Footnote 3 – The Search for Roots—Israel’s Biblical Landscape Reserve

Both Majorana syriaca [L.] Rafin. and Origanum syriacum [L.] Sieb. are scientific names used in botanical guides to designate the hyssop plant. The two Latin words indicate, first, the genus and second, the particular species to which this plant belongs. [L.] stands for Linnaeus, the great 18th century Swedish botanist who named many thousands of plants and created the nomenclature system used today. Rafin. and Sieb. are abbreviations for Rafinesque and Siebold, botanists who amended the classifications.