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Wood Species

The Latin name given to a wood species is more understandable than you may think.

Author: Bell Forest Products

As mentioned in an article about different types of wood, the over 100,000 wood species known can broadly be labeled as "hardwood" or "softwood". These two characteristics do not specifically categorize how "hard" or how "soft" a wood is, but rather if the tree has a broad-leaf, "hardwood", or whether it is a coniferous, containing needles, "softwood". Beyond these generalizations, all wood species are given a botanical "scientific" name and a common name.

Common names may range greatly from language to language, or even region to region. For instance, Red Maple may be called Scarlet or Swamp Maple, depending on where you are located. Botanical names of wood species are often of Latin or Greek origin and are governed by strict international rules set by the International Code of Botanical Nomenclature, which dates back to 1753 when Carl von Linne, Linnaeus, wrote 'Species Plantarum'.

Each wood species botanical name is made of two names, called the binomial. The first part of the name is the genus and the second is the specific epithet. The most popular wood we sell is Sugar Maple, also known as Hard Maple or Rock Maple, which has a botanical name of Acer saccharum. Acer is the genus, containing over 100 different species located in the northern hemisphere, while saccharum is the specific epithet, meaning 'sweet' in Latin. Another popular species is Red Leaf Maple, sometimes known as Soft Maple. This wood species botanical name is Acer rubrum, Acer as the genus and rubrum as the specific epithet, meaning "Red".

Not all wood species are named this simply. Sometimes, a botanical name gives credit to the author that "scientifically" named that species. For instance, hard maple's botanical name can also be written Acer saccharum Marsh, rather than just Acer saccharum. The Marsh on the end refers to Humphrey Marshall who is officially the botanical "author" of Sugar Maple.

Each botanical name has a story of its own. If you have botanical information for a particular wood species that you would like to share, why not drop us a line, or email, and let us know?