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About
Plant Names

Like any hobby or pastime, gardening has its own jargon. Although most words are straightforward and "down to earth", one area is a bit trickier: the scientific or "botanical" name of specific plants. Personally, I've never cared much for using the botanical names for plants. But we have all heard the same nicknames used sometimes for different types of plants. So in order to ensure that we all know which plant we're talking about, we sometimes need to use this system of naming plants. It actually uses some Greek words sometimes, but it is almost totally in Latin words.
This botanical name is made up of two words: the first word is called the "genus" and it is written in Italics and the first letter is usually uppercased, the second word is called the "species" and it is also written in Italics and is lowercase. The first word tells what family the plant is in. The larger plant families are divided into groups and they are called their family or "Genus" name. - (I will use sweet peas as an example). Sweet peas are in the large family called the Leguminosae family. However, the "genus" name for sweet peas is Lathyrus, which is Greek for "pea". The second word is the species name of the plant. Usually, the species name tells something about the plant's shape, color, leaf form, fragrance, or some other peculiarity. In other words, the second word will describe something special about that plant. Still using sweet peas as an example, the sweet pea has a very wonderful scent to it. Thus the second word for it is: odoratus.
So the botanical "plant name" for sweet peas is:
Lathyrus odoratus.

So now let's have a little fun!

The words listed below are the second word,(or species word) in the botanical names of many plants.
These are the most common ones that describe some characteristic of the plants they name.
I will give the Latin,(or Greek), botanical name and then the definition of what it means.

acaulis - stemless............................. microphylla - small-leaved
alba, albus - white........................... millefolim - thousand-leaved
amabile, amabilis - beautiful...................... minor, minus - smaller
arborescens - treelike...................................... ........mollis - soft
aurantiaca - orange...................... montana - from the mountains
aurea,areum - gold..............................multiflora - many-flowered
azurea - blue................................ ......................... nana - dwarf
blanda - pleasant ................................ .................. nigra - black
caerulea - deep blue........ ............ ......... nitida, nitidum - shining
canadensis - from Canada..................odoratus - wonderful scent
chinensis - from China........... .........officinalis - used medicinally
coccinea - scarlet............ .. ..........palmatum - shaped like a hand
communis - common............................palustris - from marshes
cordata - heart-shaped............ ........ ......parvifolia - small-leaved
crispa - waved, curled........ ...........pendula - drooping, pendulous
dulce - sweet............ ....................perenne, perennis - perennial
elata - tall...................... ........ .... ..................... pictum - painted
elegans - elegant...................................... procumbens - prostrate
erecta - upright, erect ................. ..................... pulchella - pretty
flava, flavum - yellow...........................pumila - low-growing, dwarf
florida, foridus - flowering.................. .......... .....punctata - spotted
fragrans - fragrant.............................. .................purpurea - purple
fragrantissima - very fragrant..................repens,reptans - creeping
fruticosa - shrublike................ .......... ..............rosea - rose-colored
gracilis - graceful.............. .......... ...........rotundifolia - round-leaved
grandiflora - large-flowered......... ............... ... ...rubra, rubrum - red
griseum - gray............ ....... .............. ..........sanguinea - blood-red
hortensis - of the garden............. ........ ............scandens - climbing
humilis - low-growing........ ........ .......semperflorens - everblooming
hybridus - hybrid........... ................ ........sempervirens - evergreen
incana - gray-haired...................... ............ ........speciosa - showy
japonica - from Japan............. ................spectabilis - spectacular
lactea - milky........................... .............. ............spinosus - spiny
laevis - smooth.......................... ..............spinosissimus - spiniest
lanceolata - lance-shaped.......... ........... .......... superbum - superb
longifolia - long-leaved..................tomentosa, tomentosum - hairy
lutea, luteus - yellow............... ......umbellata - flowers in umbels
macrophylla - large-leaved............ ............variegata - variegated
maculata - spotted.................. ........villosa, villosum - softly hairy
majus - larger............ ..................... .... virginiana - from Virginia
maritima - from near the sea.............. ..............vulgaris - common
maxima - largest....................... ........... vomica - to vomit,nausea

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