Question

The scientific name of tamarind is Tamarindus indica L and the scientific name of mango is Mangifera indica L. Which of the following is correct concerning the way it is written?
A. The letter L means that the Swedish botanist Linnaeus gave this scientific name
B. The name is not proper as the first letter of indica is ought to be capitalized
C. The letter L has nothing to do with assigning this name to the three
D. The letter L means this particular name is from the Latin language.

Answer 1

Hint: Binomial nomenclature is a biological system of nomenclature that has two parts followed by the name of the scientist who gave that scientific name.

Complete solution:Binomial nomenclature is a two-part system used for naming organisms by giving a name. The first part is the genus of that organism and its first letter is always capitalized. The second part is the species of a particular organism that is usually written is small. The generic name is usually followed by the species epithet after which the name of the discoverer is added in full form or abbreviation. The genus and species are separated by a space and are usually written in italics or underlined.
For example- The genus of tamarind and mango are Tamarindus and Mangifera whereas indica represents their species. The L followed by the species denotes the name of the discoverer i.e. the Swedish botanist Linnaeus.

Additional information:
Carl Linnaeus, the father of modern taxonomy and methods of classification has given the binomial nomenclature. He designed this system to differentiate species from one another. This nomenclature system is based on structural similarities or a phylogeny.

Hence, the correct option is A The letter L means that the Swedish botanist Linnaeus gave this scientific name.

Note: In binomial nomenclature, the name of the discoverer is written in Roman script. The scientific names are derived from the Latin language and are Latinised.