Before Linnaeus came along and simplified things, plants usually had many long descriptive Latin names, making learning and memorizing them very difficult. The names were also changed based on the will of the botanist describing the plant. There weren’t universal names for each plant, so people around the world couldn’t be certain that they were talking about the same plants.
Once the plants had been given specific names, many benefits were seen.
1. Clarification – each plant had a unique name that was specific to that plant.
2. Universal – everyone used the same name to identify the specific plant.
3. Education – plant names were easier to remember and to learn.
4. Classification – plants were more easily categorized and the categories easier to understand.