Table 3.

Handling Nomenclature Principles

How to give a valid name to a species—some basic rules

1. Check if your putative new species has been already described and correctly erected. If not:

2. Write a protologue, which is a description of the morphological diagnostic features of the new species, and draw a sketch of the specimen (the iconotypus). Description and drawings should be carried out on an individual plant that represents the species: the holotypus.

3. The holotypus should be preserved in an official repository (i.e., an Herbarium).

When a name of a species need to be reexamined

1. If it is a nomen nudum (someone gave a name, but he didn't write the protologue)

2. If the same species has already been correctly named (priority)

3. If it has not been typified