# What does sp. mean?



## wyeto

I have always wondered in some plant names it has an sp. What does this mean?
Thanks


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## resowner92

i think it means like special variation or something like that


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## sea-horsea

species.....

Genus species......if the exact species's unknown or not sure...then people will just use sp. to represent species in a scientific name...

example...E. Tenellus.....if they not sure the species...they will just put down E. sp.


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## waterfaller1

I was told it means 'species'.


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## SearunSimpson

I have always been under the impression it mean't species.


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## ikuzo

Anubias sp. for an example.
it means that the plant belong to the genus Anubias, but the species is either unknown, unspecified, or unnamed by botanists.

some name will include place where the plants found and name of the person who found it.

example : 
Cryptocoryne sp from Sungai Pasir Panjang Pangkalan Bun KALIMANTAN Sasaki　I-PAPP

oh boy


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## Gatekeeper

As just a point and to just put a little emphasis on this, all of the above is correct, and when reciting the use of "sp." or just stating a scientific name in general, the first letter of the genus/species, the genus is capitalized, the species (if known) is lower case and they both should be italic, i.e. _Rotala rotundifolia_. 

If species is unknown, or if you are using a nickname for the species, the nickname or sp. deriviation is not italized, as opposed to the full scientific name, i.e. _Rotala _sp. 'green'


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## Church

Also, because it also comes up a lot (I use it a lot myself), "spp." is the plural form of "specie*s*," as in, "I love all the rotala spp. I just can't seem to find one I don't like!"


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## Daniel*Swords

And not that rarely do we see "ssp." which means subspecies (another way to write it is subsp.), e.g. _Echinodorus grandiflorus_ ssp. _aureus_ (which, according to the new revision of the genus _Echinodorus_ is _Echinodorus floribundus_ ).


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## wyeto

So what I am getting from this thread is that it means the species is known but the scientific name hasnt been declared yet so we make a nickname until it gets named?
Ex. Rotala sp. 'mini'
Ammania sp. 'bonsai'
Limnophila sp. 'mini'
Hygro sp. 'Bold'


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## Church

Not necessarily, no. I mean in your examples, yes maybe, but in general, no, it's just an abbreviation for "species."


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## Daniel*Swords

The species is not normally known for those plants with an "sp.". The nicknames, or more properly, names of the cultivars are written between the ' and '. (There are also rules in using these cultivar names, btw. People should not invent them just like that and start using them.) Quite often, the species names of the aquarium plants are off the mark, invented by a seller (for example), misapplied, that is, or simply not determined as the flowers are needed for the final determination. See for example all the sword names (curious, how did I bring up the swords, once again? ). In those cases, where the species is not known, or is in doubt, and the genus is known, it is easy and wise to use the "species" tag.


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## AaronT

gmccreedy said:


> As just a point and to just put a little emphasis on this, all of the above is correct, and when reciting the use of "sp." or just stating a scientific name in general, the first letter of the genus/species, the genus is capitalized, the species (if known) is lower case and they both should be italic, i.e. _Rotala rotundifolia_.
> 
> If species is unknown, or if you are using a nickname for the species, the nickname or sp. deriviation is not italized, as opposed to the full scientific name, i.e. _Rotala _sp. 'green'


Close, but the nickname is capitalized as well. i.e. _Rotala sp. _'Green'.


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## aquanut415

wyeto said:


> So what I am getting from this thread is that it means the species is known but the scientific name hasnt been declared yet so we make a nickname until it gets named?
> Ex. Rotala sp. 'mini'
> Ammania sp. 'bonsai'
> Limnophila sp. 'mini'
> Hygro sp. 'Bold'


in that example, the "sp." followed by a name with a single quote mark suggests the plant is a hybrid, variety, or a regional cultivar etc., or that it could be still waiting for proper taxonomic labeling, and its name will be changed at a later date.


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## Gatekeeper

AaronT said:


> Close, but the nickname is capitalized as well. i.e. _Rotala sp. _'Green'.





aquanut415 said:


> in that example, the "sp." followed by a name with a single quote mark suggests the plant is a hybrid, variety, or a regional cultivar etc., or that it could be still waiting for proper taxonomic labeling, and its name will be changed at a later date.


Thank you both! I learned something new today. :thumbsup:


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## jrs

I find the sp. designation for mosses to be the most frustrating of all. 

Here is my question. Why is it that some mosses with the sp. designation (ie) sp. 'flame' or sp. 'peacock' which have been known for quite some time have not received a proper taxonomic classification yet?


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## aquanut415

jrs said:


> Why is it that some mosses with the sp. designation (ie) sp. 'flame' or sp. 'peacock' which have been known for quite some time have not received a proper taxonomic classification yet?


i think you answered your own question 

while the mosses may have been circulating in our hobby for a while, who knows when the Bryologists of the world are gonna get around to doing the genetic, and character research that needs to occur in order to truly hammer out where in the phylogenetic tree a particular moss truly resides. then, you have to look at all the mosses that are similar to that moss, however are slightly different, and decide whether or not they are truly different species, or just subtle variations, and not truly different enough to be classified as a new species. folks this can take years!


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## herns

Nice old thread info on "sp".


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## discoveringmypath

herns said:


> Nice old thread info on "sp".


It is a nice thread with some good info. 

got a few questions though:

1. When a plant name says, "sp japan" ; does that mean it originated in Japan?


2. When people use the single quotes for names such as: Bacopa monnieri 
'compact' . Does that mean it hasn't been identified as a new plant, but is known in the hobby as a different form?


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## Tinanti

discoveringmypath said:


> It is a nice thread with some good info.
> 
> got a few questions though:
> 
> 1. When a plant name says, "sp japan" ; does that mean it originated in Japan?
> 
> 
> 2. When people use the single quotes for names such as: Bacopa monnieri
> 'compact' . Does that mean it hasn't been identified as a new plant, but is known in the hobby as a different form?


1. Not necessarily. _ Bacopa_ sp. 'Japan' is not from Japan. In fact, there are NO _Bacopa_ species found there at all! It's really better to put something as: _Ammannia_ sp. from Senegal, or whatever, to distinguish them from cultivars.

2. It is _B. monnieri,_ but different from other _B. monnieri_ already in the hobby.

-------------------------------

As an aside, sometimes people use sp. in a way it was not intended to be used. Something should NOT be written as "Rotala macrandra sp. 'butterfly'. The species is already known, so sp. should not be used there; just leave it out. 

Finally, species is the same whether plural or singular. Specie is money in coin, or, literally pocket change.


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## discoveringmypath

Tinanti said:


> 1. Not necessarily. _ Bacopa_ sp. 'Japan' is not from Japan. In fact, there are NO _Bacopa_ species found there at all! It's really better to put something as: _Ammannia_ sp. from Senegal, or whatever, to distinguish them from cultivars.
> 
> 2. It is _B. monnieri,_ but different from other _B. monnieri_ already in the hobby.


Thanks for the response, but I was only using those plants as examples. 

So does the 'Japan' regularly mean it is from Japan or does it mean that it is a made famous or a favorite in Japan?

I've seen 'Japan' on a few different plant species not just Bacopa.


My second question I'm only concerned about the single quotes. Is the name in the single quotes the name of the plant according to our hobby? Like a different form of a plant that hasn't been classified as a new species?


Thanks again for the response.


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## Tinanti

discoveringmypath said:


> Thanks for the response, but I was only using those plants as examples.


Oh, I know. :icon_smil



discoveringmypath said:


> So does the 'Japan' regularly mean it is from Japan or does it mean that it is a made famous or a favorite in Japan?


In the above example, made famous in. That's what I mean by reserving the single quotation marks for actual cultivars; using it for 'Ozelot' or 'Araguaia' (or whatever) interchangeably causes confusion. Better to go with _Echinodorus_ 'Ozelot' (no sp. because it's a mishmash of different species) and _Rotala mexicana_ from Araguaia, respectively. 



discoveringmypath said:


> I've seen 'Japan' on a few different plant species not just Bacopa.


Lots of new plants show up and get popularized there first. Also applied to what is apparently _Hydrocotyle tripartita._



discoveringmypath said:


> My second question I'm only concerned about the single quotes. Is the name in the single quotes the name of the plant according to our hobby? Like a different form of a plant that hasn't been classified as a new species?


Yes. See above.


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## discoveringmypath

Thanks for clarifying Tinanti.

I'm starting a little "grow" operation in my garage. I want to make sure I'm labeling plants correctly and that I have accurate species.


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## amphirion

sp used in two ways.
1st designation is in reference to species.
2nd designation is in reference to undescribed species awaiting formal description.

the 2nd is the more popular use for "sp". the name after the sp. designation is a brief descriptor that describes the plant. usually this will involve the location that the plant is found (ie: Heliamphora sp. "Akopan", Bucephalandra sp "Kedagang", or Eriocaulon sp. "Mato Grosso") or an outstanding feature of the plant (ie: Drosera sp. "floating" or Bucephalandra sp. "Royal Blue")--- as from Tianti's post, Bacopa sp. "Japan" decided to screw the rules.

this leads to another can of worms...
"xxxxxxx" example: Dionaea muscipula "All Green" indicates either a GREX complex or a clone awaiting cultivar status. cultivar status by definition is known as a cultivated variety. 

'xxxxxxx' example: Sarracenia x 'Adrian Slack' - a clone (or a group of plants sharing the same identical and exceptional, defining characteristics) that is recognized by by the International Society for Horticultural Science (ISHS) as a cultivar. if a plant bears the single quotes and has not gone through the ISHS, it is a farce (i think mosses are the top offenders of this rule). 

and var.
var is short for variant. this is in reference to organisms found in the wild, and not exclusively in cultivation.
for example: Anubias barteri var nana (can be found in nature) vs. Anubias barteri var nana 'petite' (note single quotes indicating cultivar status, cannot be found in nature)

some plant names are rather long so we like to shorten them...
Ludwiga inclinata var. verticillata 'tornado' = Ludwiga 'tornado', Ludwiga inclinata 'tornado,' or L. 'tornado'; all are appropriate.


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## Tinanti

amphirion said:


> sp used in two ways.
> 1st designation is in reference to species.
> 2nd designation is in reference to undescribed species awaiting formal description.


It's used when the species is not known; that could mean it's undescribed or described but not known. 




amphirion said:


> var is short for variant. this is in reference to organisms found in the wild, and not exclusively in cultivation.
> for example: Anubias barteri var nana (can be found in nature) vs. Anubias barteri var nana 'petite' (note single quotes indicating cultivar status, cannot be found in nature)


It means variety. 



amphirion said:


> some plant names are rather long so we like to shorten them...
> Ludwiga inclinata var. verticillata 'tornado' = Ludwiga 'tornado', Ludwiga inclinata 'tornado,' or L. 'tornado'; all are appropriate.


Eh... What happens there is that trade names and so on end up in the place of specific epithets and look like species names when they aren't. It's a risky business.


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## roadmaster

I feel really stupid about now.
I sometimes place (sp) after a word that I'm not sure I spelled right.


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## Plantnerd

I always thought that sp. was just short for
..space..
As in the author does not know the correct name and write sp. to show this. Instead of just leaving the space blank.


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## amphirion

Tinanti said:


> It's used when the species is not known; that could mean it's undescribed or described but not known.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> It means variety.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Eh... What happens there is that trade names and so on end up in the place of specific epithets and look like species names when they aren't. It's a risky business.



Thanks for the clarification. And I totally agree with you with regards to shortening plant names. Personally I would just shorten it to just genus and cultivar name. Each individual should pay extra attention to the names of the plants that they are selling for that reason. Unofficial trade names in double quotations might not solve the problem completely, but it does separate them from cultivars which does a lot, since with cultivars you are guaranteed exactly what you are expecting.

There is also an element of language that evolves from a closed community--slang even, that only members would understand, and this definitely influences trade names. For example, every member could understand what I mean by saying buce, crypts, glosso, and lfs. But not many from this same group would understand what I am talking about if I mentioned dews, pings, helis, and neps.

Would be ideal if everyone adhered to proper taxonomic designation but language is language.... As long as members in the community understand what is being referenced, theoretically, confusion should be minimal.


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## Tinanti

A problem that arises there is when you get terms like 'DHG' showing up. It's not like HC, which refers to only one species (yes, the full name is a lot to type out) but to many species of a very large genus. That could mean plants with very different growth habits and uses. Even if you see something listed as DHG 'Belem', you start to wonder just how burdensome it is to type out Eleocharis.


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## discoveringmypath

Tinanti said:


> A problem that arises there is when you get terms like 'DHG' showing up. It's not like HC, which refers to only one species (yes, the full name is a lot to type out) but to many species of a very large genus. That could mean plants with very different growth habits and uses. Even if you see something listed as DHG 'Belem', you start to wonder just how burdensome it is to type out Eleocharis.


Your right, there are many different kinds of DHG. If I'm buying, I want to know what kind it is, if they even know. And sometimes, they don't know so that adds to the confusion. 

I'm going to ask this in a new thread, but how can we accurately find out what species we have when it comes to plants?


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