Page 216 - PG 101-Course notes مذكرة النظري 24-25 with spec

Medicinal plants (PG 101) Level 1 Clinical Pharmacy-PharmD

Nomenclature of Drugs

 To specify any drug, we must assign its origin. There are two origins for each

drug, the biological and geographical origins. The commercial origin is also used

for certain drugs.

I- The biological (natural or botanical origin):

➢ The natural origin of a drug is the plant or animal yielding it. Its knowledge

enables one to indicate with certainty the proper right material and to ensure that

successive consignments may have similar properties when used medicinally.

The Swedish biologist Linnaeus introduced the binomial system of naming the

plants. In this system, each plant name consists of two words, the first always

written in capital letter and denotes the genus of the plant whilst the second starts

with a small letter and denotes its species. It is, however, still equally correct to

start the species name with a capital letter when it is named after a person e.g.,

Cinchona Ledgeriana.

➢ It is noted that in Pharmacopoeia and research papers, the botanical names are

followed by the names of persons. These refer to the botanist who first described

the species or variety, for example Cassia aculifolia Dehle. Cassia is the generic

name, acutifolia is the species name and Dehle is the name of the botanist who

first decried the plant. The species name is usually chosen to indicate one of

the following:
186