Phrase name


In Australian botany, a phrase name is an informal name given to a plant taxon that has not yet been given a formal scientific name. The term was adopted in 1992 by the Australian Herbarium Information Systems Committee. The species phrase name consists of four components — the generic name, "sp.", an identifier and a collector's name and number representing a herbarium specimen vouchering the concept of the new species.
This is a fairly typical example except that the number 1 is often replaced by something more informative, such as a location or distinctive morphological characteristic.
A phrase name is used for an unnamed taxon, which may or may not have already been formally described, but only for as long as no scientific name has been chosen for it; afterwards it may be listed as a synonym,