Latin Species Names For Plants & Animals

Karl von Linné, dressed as a Lapp (lower) holding his favourite flower,the Linnea borealis, that can be seen in detail on the upper stamp. From the 1973 Swedish booklet, "Linné's Journeys"

Is this a Se-tenant????????

Very interesting thread cynical.

The first Canadian stamp using binomial nomenclature would be the Gray Jay Perisoreus canadensis issued in 1968.

I believe this was also the first time Latin was inscribed on a Canadian stamp.

Scott/Unitrade 478



Followed in the same year by the Narwhal Monodon monoceros
which according to Wikipedia is derived from the Greek "one-tooth one-horn"

Scott/Unitrade 480

cynical - Fun idea! To keep it sporting, I'll limit my entries to stamps on which the species' common names are not spelled out (in English, at least).

- nethryk

Hong Kong grouper (Epinephelus akaara), printed by lithogravure, and issued by Hong Kong on January 28, 1981, Scott No. 384.

Litho: I spent an hour today going through the catalogue and came up with the gray jay but then went to supper. My version was on cover and was not a great example so I was glad to see yours, however, the search was interesting. What surprised me was how late in our stamp history that the Latin binomial appeared. I even went back to see if it was a space problem re the French and English but that didn't seem to be the case.

Nethryk: you and Litho are going to have to "spot us a few points" as they say in billiards. I must admit to an ulterior motive here in that it seemed like a great way to demonstrate the benefits of the database through the use of a specific tag or tags. In addition I have an interest in the geographic distribution of species and specifically those that are classed as "disjuncts".

I am getting lately an e-mail from WOPA, a stamp seller.

Here are two of the stamps.

Mountain Flowers


Technical details
Date of issue: 26.04.2011
Designer:Astrid Andreasen
Printer:LM group, Canada
Procedures:Offset lithography
Size:27.0 x 36.0 mm

cynical - Sounds good. Here are images of a couple of stamps depicting birds, designed and engraved by Jacques GauTheir, and issued by Niger on February 8, 1967, Scott Nos. 184 & 185.

- nethryk

The Red-billed Hornbill (Tockus erythrorhynchus) is a relatively small species of hornbill found in savanna and woodland of sub-Saharan Africa.


The Pied Kingfisher (Ceryle rudis) is a water kingfisher found widely distributed across Africa and Asia.

cynical, you certainly have a way with words.

I looked up "disjuncts" and still haven't got a clue what it means.

Litho: the term "disjunct" is one of those jargon terms associated with a particular discipline (e.g. bio-geography). It's easier to describe an example and probably more interesting.

There are uncommon, and in some cases rare, arctic plants that occupy small cold niches along the rocky Lake Superior shoreline (e.g., Old Woman Bay). These small populations of arctic plants are said to be disjunct at these locations because their normal range and next nearest occurrence is along the Hudson Bay coastline. It is that large intervening gap that makes them "disjunct". They may be classed as arctic-alpine disjuncts in those cases were they also occur in high-elevation alpine areas. How they got to the edge of Lake Superior relates to glacial ice movement roughly 10000 years ago and their continued existence relates to the fact that Lake Superior is extremely cold.

Taking it a bit further and sticking within Ontario there are also rare prairie and cordilleran disjunct species found within the province as well as some of the adjacent states. Hoping this was not more than you wished to know I remain as ever..... Cynical.

Fifia: so - how many people do you think picked up on your Jamaica Poinsetta stamp (Euphorbia pulcherrima)? There is one in my house every year at this time. Do you have a Scott# for that stamp for old guys like me with ancient catalogues?

Cursus: I have a friend who named his daughter Linnaea, not so much for the famous botanist but for the "borealis" part of the binomial in that his favourite plant was also "twinflower". To appreciate its beauty I recommend searching for "twinflower" or "Linnaea borealis" on Google Images. Its a very diminutive plant but a thing of beauty.

sorry, I do not have a scott#. Maybe someone can look it up for you.

These are odds and ends of stamps I have in my misc. box.

Thanks,

Fifia

OK cynical, thanks for the explanation regarding disjunct.

It's clear as mud.

cynical - The poinsettia stamp posted above by fifia was printed by lithogravure and issued by Jamaica on December 15, 1988, Scott No. 706. - nethryk