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Species Plantarum names plants from colonial plantations without the labourers who grew them

On 1 May 1753 Species Plantarum printed two-word names for plants that had arrived through colonial gardens and plantations whose field labourers, often enslaved or coerced, do not appear as authors. In the causal graph this event strengthens the driver Labour-Market Tightness.

Read the full account

On 1 May 1753 Species Plantarum printed two-word names for plants that had arrived through colonial gardens and plantations whose field labourers, often enslaved or coerced, do not appear as authors. Linnaeus sat in Uppsala. The labour sat elsewhere.

Context

Clifford’s stove, Dutch herbaria, and apostle parcels were the pipes. A binomial is easy to copy; a labourer’s name was not asked. Sharing with Banks, Solander, and Clifford is required on neighbouring rows. Later ICN author-citations still point at Linnaeus, not at the field.

Later competitions, monuments, translations, UNESCO listings, museums, and adaptations are not converted into extra lifetime acts.

Why it matters

Labour path of modest-to-mid weight, medium confidence on any one unnamed person, high on the credit pattern. Binomial access remains the split improving row.

Confidence is stated on the impact path, not hidden in adjectives. Mixed effects of Species Plantarum names plants from colonial plantations without the labourers who grew them are separate paths.

Who was responsible

Contribution type and responsibility level for each recorded actor — not sole-author shorthand.

  • Carl Linnaeus

    Person

    Direct responsibility

    responsibility level 0.32 · verified

    He printed the names. Apostles, VOC, and plantation systems supplied plants grown by unnamed labour, including enslaved labour.

What changed

Fact → Driver → Indicator. Relationship strength orders the paths; it is not the observed indicator movement.

    1. FactSpecies Plantarum names plants from colonial plantations without the labourers who grew them
    2. strengthensDriverLabour-Market Tightness

    impact weight 0.35 · Effect from 1 May 1753 · verified

Evidence

The sources behind this fact and its verification state.

Verified2 sources on file
  1. 1.Uppsala University — Linnaeus’ complicated relationship with racismUppsala University · High credibility · verified
  2. 2.Species Plantarum (1753) — Biodiversity Heritage LibraryBiodiversity Heritage Library · High credibility · verified
What the sources establish

BHL at https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/item/13829 (opens in a new tab) is the public 1753 text whose author citations are European. Uppsala University at https://www.uu.se/en/news/2021/2021-05-07-linnaeus-complicated-relationship-with-racism (opens in a new tab) independently flags colonialism as part of the Linnaean problem, not as later misuse only.

Established: Species Plantarum names plants from colonial pipelines without field labourers as authors. Not established: a unique headcount of enslaved growers for 1753 entries. Contribution is recorded as He printed the names. Apostles, VOC, and plantation systems supplied plants grown by unnamed labour, including enslaved labour. The dated heading stays Species Plantarum names plants from colonial plantations without the labourers who grew them on 1753-05-01, not a later statue, UNESCO listing, or school film. Later competitions, monuments, and adaptations are refused as extra lifetime acts of this person on this date.

Shared responsibility is part of Species Plantarum names plants from colonial plantations without the labourers who grew them. Naming Carl Linnaeus does not delete co-authors, institutions, or later transmitters. The lag from 1753-05-01 to any measured indicator is not treated as zero. Alternative explanations — weather, other armies, later statutes, or independent cultural change — remain live where the sources do not close them.

That reading is an impact-path choice, not a property stored on the Fact itself.

If a number is not in the two records named above, it is not supplied here.

Causal path

How this event connects to drivers and indicators in the graph.

  1. ActorCarl Linnaeus
  2. contributed toFactSpecies Plantarum names plants from colonial plantations without the labourers who grew them
  3. strengthensDriverLabour-Market Tightness

Cite this page

Factrail. (2026). Species Plantarum names plants from colonial plantations without the labourers who grew them. Factrail. https://factrail.ai/facts/linnaeus-plantation-names-1753

https://factrail.ai/facts/linnaeus-plantation-names-1753

Accessed 16 October 2026.

By the Factrail desk · Method: how we source and score · Last reviewed

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