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78 Terms used in Bionomenclature
foederatio: (phyt., obsol.) an hierarchical rank of a syntaxon, equivant to
alliance (q.v.).
folio. [fo.]: a leaf of a book or manuscript; sometimes used to indicate
separate parts of a work; see also ff.
font: see fount.
forgotten name, [nomen oblitum, nom. obl.; pl. nomina oblita]: (1)
(unoff.) a name that has not been taken up many years after its
introduction although it is the correct name for an accepted species.
(2) (zool.) applied after 1 January 2000 to a name, unused since
1899, which as a result of an action taken under the Code does not
take precedence over a younger synonym or homonym in prevailing
usage; the younger name that takes precedence over the nomen
oblitum may be called a nomen protectum; the term nomen oblitum
was also applied to a disused senior synonym rejected between 6
November 1961 and 1 January 1973 under the Code editions then in
force; nomina oblita remain available names unless a junior
synonym has been used more than a specified number of times in
the immediately preceding 50 years (i.e. 25 works published by at
least 10 authors and encompassing a span of not less than 10 years).
form, [forma, f.; pl. formae, ff.]: (1) (bot.) the lowest principle rank
recognized in the taxonomic hierarchy in the Code, and subordinate
to species (or subspecies, or variety or subvariety). (2) (zool.) a term
that if published after 1960 is deemed to denote an infrasubspecific
rank, but if published before 1961 is interpreted according to special
provisions in the Code. (3) those individuals of a species differing,
in a stated way, from other individuals within the species (e.g. larval
and adult forms, male and female forms, ecological forms, seasonal
forms). (4) (zool., unoff.) used as a prefix to the name of a
domesticated animal, following that of its wild ancestor. (5) (not
nomenclatural) shape or outward appearance; often appearing in
taxonomic publications in this sense when it is not to be confused
with the rank of form.
form-genus: (palaeo. bot., obsol.) one that is maintained for classifying
fossil specimens that lack diagnostic characters indicative of natural
affinity but which for practical purposes need to be provided with
binary names; form-genera are artificial in varying degrees and are