Question

What is the botanical name of sugarcane?
A. Saccharum munja
B. Saccharum spontaneum
C. Saccharum officinarum
D.None of the above

Answer 1

Hint: Botanical names are made on the basis of agreed principles and criteria which are provided in International Code for Botanical Nomenclature (ICBN). A botanical name is a scientific name given to a particular plant species. This system was developed by Carolus Linnaeus.

Complete answer:
The botanical name ensures that each plant species has only one name all over the world.
Rules for writing any botanical name
Botanical names are generally in Latin and written in italics.
The first word in botanical name represents generic name or genus and second word represents specific epithet.
When the names are hand written then both the words are separately underlined.

Now let us find solution from given options:
A. Saccharum munja : It is also called a munja. It is a kind of arid grass that is found in arid areas and also found along the river banks in India. It belongs to the family Gramineae
B. Saccharum spontaneum : It is also called wild sugarcane or can be said as kans grass. It is a kind of grass that is found native to Indian subcontinent. It is a perennial grass that is three metres in height.
C. Saccharum officinarum : Saccharum barberi was originally grown in North India, but had poor sugar content and yield. Tropical canes grown in South India i.e. Saccharum officinarum (noble sugarcane) had higher sugar content and thicker stems but did not grow well in North India due to low winter temperature.

Hence, the correct answer is option (C)

Note: After botanical nomenclature was Proposed by Lamarck, it involves the use of three words for a name so that the names of subspecies (animals) or varieties (plants) can also be incorporated. For example, Brassica oleracea var. botrytis, Corvus splendens (crow).