Botanists all over the world recognise the name Carl Linnaeus. He is said to be the world’s most well-known Swede.

He devised a system for the scientific naming of plants and animals, each species being identified by two Latin names. First the genus followed by the name of the species.

The yellow water lily, for instance, is called Nuphar Pumila, the Blackberry Rubus Fruticsus and the Banana Musa Sapientum.

Linnaeus was born in 1707 in the province of Smaland in Southern Sweden. A son of a curate, his love of flowers developed at an early age: when only eight years old he was nicknamed ‘The Little Botanist’, he studied at the universities of Lund and Uppsala and received his degree in medicine and botany.

The volume of his publications is vast 7,700 about the species of plants and 4,400 of animals that includes Systema Naturae, Benera Plantarum and Species Plantarum. His writings have been studied by every generation of naturalists, including Charles Darwin, who said he was a genius.
He was master of the common touch and made rather a big thing of his humble origins. “A great man can step forth from a small shovel,” he wrote in one of his autobiographies.

He visited London in 1736 and his impact on professional scientists was enormous.

Ten years after his death, the Linnean Society of London was established and in 1802 purchased the Linnaeus Collection from their owner Sir James Edward Smith. These are now permanently housed in the society’s headquarters in Burlington House, Piccadilly.

It boasts a membership of over 13,000. They received a grant of arms in 1802 and the design was based on that chosen by Linnaeus.

The shield is supported by a lion and an eagle with small shields carrying the plant symbols for England and Scotland on the Lion and the shamrock of Ireland on the eagle. The motto, Naturae Discere Mores, means ‘To learn the ways of nature.’

The Great Man never came to Ireland, though he corresponded with the eminent Mayo scientist Dr. Patrick Browne (c1720- 1790). Another Irish connection is that two of his publications are held by Marsh’s Library beside St. Patrick’s Cathedral.

So next time you stroll around the Botanical Gardens give your attention to the index plates in front of the plants and remember it was the great Latin scholar Carl Linnaeus who classified the plant kingdom.