537. =Names of Species.= The name of a species is also a single word, appended to that of the genus. It is commonly an adjective, and therefore agrees with the generic name in case, gender, etc. Sometimes it relates to the country the species inhabits; as, Claytonia _Virginica_, first made known from Virginia; Sanguinaria _Canadensis_, from Canada, etc. More commonly it denotes some obvious or characteristic trait of the species; as, for example, in Sarracenia, our northern species is named _purpurea_, from the purple blossoms, while a more southern one is named _flava_, because its petals are yellow; the species of Jeffersonia is called _diphylla_, meaning two-leaved, because its leaf is divided into two leaflets. Some species are named after the discoverer, or in compliment to a botanist who has made them known; as, Magnolia _Fraseri_, named after the botanist Fraser, one of the first to find this species; and Sarracenia _Drummondii_, for a Pitcher-plant found by Mr. Drummond in Florida. Such personal specific names are of course written with a capital initial letter. Occasionally some old substantive name is used for the species; as Magnolia _Umbrella_, the Umbrella tree, and Ranunculus _Flammula_. These are also written with a capital initial, and need not accord with the generic name in gender. Geographical specific names, such as _Canadensis_, _Caroliniana_, _Americana_, in the later usage are by some written without a capital initial, but the older usage is better, or at least more accordant with English orthography. 538. =Varietal Names=, when any are required, are made on the plan of specific names, and follow these, with the prefix _var_. Ranunculus Flammula, var. _reptans_, the creeping variety: R. abortivus, var. _micranthus_, the small-flowered variety of the species. 539. In recording the name of a plant it is usual to append the name, or an abbreviation of the name, of the botanist who first published it; and in a flora or other systematic work, this reference to the source of the name is completed by a further citation of the name of the book, the volume and page where it was first published. So "_Ranunculus acris_, L.," means that this Buttercup was first so named and described by Linnæus; "_R. multifidus_, Pursh," that this species was so named and published by Pursh. The suffix is no part of the name, but is an abbreviated reference, to be added or omitted as convenience or definiteness may require. The authority for a generic name is similarly recorded. Thus, "_Ranunculus_, L.," means that the genus was so named by Linnæus; "_Myosurus_, Dill.," that the Mouse-tail was established as a genus under this name by Dillenius; _Caulophyllum_, Michx., that the Blue Cohosh was published under this name by Michaux. The full reference in the last-named instance would be, "in Flora Boreali-Americana, first volume, 205th page,"--in the customary abbreviation, "Michx. Fl. i. 205."