Names in each taxonomic rank above order have different suffixes, depending on whether the organism is a plant, alga or fungus:

Names of orders end in ales, and names of suborders end in ineae. Family names usually end in aceae:

However, a small number of historical and widely used alternative plant names are accepted – for example:

For names of families and above, use an initial capital but no italics:

For names of genera, use an initial capital and italics:

Species names are always written with the genus name (ie a Latin binomial). The species name is in lower case and italics; the genus name is in full or abbreviated (see Latin species names):