The entry "Hort. cliff. 14. Hort. upf. 11. Mat officianilis. Roy lugdb. 310." in Linnaeus's Species Plantarum refers to specific botanical works and their corresponding page or entry numbers, used by Linnaeus to cite previous descriptions or classifications of a plant. This is a common practice in early botanical literature for cross-referencing and establishing the historical context of a species' description.

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Let's break down each part of the citation:

• Hort. cliff. 14. This refers to Hortus Cliffortianus, a seminal work by Carl Linnaeus himself, published in 1737. The number 14 indicates the page or entry number within that publication where the plant in question is described or mentioned. Hortus Cliffortianus cataloged the plant collection of George Clifford III, a wealthy Dutch banker and botanist, and was crucial in the development of Linnaeus's binomial nomenclature system.[1] [2]

• Hort. upf. 11. This refers to Hortus Upsaliensis, another work by Linnaeus, published in 1748. The number 11 indicates the page or entry number within this catalog of the Uppsala University Botanical Garden. This work further refined Linnaeus's system and documented the plants cultivated there.[3]

• Mat officianilis. This is likely a typographical error or an abbreviation for Materia Medica, a work by Linnaeus published in 1749. Materia Medica focused on plants with medicinal properties. While the specific page number is not provided in this snippet, its inclusion indicates that the plant had recognized medicinal uses or was discussed in that context.[4]

• Roy lugdb. 310. This refers to Flora Leydensis Prodromus by Adriaan van Royen, published in 1740. The number 310 indicates the page or entry number in this work. Van Royen was a Dutch botanist and a contemporary of Linnaeus, and his Flora Leydensis Prodromus described the plants of the Leiden Botanical Garden.[5] [6]

Therefore, the phrase "Hort. cliff. 14. Hort. upf. 11. Mat officianilis. Roy lugdb. 310." in Linnaeus's Species Plantarum is a series of bibliographic citations. It indicates that the plant being discussed was previously described or mentioned in:

• Linnaeus's Hortus Cliffortianus on page 14.
• Linnaeus's Hortus Upsaliensis on page 11.
• Linnaeus's Materia Medica (without a specific page number in this excerpt, but implying its inclusion).
• Adriaan van Royen's Flora Leydensis Prodromus on page 310.

These citations serve to establish the taxonomic history and previous descriptions of the plant, demonstrating Linnaeus's thoroughness in compiling existing botanical knowledge for his groundbreaking Species Plantarum (1753), which standardized binomial nomenclature.[7] [8]