''Flora Lapponica'' (Amsterdam, 1737) is an account of the plants of Lapland written by

botanist Botany, also called plant science, is the branch of natural science and biology studying plants, especially Plant anatomy, their anatomy, Plant taxonomy, taxonomy, and Plant ecology, ecology. A botanist or plant scientist is a scientist who s ...

zoologist Zoology ( , ) is the scientific study of animals. Its studies include the structure, embryology, classification, habits, and distribution of all animals, both living and extinct, and how they interact with their ecosystems. Zoology is one ...

and

naturalist Natural history is a domain of inquiry involving organisms, including animals, fungi, and plants, in their natural environment, leaning more towards observational than experimental methods of study. A person who studies natural history is cal ...

Carl Linnaeus Carl Linnaeus (23 May 1707 – 10 January 1778), also known after ennoblement in 1761 as Carl von Linné,#Blunt, Blunt (2004), p. 171. was a Swedish biologist and physician who formalised binomial nomenclature, the modern system of naming o ...

(1707–1788) following his expedition to Lapland.

Background

Over the period from 12 May 1732 to 10 September 1732, and with a grant from the Royal Society of Sciences in Uppsala for his journey, Anderson (1997), pp. 42–43. Blunt (2001), p. 38. Linnaeus was able to combine his interest in medicine with that of

natural history Natural history is a domain of inquiry involving organisms, including animals, fungi, and plants, in their natural environment, leaning more towards observational than experimental methods of study. A person who studies natural history is cal ...

to travel for five months in Lapland collecting animals, plants, and minerals.

Classification used

In ''Flora Lapponica'' Linnaeus's ideas about

nomenclature Nomenclature (, ) is a system of names or terms, or the rules for forming these terms in a particular field of arts or sciences. (The theoretical field studying nomenclature is sometimes referred to as ''onymology'' or ''taxonymy'' ). The principl ...

and

classification Classification is the activity of assigning objects to some pre-existing classes or categories. This is distinct from the task of establishing the classes themselves (for example through cluster analysis). Examples include diagnostic tests, identif ...

were first used in a practical way, making this the first proto-modern

Flora Flora (: floras or florae) is all the plant life present in a particular region or time, generally the naturally occurring (indigenous (ecology), indigenous) native plant, native plants. The corresponding term for animals is ''fauna'', and for f ...

. The account covered 534 species, used the Linnaean classification system and included, for the described species, geographical distribution and taxonomic notes. It was

Augustin Pyramus de Candolle Augustin Pyramus (or Pyrame) de Candolle (, , ; 4 February 17789 September 1841) was a Swiss people, Swiss botany, botanist. René Louiche Desfontaines launched de Candolle's botanical career by recommending him at a herbarium. Within a couple ...

who attributed Linnaeus with ''Flora Lapponica'' as the first example in the botanical genre of Flora writing. Botanical historian E.L. Greene described ''Flora Lapponica'' as “the most classic and delightful of Linnaeus’s writings”.

Commemorative personal names

A Lapland plant, '' Linnaea borealis'', was named by the eminent botanist Jan Frederik Gronovius in commemoration of Linnaeus's achievements. In the '' Critica Botanica'' Linnaeus uses this name to advocate the use of commemorative personal names as botanical names:

Updated edition

An update of this work was published in 1792 by James Edward Smith, citing Linnaeus as the main author and using Linnaeus'

binomial nomenclature In taxonomy, binomial nomenclature ("two-term naming system"), also called binary nomenclature, is a formal system of naming species of living things by giving each a name composed of two parts, both of which use Latin grammatical forms, altho ...

. These books are not to be confused with Gerog (Göran) Walhenberg's 1812 "Flora Lapponica", who organized species according to their vegetation types and geographic areas.

References

External links

{{authoritycontrol 1737 non-fiction books 1737 in science 1792 non-fiction books 1792 in science 18th-century books in Latin Florae (publication) Carl Linnaeus Flora of Finland Flora of Sweden Sápmi Botany in Europe History of Lapland (Finland)