Learn to say (or type) it right!

[tropterrarium]

Originally Posted by cbuchman

I have even seen incorrect genus abbreviations from vendors. (e.g., the abbreviation for Encyclia is E. not Enc. which is the abbreviation for Encheiridion)

While I fully agree with the overall direction of the thread, I have to take an exception with the above. The cited examples may be customary abbreviations, but certainly in scientific writing, the abbreviation used is context dependent. When there is only a single E-genus in an article/paper, then the genus is abbreviated "E." If there is more than one E-genus, then multi-letter abbreviations are used, two-, three-, four-letter depending on context. Please also note that the genus is not abbreviated if it is the first word in a sentence. One of my pet-peeves as an editor.

The abbreviation mania in botany baffles me. A genus should always be written out in full before it is abbreviated. Many vendor list are close to unreadable for a novice for sure, but also in areas one is not familiar with. Folks, there are some 800–900 orchid genera! And with authorities, what is gained from Hook. vs. Hooker? Just makes literature searches more cumbersome. Oh well, when in Rome ...

[PaphMadMan]

Originally Posted by tropterrarium

While I fully agree with the overall direction of the thread, I have to take an exception with the above. The cited examples may be customary abbreviations, but certainly in scientific writing, the abbreviation used is context dependent. When there is only a single E-genus in an article/paper, then the genus is abbreviated "E." If there is more than one E-genus, then multi-letter abbreviations are used, two-, three-, four-letter depending on context. Please also note that the genus is not abbreviated if it is the first word in a sentence. One of my pet-peeves as an editor.

The abbreviation mania in botany baffles me. A genus should always be written out in full before it is abbreviated. Many vendor list are close to unreadable for a novice for sure, but also in areas one is not familiar with. Folks, there are some 800–900 orchid genera! And with authorities, what is gained from Hook. vs. Hooker? Just makes literature searches more cumbersome. Oh well, when in Rome ...

Now, I must take exception. For all registered orchid hybrids, and all natural genera contributing to any registered hybrid, there are official (not customary) abbreviations for every genus. They are official in exactly the same way that registered orchid hybrid names are official, as they are designated by the International Orchid Register as part of the registration process.

In formal or informal scientific writing about orchids, when no hybrids are under discussion, the scientific convention of spelling out the genus once and subsequently using a single letter abbreviation as long as there can be no confusion is appropriate. When communicating about the horticultural practices of orchid growing, especially if any hybrids are mentioned, the official genus abbreviations should be used as part of any complete name. Using the full genus name is acceptable, but there is no need to ever write out a genus in full if the official abbreviation is used. This is as much a part of standard horticultural nomenclature for orchids as anything Ray mentioned in his original post.

And now... Many thanks to Ray for the post that started this thread. I've been very close to posting something similar myself, though I doubt I could have been as diplomatic as Ray.