I was interested in your Rhamnus frangula (your Alder Buckthorn) Yugoslavian stamp, in that the plant occurs in the southern part of my province (Ontario) as an introduced species but is most commonly called Glossy Buckthorn. We do have a native species that we call Alder Buckthorn (Rhamnus alnifolia) that occurs throughout the province, but alas there is no stamp.

Your Juniper communis (ground juniper) occurs around sand and rock shorelines on large lakes here in Ontario. I'm told its berries were used in making gin and gave this beverage its distinctive taste.

Fifia: you are good at this!! Thanks for putting on the second Juniperus communis stamp and a sub-species at that. I still have to look through my Canadian catalogue and collection to see when the first Latin binomial showed up. In the early part of our history (i.e., Canada) we had lots of stamps with thistles and roses on them but they were related to seals and coats of arms rather then the veneration of a specific species.

kuhli
nice flower stamps, nice scans.

here are some more fishes from Polen.