PERU'S FIRST ORCHID: A woodblock print from 1571 appears to be the first Peruvian orchid ever illustrated

摘要

WHEN IS THE ACTUAL START of something? In taxonomy the start of everything has a very specific date: May 1st, 1753. This is the date of publication of the first edition of the Linnaeus' Species Plantarum, the agreed upon date where binomial nomenclature (a genus name followed by a species name) became the standard. In short, the starting point for recognizing species' names. Works prior to that date don't "count" and usually contain polynomials, names that are descriptive phrases in Latin and not the more convenient binomials.