alternata

Alternata is a Latin feminine form used as a species epithet in scientific names of many organisms. The epithet is derived from alternatus, meaning alternating or successive. In taxonomy, alternata is descriptive rather than a taxon in itself, and it appears across diverse groups, including plants, fungi, and animals. Because the species epithet must agree in gender with the genus name, alternata is used with feminine genera, while alternatus (masculine) or alternatum (neuter) may occur with masculine or neuter genera.

A well-known example is Alternaria alternata, a fungal species that is widespread and commonly studied as a plant pathogen and in fungal genetics. Beyond this, numerous other species bear the epithet alternata in various genera, reflecting a described characteristic, such as an alternating pattern or arrangement observed in the organism.

In practice, the epithet alternata helps convey a descriptive feature in the species’ description but does not imply a shared lineage or taxonomic unity across different genera. It is one of many Latin descriptive epithets used in binomial nomenclature to capture distinctive traits of species.

See also: Latin grammar in taxonomic naming; descriptive epithets in biological nomenclature.