A botanical name is a formal name conforming to the ICBN. As with its zoological and bacterial equivalents it may also be called a "scientific name". The International Code of Botanical Nomenclature is the set of rules according to which plants are given their formal botanical names (scientific names). ... In biology, binomial nomenclature is a standard convention used for naming species. ...

Botanical names may be in one part (genus and above), two parts (species) or three parts (below the rank of species). In biology, a genus (plural genera) is a grouping in the classification of living organisms having one or more related and morphologically similar species. ... In biology, a species is, loosely speaking, a group of related organisms that share a more or less distinctive form and are capable of interbreeding. ...

Examples:

Coniferae (the conifers)

Fagaceae (the oak family)

Leguminosae (the pea or legume family)

Betula (the birch genus)

Gossypium barbadense (Egyptian cotton)

Theobroma cacao subsp. cacao (criollo chocolate)

Botanical names should be italicized. This is better accepted for names at the rank of genus and below, than for names above the rank of genus; in many publications the names at the higher ranks are not italicized. Presumably this will improve in future.

Also see binomial nomenclature, ICZN. In biology, binomial nomenclature is a standard convention used for naming species. ... The International Code of Zoological Nomenclature (ICZN) is a set of rules in zoology that have one fundamental aim: to provide the maximum universality and continuity in classifying all animals according to taxonomic judgment. ...