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2-2017

The Scientific Names of Plants

James P. Smith Jr
Humboldt State University, [email protected]

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Recommended Citation
Smith, James P. Jr, "The Scientific Names of Plants" (2017). Botanical Studies. 28.
http://digitalcommons.humboldt.edu/botany_jps/28

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 THE SCIENTIFIC NAMES OF PLANTS
James P. Smith, Jr.
Professor Emeritus of Botany
Department of Biological Sciences
Humboldt State University
Arcata, California

18 February 2017

Plants often have two names -- a common name used Because there are no universally accepted rules for
by most of us in everyday circumstances when we need giving common names to plants or a panel or committee
to make reference to a plant growing in the yard or that passes judgment, we cannot say that one is the
something that we might wish to purchase at the correct common name. There are certainly instances in
market. They also have scientific names or Latin names, which this becomes critical. If you pay $1000 for an
as they are sometimes called, used by botanists, ornamental tree at a nursery, you want to be very sure
agronomists, and by the "serious" amateur, etc. of what you are getting.

Common names do not provide an indication of close

COMMON NAMES relationship among the plants that share the name.
Sour-grass, arrow-grass, blue-eyed grass, grass
It would be foolish for me to maintain that common (marijuana), and China-grass are not kinds of grasses,
names have no value. They are the only names known nor are they related to one another.
to most of us. These names are often simple, easy to
remember, descriptive, colorful, pleasing to the ear, and Probably the most serious difficulty is that most plants
easy to pronounce. do not have common names. We have used only a small
portion of the half million or so kinds of plants to the
Given this impressive list of advantages, why do we not extent that common names have been applied to them.
simply use common names for plants and be done with This is a problem for authors of field guides, for
it? There are several reasons why botanists and other consultants who write environmental impact statements,
scientists do not use them. and for staff members in various state and federal
agencies who must prepare material for general
A plant may have more than one common name. The consumption. Authors have attempted to compensate
broad-leaved plantain, a common lawn weed, has for this lack of common names by inventing them,
almost fifty other common names in English alone. In usually by translating the scientific name into English.
California and Oregon, one of our common trees is The advantage of "Milo Baker's cryptantha" over
called bay, bay leaf, California bay, myrtle, myrtlewood, Cryptantha milobakeri is not immediately apparent to
pepperwood, and Oregon myrtle. me.

The same common name may be used for more than

one plant. Laurel is a common name applied to trees in SCIENTIFIC NAMES
five different plant families. We all know what corn is.
You may be surprised to learn that in other English- Although scientific names may cause you some
speaking countries, their corn is what we call wheat. discomfort, their advantages to the botanist are
compelling. There is a single, universally recognized
Many common names are confusing. A pineapple is not name for each plant. Because they are used by
a kind of pine, nor is it an apple. Kentucky bluegrass is botanists all over the world, scientific names facilitate
not blue, nor is it native to Kentucky. Names such as the free transfer of ideas and information. Consider the
"welcome home husband, no matter how drunk ye be," difficulties that would arise if the botanists in the United
"kiss me over the garden gate," "spotted arsemart," and States, England, Germany, Russia, China, etc. each had
"ramping fumitory" make it difficult to maintain that their own independent set of names for the plants of
common names have brevity and clarity of meaning. their countries.

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The same scientific name may not be used for more discover that the name given to a particular plant has to
than one kind of plant. Once it has been published, that be rejected because it violated some provision of the
name cannot be used again for any other plant. International Code.. Both of these examples point out
one of the important operating principles in plant
Scientific names are governed by the International Code classification. As new information becomes available and
of Nomenclature for Algae, Fungi, and Plants. These as errors are discovered, we make adjustments and
regulations are reviewed every four years at Inter- corrections. What appears to be a fine scheme of
national Botanical Congresses. Animals have their own classification today may be modified drastically or even
separate code of nomenclature. discarded completely at some point in the future.

Inherent in our system of scientific names is the concept

of evolutionary or genetic relationship. When we name COMPONENTS OF SCIENTIFIC NAMES
the white potato, eggplant, and black nightshade
Solanum tuberosum, Solanum melongena, and In the botanical works of the 15th and 16th centuries,
Solanum nigrum, respectively, we are indicating that the scientific name of a plant was often a lengthy series
these three plants belong to the same genus, Solanum, of descriptive words, typically in Latin. These phrase
and that they are related to one another. Because there names or polynomials became increasingly awkward
is a set of botanical features associated with the name, because the discovery of a new kind of plant required
it has predictive value. If you know a plant belongs to that the existing polynomial be slightly modified so that
the genus Quercus, the true oaks, you can predict all it could be distinguished from the older one, as in the
kinds of things about it. You can bet good money that following examples:
it will be a tree or shrub with leaves of a certain shape,
and that it will have the familiar acorn as its fruit type. Convolvulus folio Althaea (Clusius, 1576)

There are some difficulties with scientific names. They Convolvulus argenteus Althaea folio (Bauhin, 1623)
can be difficult to pronounce, especially if you did not
learn to divide words into syllables early on in your Convolvulus argentateus foliis ovatis divisis basi
education. You might note, however, that such familiar truncatis: laciniis intermediis duplo longioribus
and easily pronounced common names as aster, (Linnaeus, 1738)
rhododendron, magnolia, chrysanthemum, petunia, and
begonia are also the first part of the scientific names of A new way of naming plants, using only two words, was
these plants. My own experience in teaching developed by Caspar Bauhin (1560-1624). August
undergraduates to use scientific names is that once you Rivinus (1652-1723) also proposed that plants ought to
can get past the psychological barrier that these are have names of no more than two words. You probably
terribly long words that only those who have had a thought it invented by Carolus Linnaeus (1707-1778),
strong background in Latin and Greek can pronounce, because so many textbooks incorrectly give him the
then you will become much more comfortable with them credit. At first, the use of this two-word scheme was
and begin using them rather easily. sporadic. The event that perhaps more than any other
assured its permanent use in scientific writing was that
One of the most frustrating features of scientific names, Linnaeus adopted it in his monumental work, “Species
especially for someone who is just learning about them, Plantarum.” Here was a catalogue of all of the world’s
is that they are changed from time to time. Just when plants known to him , prepared by the leading naturalist
you think that you have become familiar with the of the day.
scientific names for a particular group of plants,
someone will publish a new revision of the group and This system was based upon the principle that each
you discover that some of the names have been plant (or animal for that matter, because they are
changed. These changes come about for several named according to the same scheme) is given a
reasons. As new information about the anatomy, scientific name that consists of two components, both of
chemistry, and genetics of plants and analytical them parts of the taxonomic hierarchy mentioned
techniques become known, it may cause botanists to above. The first element of the scientific name is the
rethink the evolutionary relationships among the plants genus (or generic name), as in Triticum, the genus of
being studied. These changes may require us to revise wheat. The plural of genus is genera, not genuses. The
the scientific names to reflect the new level of second element is the specific epithet, as in aestivum,
information now available to us. the particular kind of wheat called breadwheat. This
Sometimes names are changed, not for biological second element of the scientific name is often
reasons, but because someone studying a group may incorrectly called the "species." It is the genus and

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specific epithet together that form the species name. Alice Eastwood found a new manzanita that she named
Triticum aestivum is the species name of bread wheat. Arctostaphylos bakeri. Many years later, another expert
Because the name of a plant or animal is the on the genus concluded that Eastwood’s shrub should
combination of these two words, the scientific name is not be recognized as a distinct species, but as a
called a binomial and we call this scheme of giving subspecies of Arctostaphylos pungens. Arctostaphylos
technical names to organisms the binomial system of bakeri Eastwood then becomes Arctostaphylos pungens
nomenclature. Kunth ssp. bakeri (Eastwood) J. B. Roof.

Here is an example from the “Species Plantarum.” If two or more person’s names are involved, they are
connected with the ampersand (&) or with et the Latin
11. word for and, as in Torrey & Gray, Coulter et Rose, or
Conyza foliis ovalibus integerrimus scabris subtus Humboldt, Bonpland, & Kunth.
hirsutis. hirsuta
Most scientific names have rather straightforward
The “11" is the number Linnaeus assigned to this authorship. Linnaeus published the name for one of our
particular Conyza, a member of Compositae. Conyza is local duckweeds, Lemna minor, in his “Species
the genus. The next six words make up the diagnosis, Plantarum” in 1753. Look in volume 2, page 970 and
the Latin description of the plant. The word hirsuta there it is. Now let’s turn to the name of a local endemic
against the margin is the nomen triviale or trivial grass, Poa rhizomata. It was named by the noted
name. The binomial shorthand name for the plant is American agrostologist, A. S. Hitchcock. However, you
Conyza hirsuta. will not be able to find a scientific paper or a book
authored by Hitchcock that contains that scientific
name. The reason is that the name appears in the
AUTHOR NAMES treatment of California grasses that Hitchcock was
asked to prepare for the “Flora of California” by Jepson.
The binomial, for reasons of completeness and It is Willis Linn Jepson who is the author of the flora;
accuracy, is followed by the name(s) of the person or Hitchcock was a contributor. While it is common to see
persons who first published that name for the plant. For the combination cited as Poa rhizomata Hitchcock, it
example, in the scientific name Zea mays L., the "L." should be more accurately cited as Poa rhizomata
stands for Linnaeus. You will also see his name Hitchcock in Jepson. The connector “in” alerts you to
abbreviated as Linn. or spelled out. the fact that the first-named person actually authored
a new name or made a new combination in a work that
Sometimes you will see the abbreviation “f.” after tha bears the second person’s name. The rules allow you to
authors’s name, as in “Hook. f.” It stands for the Latin omit the “in such-and such,” but I do not believe that it
word fil, which means son. This plant, then, was named is good practice. The more complete citation is a great
by the elder Hooker’s son, who was also a famous help in tracking the name back through the literature.
botanist.
What if a botanist proposed a new name or a new
It is sometimes necessary to transfer the name of a combination, but never actually published it? A later
plant from one genus to another, usually because more worker can, in a sense, give credit to this person’s work
recent research has demonstrated that the plant was when he or she publishes it by inserting the connector
incorrectly assigned to a particular genus. For instance, “ex” between their two names. Joseph Nelson Rose
one of our endemic California grasses was originally found a new relative of Spanish-moss in southern
named Orcuttia mucronata by Beecher Crampton. A Texas. He proposed the name Tillandsia baileyi, but
study by John Reeder demonstrated that this species never actually published it. John Kunkel Small published
was not closely to others in the genus and he moved the name in his “Flora of the Southeastern United
the epithet into a new genus, Tuctoria. What was States.” The plant is now known as Tillandsia baileyi
Orcuttia mucronata Crampton becomes Tuctoria Rose ex Small. If you think of ex meaning “but actually
mucronata (Crampton) Reeder. The person whose name published by” it might help. The rules again permit
is in the parentheses first published the specific epithet shortening the scientific name to Tillandsia baileyi Small.
for the plant. The name after the parentheses is that of
the person who transferred it into the genus where it
now resides.

The same convention is used when the taxonomic rank

of a plant is changed. The famous California botanist

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 generalities:
SUBSPECIES, VARIETIES,
& CULTIVARS ! Generic names that end in -us, -er, or -on are
usually masculine. One bit of convention, however,
It is often useful to recognize variation within a species. is that the genera of trees ending in -us (e. g.
The two most widely used are the subspecies Quercus, Alnus, Fagus, Pinus) are considered
(abbreviated ssp. or subsp.) and the variety feminine. The names of most rivers and mountains
(abbreviated var.). These names also have authors, as are masculine, unless they end in -a or -e.
in Cannabis sativa L. ssp. indica (Lamarck) E. Small &
Cronquist. If the subspecies or varietal name is a repeat ! Generic names that end in -a, -ago, -ix, -odes, -
of the specific epithet, then the author is not repeated, oides, -is, and -es are usually feminine. The names
as in Zea mays L. ssp. mays. of most countries, islands, cities, and trees are
feminine.
An additional explanation is needed for the term variety.
For reasons that are obvious, we have developed many ! Generic names that end in -um and -dendron are
different cultivated strains of a particular crop plant or neuter.
ornamental. There are literally thousands of different
kinds of rice. There are probably hundreds of different The names of many of our genera comes directly from
kinds of tuberous begonias. In general parlance, we the classical Latin or Greek names given to plants. Julius
often call these varieties. However, for purposes of Caesar called a pine tree “pinus.” Socrates wandered
formal nomenclature, these variations are considered around in some grass that he would have called
too minor and often too short-lived to warrant giving “agrostis.” What we call figs, he called “ficus.” Many
them a scientific name. The variety of botanical other generic names were constructed by later
nomenclature is not used in these instances. Instead, botanists, using classical Latin and Greek roots, to
we employ the term cultivar (abbreviated cv.). The describe a new genus. Linnaeus based the generic
"Martha Washington" geranium is technically known as name Sagittaria on the Latin word sagitta, an arrow.
Pelargonium hortense cv. 'Martha Washington.' What is our common name for plants of this genus?
Arrowheads, because of the shape of the leaf blade.
Many plants are of hybrid origin, that is they result from The table below presents some examples of these and
the accidental or purposeful crossing of two closely other sources of generic names.
related plants. This can be reflected in the scientific
name of the plant by inserting an "X." If the X occurs SOURCES OF GENERIC NAMES
before the generic name (X Elyhordeum), then the plant
is considered the result of a cross between two plants Classical Latin or Greek
in different genera, Elymus and Hordeum in this
example. If the X occurs between the generic name and Acer Latin for the maple tree
the specific epithet, then the plant is the product of a Agrostis Greek for a kind of grass
cross between two species in the same genus. Tillandsia Arnica Origin unknown
x smalliana is a hybrid between T. balbisiana and T. Cornus Latin for a dogwood
fasciculata. Fagus Latin for the beech tree
Juniperus Latin for the juniper
Lathyrus Greek for the sweet pea
GENERIC NAMES Lilium Latin for the lily
Phalaris Greek for a canary grass
The scientific name of a plant is considered to be in Pinus Latin for a pine
Latin. Many really are. Many others are Greek. Some are Quercus Latin for an oak
a combination of Latin and Greek. Still others derive Taxus Latin name for the yew
from many different languages. From a grammatical
standpoint, the name of a genus is a singular noun or a Medieval Latin- or Greek-based
word that is treated as a noun. Because they are
singular, there are no such things as Poas, Ranunculi, Aquilegia Latin, referring to petal shape
Penstemons, etc. Borago Latin, referring to hairiness
Linaria Greek, flax-like leaves
In Latin, unlike English, nouns are masculine, feminine, Tanacetum Greek, referring to immortality
or neuter. How do you tell the gender of a noun? There
are no absolute rules, but here are some pretty good

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 Modern Latin- or Greek-based Sassafras sasafras (Spanish)

Agrostemma Greek, field + garland Modern geographical names

Arctostaphylos Greek, bear + bunch of grapes
Aristolochia Greek, best + childbirth Caribea of the Caribbean
Convallaria Latin, a valley Heliconia of Mt. Helicon
Digitalis Latin, a finger Parnassia of Mt. Parnassus
Echinochloa Greek, hedgehog + grass Taiwania of Taiwan
Equisetum Latin, horse + bristle Utahia of Utah
Gymnocladus Greek, naked + branch Yushiana of [Mt.] Yushan
Hedychium Greek, sweet + snow
Liquidambar Latin, liquid + amber Anagrams
Pennisetum Latin, feather + bristle
Penstemon Greek, five + stamen Docynia Cydonia
Petasites Greek, a broad-rimmed hat Muilla Allium
Senecio Greek, an old man Tellima Mitella
Tuctoria Orcuttia
Modern names from mythology Tylecodon Cotyledon

Andromeda Maiden chained to rock Who Knows?

Atropa One of the Fates
Calypso Daughter of Atlas Aa
Cassiope Mother of Andromeda Iliamna
Hebe Goddess of youth Liatris
Narcissus Handsome, self-centered guy Ratibida

Modern commemorative names

SPECIFIC EPITHETS
Adansonia Michel Adanson, botanist
Blighia Lt. William Bligh, naval officer Specific epithets are adjectives, participles (verbs
Carnegeia Andrew Carnegie, industralist pretending to be adjectives) or nouns. If they are
Fremontia John Fremont, U. S. Army officer nouns, their endings do not change with the gender of
Fuchsia Leonhart Fuchs, physician the genus. But, if they are adjectives or participles then
Linnaea Carolus Linnaeus, naturalist they must agree with the gender of the generic name.
Magnolia Pierre Magnol, botanist This can be tricky, as seen in the following examples:
Nicotiana Jean Nicot, diplomat
Parkinsonia John Parkinson, apothecary
Masculine-Feminine-Neuter
Resia Richard Evans Schultes, botanist
Romneya T. Romney Robinson, astronomer albus-alba-album
Sequoia Sequoya, Cherokee leader canadensis-canadensis-canadense
Serenoa Sereno Watson, botanist pubescens-pubescens-pubescens
Torreya John Torrey, botanist
In the first example, the Latin word for white has a
Modern vernacular names
different ending for each of three genders (-us, -a, -
um). In the second example, the masculine and
Amelanchier amelancier (French)
feminine have the same ending; in the third, all three
Bambusa bambu (Malayan)
genders have the same ending. Now let’s take an
Cocos coco (Portuguese)
epithet and see how it changes when used with three
Copaifera copaiba (Brazilian)
genera of grasses.
Datura dhatura (Hindi)
Ginkgo gin + kyo (Japanese)
Hevea heve (Guyanan) Genus Gender Epithet
Jasminum yasmin (Persian)
Musa mouz or moz (Arabian) Elymus Masculine glaucus
Petunia petun (Brazilian) Poa Feminine glauca
Saccharum singkara (Malay) Pennisetum Neuter glaucum

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 circum- around
This bit of arcane lore also explains why Uniola laxa cis- on this side
becomes Chasmanthium laxum or Haplopappus annuus ecto- out of , from
becomes Machaeranthera annua when names are endo- inside of, within
transferred from one genus to another. epi- on top of
ex- from, out of
Specific epithets can be commemorative, as in Arabis extra- outside
lemmonii or Cryptantha milo-bakeri. They may also be hyper- beyond, above
based on a classical or aboriginal name for that hypo- beneath
particular plant. Linnaeus named tobacco Nicotiana infra- below
tabacum after the Taino Indian word that they used for inter- between or among
the plant. However, most of the specific epithets have intra- within
been constructed by using classical prefixes, suffixes, intro- inside
and roots to describe some feature of the plant that ob- against
sets it off from others. In other words, most epithets para- near, beside
function as adjectives to tell you something about the peri- around
plant – its size, shape, color, surface features, numbers sub- below
of parts, etc. Here are some examples of prefixes, super- (supra-) above
suffixes, roots, and classical/aboriginal names that have syn- together, united
been used as specific epithets. trans- across, beyond
ultra- beyond
SOURCES OF EPITHETS
Prefixes: Shapes & Sizes
Prefixes: Numbers of Parts
angusti- narrow
uni-/mono- 1 brachy-/brevi- short
bi-/di- 2 crass- thick
tri- 3 cyatho- cup-shaped
quadri-/tetra- 4 cyclo- circular
quinque-/penta- 5 fili- thread-like
sex-/hexa- 6 hemi- half
semptem-/hepta- 7 hetero- different
octo- 8 holo- entire
novem-/ennea- 9 homo- like or same
decem-/deca- 10 iso- equal
amphi- of two kinds or conditions lanci- lance-shaped
dicho in two lati- broad
diplo- double lepto- slender
haplo- single longi- long
multi- many macro- large
myrio- countless mega- really large
oligo- few micro- small
pan- (panto-) all nano- dward
pauci- few odonto- tooth-shaped
pluri- several ortho- straight
poly- many ovi- egg-shaped
sesqui- one and a half pachy- thick
terni in 3's parvi- small
platy- broad
Prefixes: Relative Position semi- half
steno- narrow
a- (ab-) away from tenui- slender
ad- toward, against uro- tailed
amphi- on both sides of
apo- apart, away from
dia- through

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 Prefixes: Color xylo- woody
zygo- joined
atro- black
chloro- green Suffixes
chryso- golden
cyano- dark blue -aceus resembling
erythro- reddish -aeus belonging to
flavi- yellowish -alis possessing or pertaining to
leuco- white -anus belonging to
melano- black -arium a place where work is done
ochro- yellowish -ascens becoming
rhodo- rose-colored -aticus place of growth
viridi- green -atilis place of growth
xantho- yellowish -bundus having an abundance of
-cundus aptitude or tendency
Prefixes: Surfaces -ensis place of origin or growth
-escens becoming
argyro- silvery -estris place of growth
dasy- shaggy -eus resembling
erio- woolly -icans more or less identical to
gymno- naked -icola dwelling in
hirti- long-hairy -icus belonging to
laevi- smooth -idus in progress
lani- smooth -inus possessing or resembling
leio- smooth -oides (-deus) resembling
lepido- scaly -orius capability
nudi- naked -osus having an abundance of
trachy- rough -ulentus fullness
tricho- hairy

Prefixes: Miscellaneous Classical/aboriginal Names

a- without batata Indian name for sweet potato

actino- star-shaped carota Ancient name for carrot
andro- male cepa Latin name for the onion
carpo- relating to fruits intybus Latin for endive
crypto- hidden mays Indian name for corn or maize
e- without napus Latin for turnip
eu- true, good rhoeas Greek for a wild poppy
gamo- fused or united tabacum Indian name for tobacco
geo- relating to the earth
gyno- female Geographical Names
laxi- loose
neo- new anglicus of England
non- not australis southern
oxy- sharp borealis northern
phanero- easily visible canadensis of Canada
phyllo- pertaining to a leaf centralis central
phyto- pertaining to a plant chilensis of Chile
pseudo- false gallicus of France
ptero- winged germanicus of Germany
rhizo- pertaining to roots helvitcus of Switzerland
sapro- rotten hispanicus of Spain
schizo- deeply divided ludovicianus of Louisiana
sclero- hard novae-anglicae of New England
xero- dry noveboracensis of New York

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occidentalis western ruderalis of waste places (weedy)
orientalis eastern rupestris among the rocks
septentrionalis northern sativus cultivated
sinensis of China saxitilis of the rocks
sylvaticus of the woods
Stature tectorum of roofs or houses
terrestris of dry ground
altissimus tall
angustatus narrow Surfaces & Margins
depauperatus reduced
elata taller aculeatus prickly
exiguus little aristatus awned
humilis dwarf barbatus bearded
procerus very tall ciliatus fringed with hairs
pumilus dwarf comosus bearded, tufted
pusillus very small crispus curled
dentatus toothed
Growth Form echinatus spiny
farinosus mealy
arboreus tree glaber smooth
decumbens reclining guttatus spotted
dumosus shrubby hystrix bristly
fruticosus shrubby inermis unarmed
furcatus forked integerrimus quite entire
gracilis slender laevigatus smooth, as if polished
patens spreading lanosus woolly
prostratus lying flat maculatus spotted, blotched
radiatus spreading from the center marginatus edged
ramosus branched mollis soft-hairy
repens creeping mucosus slimy
scandens climbing muricatus with short, hard points
volubilis twining nitens shining, polished
papillosus pimply
Habitat pubens downy
punctatus with glands, pits, dots
agrestis of fields or cultivated lands rugosus wrinkled
alpestris almost alpine scaber rough, harsh
alsodes of the woods serratus sawed
arenarius growing in sand sericeus silky
arvensis of the fields, esp. plowed setosus bristly
campestris of the fields sulcatus furrowed
collinus of the hills undulatus wavy-margined
demersum growing under water urens stingning
fluitans floating on the water velutinus velvety
fluviatilis of the rivers vittatus striped
fontinalis of the springs
lacustris of the lakes and ponds Shapes
littoralis of the seashore
maritimus of the sea acicularis needle-like
muralis growing on walls acris sharp-pointed
natans floating on the water alatus winged
nemoralis of the groves auriculatus eared
paludosus of boggy places campanulatus bell-shaped
palustris of the marshes capillaceus hair-like
pratensis of the meadows carinatus keeled
riparius of the river banks caudatus tailed

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clavatus club-shaped Miscellaneous
cornutus horned
costatus ribbed acaulis stemless
cristatus crested amabilis lovely in appearance
cuneatus wedge-shaped arundinaceus reed-like
flabellatus small fan baccatus berry-like
linearis narrow, linear caducous falling early
lunatus crescent-shaped cernuus nodding or drooping
lyratus lyre-shaped communis gregarious
obtusus blunt debilis weak
pungens sharp-pointed didymus paired
formosus beautiful
Colors frondosus leafy
foetidus foul-smelling
albus white furcatus forked
argenteus silvery geniculatus abruptly bent
atropurpureus dark purple graveolens heavy-scented
aurantiacus orange hyemalis of winter
aureus golden-yellow imbricatus overlapping
azureus sky-blue junceus rush-like
caeruleus deep blue lucidus bright, clear
canescens becoming grayish mirabilis wonderful
cinereus ash gray nivalis showy
citrinus lemon ovinus of sheep
coccineus scarlet nudatus exposed
croceus saffron pectinatus comb-like
ferrugineus rusty perrenans perennial
flavus yellow peregrinus exotic
flavescens becoming yellow plicatus folded in pleats
glaucus gray-green praecox developing very early
incanus whitish-gray pulchellus beautiful
incarnatus flesh-colored serotinus developing late
lividus lead-colored speciosus beautiful
murinus mouse-colored spectabilis showy
niger black truncatus cut off at the end
niveus purest white tuberosus having a swollen part
purpureus purple uncinatus hooked
roseus rose-colored validus strong
rubens reddish ventricosus swollen, especially on 1 side
sanguineus blood red virgatus twiggy
stramineus straw-colored vulgaris common
violaceus violet
virens green
discolor not uniformly colored WRITING SCIENTIFIC NAMES
concolor of uniform color
versicolored variously colored There are a few simple rules that must be followed in
writing scientific names. The genus is always
Uses capitalized. The specific epithet should not be
capitalized. The rules allow them to be if they are
edulis edible commemorative, as in Elymus Smithii (a relative, no
esculentus edible doubt) or if the epithet was once a generic name itself,
officinalis medicinal, official as in Acer Negundo, the box-elder. Even in such
somniferum sleep inducing instances, however, the rules discourage capitalization.
textilis having useful fibers
tinctorius used in dyeing The generic name and specific epithet are underlined
when they appear in handwritten or typed material.

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They are put in italics or bold-face in printed text. The in the classical version.
name or names that constitute the authority get an
initial capital letter, just as in ordinary usage. They are ! Each syllable will contain a vowel or a double vowel
not underlined, bolded, or italicized. combination (ae, au, ei, oe, or ui). These are called
diphthongs.

PRONOUNCING SCIENTIFIC NAMES ! Pronounce all of the syllables. Ribes is "ri-bees," not
"rîbs."
The International Code specifies that scientific names of
plants are to be treated as Latin words, regardless of ! Final vowels are long, with the exception of a. If a
their origin. Why Latin? Because it was the language of word ends in two vowels (unless they are a
scholars and generally educated people in Europe and diphthong), they are sounded separately. The
most of the western world at the time that botanists epithet quinquefolia is pronounced "kwin-kwe-fo-li-
starting getting serious about a stable system of naming ah."
plants. Scholarly works of all sorts were published in
Latin. When Linnaeus was botanizing in France, ! The diphthongs "ae" and "oe" have the sound "e,"
Germany, and England he spoke in Latin to his hosts as in beat; "au" has the sound of "aw," as in the
and to those who joined him on his jaunts. And they word awful; "ei" usually has the sound "i," as in
understood him and answered back! To a considerable site; "eu" has the sound of "u," as in neuter; and
degree, English has replaced Latin in this century as the "ui" has the ui-sound in the word ruin.
“international language” of science and business.
! The "oi" in the ending "-oides" is treated as a
Stearn (1992) noted that “How [scientific names] are diphthong by most American botanists and we give
pronounced really matters little provided they sound it the sound that "oi" has in the word oil. This habit
pleasant and are understood by all concerned. This is is considered close to barbaric by English and
most likely to be attained by pronouncing them in Europeans who are much more persnickety about
accordance with the rules of classical Latin such matters. Because these two vowels do not
pronunciation.” A few of the more scholastically inclined form a diphthong, they should be pronounced
botanists will argue, therefore, that we ought to separately, so that the ending "-oides" has the
pronounce scientific names according to the strict rules sound "-o-e-deez."
of the sounds of vowels and consonants in Latin and
that great care should be taken in accenting the proper ! A single consonant is placed with the following
syllable. But, there are traditional English, reformed vowel, as in "pa-ter." Double consonants are
academic, and Church Latin versions of Latin to choose separated, as in "am-mi." If there are two or more
from, each with its own set of rules for pronunciation. consonants, the first one is usually put with the
preceding vowel, as in "an-gli-cus."
Most American botanists pronounce the scientific names
of plants as though they were English words. Some of ! B, d, f, h, l, m, n, p, qu, and z are pronounced the
us follow the rules in Latin for determining which same in Latin and English.
syllable is accented; most of us do not. Many of us
pronounce scientific names the way we were taught as ! The consonants c and g are soft (that is, have the
undergraduates (if any formal discussion occurred) or sounds of "s" and "j") if they are followed by ae, e,
more commonly we imitate the way our professors said i, oe, or y. Otherwise, the c is pronounced like a "k"
them when we took their classes. These become the and the g is also hard, as in "go." The s is always
familiar and "correct" way to pronounce the scientific pronounced as it is in the word "so," not as a "z."
names of plants. An initial x is pronounced as a "z," not "ek-z."
Xanthium is "zan-thi-um," not "ek-zan-thi-um."
The following is an attempt to present a basic guide to
pronouncing vowels, consonants, and diphthongs, ! The first letter is silent in words beginning with cn,
together with some of the rules for accenting syllables. ct, gn, mn, pn, ps, pt, and tm.
It is based largely on the work of the late William T.
Stearn, who was generally acknowledged as the world’s ! Accenting the proper syllable can be tricky.
leading expert on botanical Latin. Sometimes the author of a flora or other manual
may provide assistance by including an accent
! The letters of the Latin alphabet are basically the mark. Most do not. If included, they are for the
same as ours, except that J, U, and W did not occur convenience of the reader and they are not part of

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 the scientific name itself. If you must determine
which syllable to accent, the following rules may be FAMILY NAMES
helpful. Words of two syllables are always accented
on the first syllable. In words of three or more The scientific names of families, tribes, and orders, etc.
syllables, the last syllable is never accented. The are also governed by the International Code. Unlike the
stress will fall either on the next to the last syllable names of individual plants and genera, these names
(the penultimate syllable), as in "ar-ven-sis," or on have standardized endings. With a few exceptions, they
the third from the last syllable (antepenultimate), must also be based on a generic name.
as in "an-gli-cus." No matter how long the word,
the accent can never be to the left of the Family names must end in the suffix “-aceae,” as in
antepenultimate syllable. Deciding between these Araceae, Rosaceae, etc. But there is an escape clause
two options is a difficult choice. Accent the in the Code that gives primacy to eight family names
penultimate syllable if it ends in a consonant, that were published many years ago, long before the
diphthong, or in a long vowel. rules for naming families had been adopted and a family
name ending in -aceae had been published. This is the
! Commemorative names or patronyms, as they are only example of two equally correct alternatives allowed
sometimes called, present a special problem in the Code. These families, with one possible
because giving them the proper accenting can exception, are well-known to most of use. Plants in
preserve the person’s name or can render it all but these families are commonly encountered and
unrecognizable. Hooker and Arnott named a economically important.
chenopodiaceous shrub Grayia, after Asa Gray, the
eminent Harvard botanist. Almost anywhere that THE EIGHT FAMILIES
you choose to accent the word, Dr. Gray’s name
still comes through.
Sunflower Compositae Asteraceae
On the other hand, John Torrey named Pleuraphis Mustard Cruciferae Brassicaceae
jamesii after Dr. Edwin James, the surgeon-botanist
on the Stephen Long Expedition to the Rocky Grass Gramineae Poaceae
Mountains. The epithet jamesii should be
pronounced "ja-mee-see-i," which has the Garcinia Guttiferae Clusiaceae
unfortunate effect of obscuring its origin. The Mint Labiatae Lamiaceae
commonly encountered western U. S. pronunciation
of "jamz-e-i" preserves it. The rosaceous genus Bean Leguminosae Fabaceae
Ivesia is named after Lieutenant Eli Ives, the leader
of one of the Pacific railway surveys. Pronouncing Palm Palmae Arecaceae
the genus “i-vee-see-i-a” is technically correct, but
leads to the same problem. Most American Carrot Umbelliferae Apiaceae
botanists tend to ignore the strict rules for
accenting patronyms.
THE TAXONOMIC HIERARCY
! William Weber (1986) offered three suggestions for
American botanists when speaking with our
counterparts educated in other countries: (1) Try to A hierarchy is a system of organizing people or things in
say the names of the plants as they are being ranks one above the other, often to show status,
pronounced by the person you are talking to; (2) authority, or inclusiveness. Common examples include
Remember that Europeans pronounce their vowels assistant professor, associate professor, professor or
differently than we do; and (3) Try not to distort lieutenant, captain, major, colonel, and general. On the
the sounds of words by accenting unimportant campus or in the military an individual moves from one
connecting vowels, which he admits flies in the face level to a higher one based on performance reviews.
of “the rules.”
___________________________________________ In botanical nomenclature, we use the term differently.
Each of the levels is called a rank and each is
comprised of the plants of lower rank. In other words,
all of the species of pine trees belong to the genus
Pinus. That genus and closely related genera form the
family Pinaceae. The ranks recognized by the Code are:

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 Kingdom Gleason, H. A. 1947. The preservation of well known
Division or Phylum binomials. Phytologia 2: 201-212.
Class
Order Gledhill, D. 2008. The names of plants. Fourth edition.
Tribe Cambridge Univ. Press. Cambridge, England. 426 pp.
Family
Genus Green, M. L. 1927. History of plant nomenclature. Kew
Species Bull. 1927: 403-415.

Other ranks, such as subfamily or subgenus, may be Harrison, L. 2012. Latin for gardners: over 3,000 plant
intercalated as needed. names explained and explored. Univ. Chicago Press.
Chicago, IL. 224 pp.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Heller, J. L. 1964. The early history of binomial
nomenclature. Huntia 1(1): 33-70.
Bailey, L. H. 1963. How plants get their names. Dover
Publ. New York, NY. Hinton, L. 1992. A pinenut by any other name.... News
from Native California. Spring: 14, 15.
Barnhart, J. H. 1922. Plant nomenclature. J. Bot. 6: 256-
263. Hoogland, R. D. & J. L. Reveal. 1993. Vascular plant
family names in current use. Regnum Vegetabile 126:
Bartlett, H. H. 1940. History of the generic concept in 15-60.
botany. Bull. Torrey Bot. Club 67: 349-362.
Hunter, M. 1991. Racist relics: an ugly blight on our
Boivin, B. 1967. Connecting vowels in epithets of Latin botanical nomenclature. The Scientist Nov: 7.
origin. Rhodora 69: 451-455.
Hyams, R. & R. Pankhurst. 1995. Plants and their
Brickell, C. D. et al. (editor). 2016. International code of names: a concise dictionary. Oxford Univ. Press. Oxford,
nomenclature for cultivated plants. Ninth edition. England. 545 pp.
International Soc. Horticultural Science. Leuven,
Belgium. Johnson, A. J. & H. A. Smith. 1979. Plant names
simplified. Landsman Bookshop. London, England.
Bullock, A. A. 1958. Gender of generic names. Taxon 7:
267, 268. Manara, B. 1991. Some guidelines on the use of gender
in generic names and species epithets. Taxon 40: 301-
Coombes, A. J. 1985. Dictionary of plant names: the 308.
pronunciation, derivation and meaning of botanical
names, and their common-name equivalents. Timber Marafioti, R. L. 1970. The meaning of generic names of
Press. Portland, OR. 207 pp. important economic plants. Econ. Bot. 24: 189-207.

Coombes, A. J. 2012. The A to Z of plant names: a quick McNeill, J. et al. (editors). 2012. International code of
reference guide to 4000 garden plants. Timber Press. nomenclature for algae, fungi, and plants. Koeltz
Portland, OR. 312 pp. Scientific Books. 208 pp.

Copeland, H. F. 1933. Conventions of botanical Neal, B. 1992. Gardener’s Latin. Algonquin Books of
nomenclature. Science 78: 333-335. Chapel Hill. Chapel Hill, NC. 136 pp.

Croft, J. et al. 1999. Plant names for the 21st century: Nicolson, D. H. 1974. 1974. Orthography of names and
the International Plant Names Index, a distributed data epithets: stems and compound words. Taxon 23: 163-
source of general accessibility. Taxon 48(2): 317-324. 177.

Else, G. F. 1967. The pronunciation of classical names Pavord, A. 2005. The naming of names: the search for
and words in English. Classical J. 62: 210-214. order in the world of plants. Bloomsbury. London, U. K.
471 pp.
Gleason, H. A. 1932. The pronunciation of botanical
names. Torreya 32: 53-58. Stearn, W. T. 1992. Botanical Latin. Fourth edition.

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Devon, U. K. 546 pp. [The standard work on the subject
and the source of many examples that I have used.]

Wright, J. 2014. The naming of the shre” a curious

history of Latin names. Bloomsbury. London, U. K. 303
pp.

Yoon, C. K. 2009. Naming nature: the clash between

instinct and science. W. W. Norton, New York, NY. 344
pp.

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