Problem
The scientific name is followed by (or contains) abbreviations, punctuation, and words that don't look like parts of a scientific name. For example: L. , Gray, (Nutt.) Ottley, Ruiz & Pav. , Jeps. ...and so many more!
Our Solution
The basic botanical name consists of three parts: the genus, specific epithet, and species authorship. The genus and specific epithet together designate the species of the plant, and the authorship indicates the original author of that scientific name (for example, "L." refers to Carl Linnaeus, a botanist from the 1700s who named thousands of the species we recognize today).
You should only enter the genus and specific epithet in the Scientific Name field. The authorship will (ideally) auto-populate when you press Tab or move to another field.
This can get a little tricky when the scientific name includes an infraspecific epithet (like a var. or subsp.; see this blog post).
This can get a little tricky when the scientific name includes an infraspecific epithet (like a var. or subsp.; see this blog post).
In these cases, you still only enter the genus, specific epithet, infraspecific rank (the var. or subsp.) and the infraspecific epithet, all in bold above. Fortunately, you should be able to select the correct name from the dropdown menu, which will make it clear which parts of the name you should enter.
