Robertsoniani

Robertsoniani is a Latinized form used in scientific naming to honor individuals with the surname Robertson. It is not a distinct taxonomic group or taxon by itself; rather, it appears as a patronymic element within species names in zoology and botany.

In nomenclature, -iani is a suffix that can be applied to a surname to create a Latinized epithet. Robertsoniani thus reflects a collected or pluralized patronym intended to recognize a person named Robertson, and its exact meaning depends on the gender and grammatical agreement required by the genus in which it is used.

The epithet Robertsoniani has been employed across diverse taxa by different authors, often as a species epithet in various genera. Because it serves as a component of a binomial name rather than a standalone taxon, the identity of any organism bearing the epithet Robertsoniani requires the full genus (and the author and year) to distinguish it from other species with similar epithets.

Nomenclature for such names follows the rules of the relevant codes (for animals, the ICZN; for plants, algae, fungi, the ICN). When citing a species with this epithet, the full citation includes genus, Robertsoniani, author, and year. Because multiple, unrelated species across genera may bear this epithet, there is no single organism known as “Robertsoniani” without additional taxonomic context.

See also: Robertsonian and Robertsonia as examples of similarly derived terms, and general discussions of patronymic epithets in taxonomy.