Tautonym (botany)

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In botanical nomenclature, a tautonym is a term indicating a name of a species composed of two words of the same spelling. This is disallowed by the rules, ICBN Art 23.4, so that such name can exist.

An example of a tautonym would be "Larix larix". The earliest name for the European larch is Pinus larix L. (1753). Karsten did not agree with the placement of the species in Pinus and in 1881 tried to publish a combination based on the Linnaean name: "Larix larix", where the specific epithet would have the same spelling as the generic name (a tautonym). This is not acceptable under the rules (1906 onwards; the rules are retroactive). For the correct name in Larix either the earliest validly published name must be found, in this case Larix decidua Mill. (1768), or (in its absence) a new epithet must be published.

However, differences as small as a single letter are permissible, as in the Jujube shrub, Ziziphus zizyphus.

Also, it is allowed for the genus name and species epithet to mean the same, without being identical in spelling. For instance, Arctostaphylos uva-ursi means "bearberry" twice, in Greek and Latin respectively.

Zoological nomenclature uses the term tautonymy to describe a phenomenon superficially resembling this, but quite different in its details.