[Taxacom] The number of ens in brunneus

[Richard Zander]

_____________________________________________
From: Patricia Eckel 
Sent: Monday, February 19, 2007 3:29 PM
To: Richard Zander A FORWARD TO TAXACOM
Subject: brunneus

I have recently been asked a question regarding the spelling of the
"Latin"  word for brown: brunneus, brunneolus, brunnescens. Stearn's
Botanical Latin  follows this convention as does Brown's Composition of
Scientific Words, that  is, the spelling with the double 'n.' However, a
colleague has queried me  regarding an alternative spelling with a
single 'n': bruneus, and whether  this should be corrected to
'brunneus.' My copy of Webster's III, which I  usually use for most
etymological challenges, indicates "brunneous" and  "brunnescent" as
"dark brown - chiefly used scientifically."  The dictionary  goes on to
say that brunet (brunette) "brown" is derived from ML (Medieval  Latin)
and that this word is actually derived from the German. The word
brun(n)eus does not occur in any of my classical references (including
Lewis and Short). 

After searching for various epithets in the International Plant Name
database, I found that there were 109 epithets in brunnescens to 7 for
brunescens; 115 of brunnea, 10 of brunea; 32 of brunneus, 4 for bruneus,
so clearly the double 'n' is in the majority of (botanical) epithets.

The issue is, are both renditions of brun(n)- justified? It seems on
looking at various zoological websites that epithets in brunn- are
actually corrected to brun-; in one case there is the Northern Idaho
Ground Squirrel, Spermophilus brunneus bruneus.

Does "botanical usage" justify the double 'n'? Are any corrections of
this epithet spelling justified? perhaps justified somewhere in Article
60 of the ICBN?

Thank you for your comments and I thank Richard Zander for his posting
of this message on TAXACOM.

P. M. Eckel


______________________
Patricia M. Eckel
Bryology Group
Missouri Botanical Garden
PO Box 299
St. Louis, MO 63166-0299
voice: 314-577-5180
email: patricia.eckel at mobot.org
Web sites: 
http://www.mobot.org/plantscience/resbot/ 
http://www.mobot.org/plantscience/BFNA/bfnamenu.htm