Ordo naturalis

Ordo naturalis

In botany, the phrase ordo naturalis, "natural order", was once used for what today is a family. Its origins lie with Carolus Linnaeus who used the word when he referred to natural units of plants. In his famous works the Systema Naturae and the Species Plantarum, arranged according to his artificial "Sexual system", Linnaeus used the word "ordo" for an artificial unit: in these works only genera and species (sometimes varieties) were "real" taxa. It is only in his lesser known works that Linnaeus wrote about natural botanical units, at a rank higher than genus.

In nineteenth century works such as the Prodromus of de Candolle and the Genera Plantarum of Bentham & Hooker, the word ordo did indicate taxa that are now given the rank of family. Contemporary French works used the word "famille" for these same taxa. In the first international Rules of botanical nomenclature of 1906 the word family (familia) was assigned to this rank, while the term "order" (ordo) was reserved for a higher rank, for what in the nineteenth century had often been named a cohors (plural cohortes).

The International Code of Botanical Nomenclature provides for names published in the rank of ordo naturalis in Art 18.2: normally, these are to be accepted as family names.

Some plant families retain the name they were given as pre-Linnaean natural groups, recognised by Linnaeus as "natural orders" in his natural classification (e.g. Palmae or Labiatae). Such names are known as descriptive family names.


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  • ordo naturalis —    (loc.s.m.), (o ordine naturale) (loc.s.m.) Disposizione degli argomenti di un discorso che segue il susseguirsi degli eventi nel tempo e nella loro concatenazione logica. ordo, ordo artificialis …   Dizionario di retorica par stefano arduini & matteo damiani

  • ordo o ordine —    (s.m.) È la dispositio degli argomenti nel discorso. Essi possono essere oridinati e distribuiti sia secondo lo svolgimento storico dei fatti ( ordine naturale/ordo naturalis), sia modificandolo per mo­tivi artistici o a vantaggio della… …   Dizionario di retorica par stefano arduini & matteo damiani

  • ordo artificialis —    (o artificiosus o ordine artificiale)    (loc.s.m.) Disposizione degli argomenti di un discorso suggerita da opportunità pragmatiche o da esigenze estetiche, che non riproduce la successione logica e tempo­rale degli eventi. ordo, ordo… …   Dizionario di retorica par stefano arduini & matteo damiani

  • Retórica — Para otros usos de este término, véase Retórica (desambiguación). La retórica es la disciplina transversal a distintos campos de conocimiento (ciencia de la literatura, ciencia política, publicidad, periodismo, etc.) que se ocupa de estudiar y de …   Wikipedia Español

  • memoria —    memòria    (s.f.) Capacità dell oratore di ricordare il discorso, che viene co­struito dalle precedenti operazioni di inventio, dispositio ed elocutio; la memoria segue l elocutio nella serie delle operazioni retoriche, ed è seguita dalla… …   Dizionario di retorica par stefano arduini & matteo damiani

  • Order (biology) — This article is about the taxonomic rank. For the sequence of species in a taxonomic list, see taxonomic order …   Wikipedia

  • Taxonomic rank — In biological classification, rank is the level (the relative position) in a taxonomic hierarchy. Examples of taxonomic ranks are species, genus, family, and class. Each rank subsumes under it a number of less general categories. The rank of… …   Wikipedia

  • Duns Scotus — Johannes Duns Scotus Johannes (engl. John) Duns Scotus (* um 1266 in Duns, Schottland; † 8. November 1308 in Köln) war ein schottischer Theologe und Philosoph der Scholastik. Nachdem er in Northampton die Pr …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • Eriunga — Johannes Duns Scotus Johannes (engl. John) Duns Scotus (* um 1266 in Duns, Schottland; † 8. November 1308 in Köln) war ein schottischer Theologe und Philosoph der Scholastik. Nachdem er in Northampton die Pr …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • Johannes Duns — Scotus Johannes (engl. John) Duns Scotus (* um 1266 in Duns, Schottland; † 8. November 1308 in Köln) war ein schottischer Theologe und Philosoph der Scholastik. Nachdem er in Northampton die Pr …   Deutsch Wikipedia

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