towards the binomial system, by pruning the Latin descriptions, in many cases to two words. The adoption by biologists of a system of strictly binomial nomenclature is due to Swedish botanist and physician Carl Linnaeus (1707–1778). It was in Linnaeus's 1753 Species Plantarum that he began consistently using a one-word trivial name () after a generic name (genus name) in a system of binomial nomenclature. Trivial names had already appeared in his Critica Botanica (1737) and Philosophia Botanica (1751). This trivial name is what is now known as a specific epithet (ICNafp) or specific name (ICZN). The Bauhins' genus names were retained in many of these, but the descriptive part was reduced to a single word. Linnaeus's trivial names introduced an important new idea, namely that the function of a name could simply be to give a species a unique label. This meant that the name no longer need be descriptive; for example both parts could be derived from the names of people. Thus Gerard's Phalangium ephemerum virginianum became Tradescantia virginiana, where the genus name honoured John Tradescant the Younger, an English botanist and gardener. A bird in the parrot family was named Psittacus alexandri, meaning "Alexander's parrot", after Alexander the Great, whose armies introduced eastern parakeets to Greece. Linnaeus's trivial names were much easier to remember and use than the parallel polynomial names and eventually replaced them. Value The value of the binomial nomenclature system derives primarily from its economy, its widespread use, and the uniqueness and stability of names that the Codes of Zoological and Botanical, Bacterial and Viral Nomenclature provide: Economy. Compared to the polynomial system which it replaced, a binomial name is shorter and easier to remember. It corresponds to the widespread system of family name plus given name(s) used to name people in many cultures. Widespread use. The binomial system of nomenclature is governed by international codes and is used by biologists worldwide. A few binomials have also entered common speech, such as Homo sapiens, E. coli, Boa constrictor, Tyrannosaurus rex, and Aloe vera. Uniqueness. Provided that taxonomists agree as to the limits of a species, it can have only one name that is correct under the appropriate nomenclature code, generally the earliest published if two or more names are accidentally assigned to a species. However, establishing that two names actually refer to the same species and then determining which has priority can be difficult,