hookeriana

Hookeriana is a Latinized epithet used in the scientific names of various organisms to honor the Hooker family of British naturalists, especially Sir William Jackson Hooker and his son Joseph Dalton Hooker. In binomial nomenclature it appears as the second, lowercase part of the species name (for example Genus hookeriana). The epithet is not a genus or a taxon by itself, but a descriptor attached to a genus to recognize linkage to Hooker’s contributions to botany and natural history.

Usage and scope: Hookeriana is found across different groups in both botany and, less commonly, zoology. The precise species bearing the epithet are diverse and can appear in orchids, mosses, flowering plants, or other organisms. Because the name is applied by different taxonomists at different times, many hookeriana taxa belong to unrelated lineages.

Notes: The ending -iana signals a Latinized attribution related to a person named Hooker. Taxonomic codes (ICN for plants, ICZN for animals) regulate such epithets, and identical epithets may recur in separate genera. For exact current status of any hookeriana name, consult trusted databases such as IPNI, The Plant List, GBIF, or ZooBank, as names can be revised or synonymized over time.

See also: William Jackson Hooker; Joseph Dalton Hooker; Hookeria (moss genus).