Property:Etymology
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Latest revision as of 18:00, 16 December 2019
A
Presumably Arabic habb-el-misk, musk seed, alluding to scented seeds +
Latin abietis, of conifer genus Abies, and - ella, diminutive, alluding to habit aspect +
for Peder Chritian Abildgaard, 1740–1801, Danish professor of verterinary medicine +
Greek akalephe, stinging nettle, from a-, without, kalos, good, and haphe, touch, alluding to some species resembling Urtica (though not stinging) +
Greek akamptos, stiff or unbending, and pappus, alluding to thick pappus elements +
Greek akantha, thorn, and Cereus, a genus of cacti +
Greek acantha, thorn, and scyphos, cup, alluding to awn on involucre +
Greek acantha, prickle, and sperma, seed, alluding to prickly “fruits” +
Greek achyron, scale, and Latin achaenium, fruit, alluding to cypselae +
Greek achyron, chaff, and anthos, flower +
Greek achuron, chaff, and onyx, onychos, nail or fingernail, alluding to the chaffy sepals +
Greek a-, without, coelo, hollow, and raphe, in reference to shape of the seed +
Greek acon, whetstone, and gone, seed, perhaps alluding to rough seeds +
Greek akros, top, and poros, pore, possibly alluding to tubulose points of branches +
Greek akron, tip, and ptilon, feather, describing the pappus bristles +
Greek acros, at the end, tip, and stichos, row, referring to the distal spore-bearing pinnae +
Greek aktis, ray, and stachys, spike, referring to the rays of the fertile leaves +
Greek aden, gland, and kaulos, stem +
Greek adeno, gland, and phyllon, leaf +
Greek a den, gland, and stoma, mouth, alluding to gland at rim of hypanthium +
Greek mythology: sprouted from blood of Adonis, lover of Aphrodite, based on the blood red flowers +
A mythi-cal hermaphrodite monster, in reference to the original inclusion in Menispermaceae, where it was the only genus with bisexual flowers +
Greek Argemone from argemos, cataract of eye, alluding to supposed curative properties of plant for eye disease +
Greek agros, field, and stemma, crown or wreath, alluding to the flowers’ use in garlands +
Arabic name alkemelyeh, perhaps alluding to alchemists' interest in reputed marvelous powers of its dew +
Greek aletris, a female slave who ground corn, alluding to the mealy texture of the perianths +
Probably from Greek halikakabon, bladder, known in Persian as al-kākunadj and in Arabic as hub-ul-kakinj, name for a nightshade +
For Frederique Louis Allamand, 1736–1803, Swiss physician and botanist, correspondent of Linnaeus +
for Robert Allen Rolfe, English botanist, 1855–1921 +
Genus Allium, garlic or onion, and Latin –aria, connection, alluding to odor of crushed plant +
Greek allos, other or different, and tropos, turn or direction, alluding to inflorescence +
Greek allo- , different, and genus Wissadula +
For Almut G. Jones, b. 1923, American Aster specialist +
for Clas Alströmer, 1736–1794, Swedish naturalist and pupil of Linnaeus +
Latin alternans, alternating, and anthera, anther, referring to the alternation of pseudostaminodes and stamens +
For Pedro de Alvarado y Contreras, ca. 1485 – 1541, member of Cortez’s expedition to Mexico +
Greek amarantos, unfading, nonwith ering +
Generic name Amauria, and Greek - opsis, resembling +
Pre-Linnaean genus name Amberboi Vaillant, cited by Linnaeus in his original publication of Centaurea +
Greek ambly, blunt, and lepis, scale +
Greek ambly -, blunt, and pappos, pappus +
Greek amblys, blunt, and stege, roof, alluding to obtuse operculum +
Old Savoy name for Amelanchier ovalis Medikus +
America plus orchis, from the American distribution of this close relative of Eurasian Orchis +
merged Greek amiantos, unsoiled, and anthos, flower, alluding to the glandless tepals +
Greek ampelos, vine, alluding to habit, and generic name Aster +
Greek ampelos, grapevine, and -opsis, similarity +
Greek amphi -, around, and achyron, chaff or husks, alluding to ring of pappus elements +
Variant of Amphoridium (nomenclaturally unavailable), diminutive of Greek amphora, flask, alluding to capsule shape +
Greek amphi- , double or two, and pappos, pappus alluding to dimorphic pappi, ray cypselae and disc cypselae +
Greek amphi- , doubtful, ambiguous, and Latin scirpus, bulrush +
Probably for Dr. John Amson, eighteenth-century physician in Williamsburg, Virginia, serving as its mayor 1750 and 1751 +
Greek ana- , back, kamptos, bent, and odon, tooth, alluding to reflexed exostome teeth +
Greek ankistron, fish hook, referring to hooked centr al spines, and Cactus, an old genus name +
Greek ankistros, fishhook, and karphos, chaff, alluding to staminate paleae of type species +
Genus Andreaea and Greek bryon, moss, alluding to anomalous resemblance +
Greek andros, stamen, and stephanos, crown, alluding to the apical appendages of the united filaments +
For Aven Nelson, 1859–1952, American botanist who studied the flora of Wyoming and neighboring states +
Greek aneimon, without clothing, referring to the absence of blade protection for the sporangia +
Greek anisos, unequal or dissimilar, and karpos, fruit, alluding to contrasting ray (fertile) and disc (sterile) ovaries in type species +
Greek anoiktos, opened, and angos, container, alluding to wide-mouthed capsule +
Greek anomos, lawless or different, and bryon, moss, alluding to somewhat hypnaceous distal laminal cells +
Latin antenna, and aria, connection to or possession of, alluding to similarity of clavate pappus bristles in staminate florets to antennae of some insects +
Greek anti, like or resembling, and rhinos, nose, alluding to shape of corolla +
Greek anti, opposite, and thrix, hair, alluding to endostome segments opposite exostome teeth +
Latin anulus, ring, and caule, stem, in reference to the sticky internodal rings +
For Johan Ångström, 1813–1879, Swedish bryologist +
Greek aphanes, unseen, invisible, alluding to inconspicuous nature of plants and/or flowers +
Greek, aphanes, invisible,and rhegma, fracture, alluding to inconspicuous line of capsule dehiscence +
Greek aphanes, obscure, and stephanos, crown, apparently alluding to low coronal pappus of some species +
Greek a-, not or without, and phragma, septum, alluding to its lack in fruit of some species +
Greek apo, away from, and kynos, dog, alluding to certain species purportedly poisonous to dogs +
Greek a- , without, podos, foot, and anthera, anther, alluding to sessile anthers +
Greek, from aquatic habitat +
Genus Arabis and Greek opsis, resembling +
Greek arceuthos, juniper, and bios, life, alluding to A. oxycedri, which parasitizes that host +
Greek arche, primitive form or nature, alluding to small, simple plants and cleistocarpous capsule +
Greek arktos, northern, and anthemon, flower, alluding to arctic range +
Greek arktos, bear, alluding to the long-pilose pubescence, and mekon, poppy +
Greek arktos, bear, and staphyle, bunch of grapes, alluding to common name for A. uva-ursi +
Greek arktos, brown bear, and theke, case, capsule, container, alluding to dense, woolly tomentum of cypselae of some species +
Greek arktos, brown bear, and ous, otos, ear, perhaps alluding to shape of pappus scales +
Greek argyros, silver, and chosma, powder, referring to whitish farina covering the abaxial surface of leaf blades in most species +
Greek argyros, silver-white, and thamnos, shrub, alluding to trunk and branches covered with whitish bark +
The genus Aria and Greek karpos, fruit, referring to the Aria -like fruit +
Greek aris, plant name used by Pliny, and haima, blood, in reference to the red-spotted leaves of some species +
Latin arista, awn, and capsa, box, alluding to awned involucres +
Greek aristolocheia, birthwort, from aristos, best, and lochia, delivery, in reference to ancient use of herb as aid in childbirth +
Ancient Greek name for horseradish, or perhaps Celtic ar, near, mor, sea, and rich, against, alluding to habitat +
Greek Aria, name for whitebeam (formerly a species of Sorbus), alluding to resemblance to chokeberry fruit +
Greek, arrhen, strong, and pteron, feather or wing, possibly alluding to featherlike evenness of leaf arrangement +
Greek arthro- , jointed, and cneme, leg, between knee and ankle, internode, referring to the jointed appearance of the branches +
Greek arunkos, goat’s beard, alluding to showy fingerlike clusters forming feathery flowers +
Greek Asklepios, mythological chief physician, perhaps alluding to therapeutic properties of Vincetoxicum or a related taxon of the Old World, applied to present taxon by Linnaeus +
Greek a, absence, and semion, sign or flag, alluding to distinctness from Polygala in absence of vexillum +
Greek asphodelos, flower of Hades and the dead +
Greek aspis, shield, and karpos, fruit, alluding to shape of nutlet of A. hirtella in abaxial view +
Greek a-, without, and stilbo, sheen, alluding to foliage otherwise resembling that of Aruncus +
Greek astron, star, and anthos, flower, alluding to head as seen from above +
Greek astro, star, and lepis, scale, in reference to the starlike scales on the adaxial blade surface +
Greek asteros, star, in reference to the star-shaped stem cross section of the type species, and phyton, plant +
For Atamisco region of Chile +
Greek a- , without, trichos, hair, and seris, chicory, alluding to lack of pappus +
Greek atropos, inexorable or unchangeable, alluding to one of the three Moirai, goddesses of fate and destiny in Greek mythology +
Greek aulax, furrow, and mnion, moss, alluding to sulcate capsules +
Latin aureolus, golden, and -arius, possession, alluding to corolla +
Greek axyros (a, not, and xyrios, razor), blunt, not cutting, in reference to the mild taste +
B
For Jacob Whitman Bailey, 1811–1857, researcher of diatomaceous algae at the U.S. Military Academy +
For Saint Barbara, fourth-century, or perhaps alluding to being the only plants available for food on Saint Barbara’s Day (4 December) +
For Theodore M. Barkley, 1934–2004, North American botanist +
For John Russell Bartlett, 1805–1886, United States Commissioner of the U.S.-Mexico Boundary Survey +
Genus Bartramia and Greek -opsis, resembling +
Greek basis, base, and phyllon, leaf, referring to the single basal leaf +
For David M. Bates, b. 1935 American botanist, and Latin malva, mallow +
apparently based on a vernacular name in western India +
For Carlo Antonio Lodovico Bellardi, 1741–1826, professor of botany at University of Turin +
Latin bellus, beautiful, and genus Barbula +
Greek (Latinized) belos, arrow, and glotta, tongue, possibly alluding to sagittate lip +
For Gilbert Thereon Benson, 1896–1928, Stanford University botanist +
For Jacob Pierre Berthoud van Berchem, eighteenth-century Dutch mineralogist and naturalist +
for Alwin Berger, 1871–1931, German cactologist and horticulturist at La Mortola, Italy, and Cactus, an old genus name +
For Jean Louis Berlandier, 1805–1851, Belgian explorer in North America +
For Carlo Giuseppe Bertero, 1789–1831, Italian physician and botanist who settled in Chile +
For Billie Lee Turner, b. 1925, American botanist +
Greek blennos, mucus, and sperma, seed, alluding to cypselae becoming mucilaginous when wetted +
Greek blepharis, eyelash, and pappos, pappus, alluding to ciliate pappus scales +
For Luis Blet, a Catalonian apothecary of the eighteenth century who accompanied Ruiz and Pavón on their New World explorations +
for H. G. Bloomer, 1821–1874, early San Francisco botanist and one-time botanical curator at the California Academy of Sciences +
abridged from old Latin name Bulutaparon +
Blysmus, a genus name, and Greek - opsis, likeness +
For Tyge Wittrock Böcher, 1909–1983, Danish cytogeneticist who worked on subarctic flowering plants +
For Henry Nicholas Bolander, 1831–1897, physician and collector for California State Geological Survey +
Greek bolbos, a bulb, and schoenos, a rush, reed, in reference to the presence of corms +
For Alexander Karlovich Boschniak, 1786–1831, Russian botanist +
Greek botrychos, stalk of bunch of grapes, and Latin ium, diminutive, alluding to appearance of sporangial clusters on sporophore +
For Samuel Boykin, 1786–1848, planter, physician, and naturalist of Milledgeville, Georgia +
Greek brachys, short, and elyma, veil, alluding to diminutive calyptra +
Greek brachys, short, and chiton, tunic, evidently alluding to covering of short hairs on seeds +
Greek brachys, short, and odontion, small tooth, alluding to peristome teeth +
Greek brachys, short, and hy menion, little membrane, alluding to poorly developed endostome +
Greek brachys, short, and stigma, stigma +
Genus Brachythecium and Latin - astrum, incomplete resemblance +
Greek brachys, short, and theke, case, alluding to capsule +
For John Bradbury, 1768–1823, English naturalist, collector for the Liverpool Botanic Garden in the Missouri Territory, 1810–1811 +
For Townshend Stith Brandegee, 1843 – 1925, California botanist, explorer and collector, civil engineer, topographer +
for Christoph Brasen, 1738-1774, Moravian missionary and plant collector in Greenland and Labrador +
For Franz Gabriel de Bray, 1765–1832, French ambassador to Bavaria, head of Regensberg Botanical Society +
For Jacob Breyne, 1637–1697, and his son Johann Philipp Breyne, 1680–1764, Polish botanists +
For John Brickell, 1748–1809, Irish-born physician and naturalist who settled in Georgia (not John Brickell, 1710?–1745, Irish naturalist who visited North Carolina ca. 1729–1731 and published on the natural history of North Carolina in 1737) +
Generic name Brickellia and Latin - astrum, indicating inferiority or an incomplete resemblance +
For Viktor Ferdinand Brotherus, 1849 – 1929, Finnish bryologist +
for Pierre Marie Auguste Broussonet (1761-1807), French biologist at Montpellier +
for Morten Thrane Brunnich, 1737–1827, eighteenth-century Danish naturalist +
Greek, bryon, moss, and Lewis Edward Anderson, 1912 – 2007 American bryologist +
Greek bryon, moss, and for Elizabeth G. Knight Britton, 1858–1934, American botanist +
For Howard Alvin Crum, 1922–2002, American bryologist +
Greek bryon, moss, erythros, red, and phyllon, leaf +
For Elva Lawton, 1896 – 1993 American bryologist +
Greek bruein, to burgeon or sprout, alluding to rapid growth of herbaceous stems produced annually from large perennial roots +
Greek bryo, swell, and phyllon, leaf +
Greek bryon, moss, and xiphium, sword, alluding to plant form +
From Monte Buckland, mountain of Isla Grande de Tierra del Fuego, name commemorating William Buckland, 1784–1856, geologist, canon of Christ Church, Oxford, dean of Westminster from 1845, and Latin -ella, diminuntive +
Greek bolbos, bulb, and phyllon, leaf, referring to its leafy pseudobulb +
Latin bulbus, bulb, and stylus, style +
C
Genus name Cacalia and Greek - opsis, like +
For J. L. Calandrini, 1703–1758, Swiss botanist +
Greek chalepaino, term used by Theophrastus probably in connection with weedy plants +, some authors believe it derived from Arabic Haleb (erroneously rendered Chaleb by some), name for the Syrian city Aleppo, but highly unlikely since Adanson based it on Bauhin’s Myagrum monospermum minus, collected in southern France +
For Antonio de la Cal y Bracho, 1764/1766–1833, Spanish-born Mexican botanist and pharmacologist +
Greek kallaion, cockscomb, alluding to lobed or corrugated outgrowths on samara between lateral and dorsal wings in the type species, C. nicaraguense +
Greek kallos, beauty, and klados, branch or shoot, alluding to habit +
Latin callum, hardened or thick, costa, rib, and -ella, diminutive, alluding to strong costae +
Greek kallos, beauty, and ergon, work, alluding to appearance +
Genus Calliergon and Latin -ella, diminutive +
Greek calli, beautiful, and genus Physalis, alluding to resemblance +
Greek kallos, beautiful, and trichos, hair, presumably alluding to fine leaves of some growth forms +
Greek callos, beautiful, and treis, three, referring to the beauty of the plants and the three-whorled leaves and cone scales +
Greek callos, beautiful, and kedros, cedar +
Greek kalos, beautiful, and chortos, grass +
Greek kalos, beautiful, and phyllon, leaf +
Greek kalos, beautiful, and pogon, beard, alluding to hairlike protuberances on lamellae +
Greek calyx, cup, and aden, gland, alluding to tack-glands of peduncular bracts and/or phyllaries +
Greek kályx, covering, cup, and anthos, flower +
Greek, calyx, cup, and carpos, fruit +
Greek kalyx, cup, and seris, chicory, alluding to shallow cups on apices of cypselae +
Greek caly, sheathed or covered, and dory, spear, most likely alluding to the spear-shaped buds enclosed until anthesis within the rhipidial spathes +
Greek kalymma, covering, and peiro, pierce, alluding to fissured calyptra +
Greek kalypto, covered or hidden, and karpos, fruit +
Greek kalyptra, cap or cover, and anthos, flower, alluding to calyx covering stamens in flower bud +
Greek calyx and stegos, covering, alluding to two large bracts enclosing calyx +
Greek chamai, dwarf or on the ground, and linon, flax, alluding to suppressing influence on growth of flax +
For Ludolf Karl Adelbert von Chamisso, 1781–1838, French-born German botanist +
Genus Camissonia and Greek -opsis, resemblance +
Genus Campylium and Greek adelphos, brother, alluding to similarity +
Greek kampylos, crooked, and kentros, spur, alluding to the floral lip with a long, slender, sharply curved spur +
Greek kampylos, curved, and neuron, nerve, in reference to the venation +
Greek kampylos, bent, and phyllon, leaf, alluding to recurved leaves +
Genus Campylopus and Latin -ella, diminutive +
Greek campylos, curved, and pous, foot, alluding to curved seta +
Greek kampylos, bent, and stele, pillar, alluding to curved seta +
Canada and Greek anthos, flower, alluding to mainly Canadian distribution +
Greek kardio, heart, and nema, thread, alluding to the obcordate anthers and slender filaments +
Alluding to imagined resemblance of leaves or fruits to those of a fig, Ficus carica, erroneously thought to be from Caria in southwestern Asia Minor +
For Sherwin Carlquist, b. 1930, Californian botanist +
For Bassiani Carminati, eighteenth-century Italian author of book on hygiene, therapeutics, and materia medica +
For Andrew Carnegie, 1835–1919, Scottish-born American philanthropist and patron for systematic studies of cacti +
For William Marbury Carpenter, 1811–1848, Louisiana physician and botanist +
Greek karphos, chaff, and phoros, bearing, alluding to receptacular paleae +
Greek karphos, chaff, and chaite, long bristle +
Latin carpinus, hornbeam, possibly from carpentum, a Roman horse-drawn vehicle with wheels made from its hard wood +
Greek karpos, fruit, and brota, edible things +
For Bartholomaeus Carrichter, sixteenth-century herbalist, alchemist, and physician to Emperor Maximilian II +
Classical Latin, from Greek kastanaion karuon, nut from Castania, probably referring either to Kastanaia in Pontus or Castana in Thessaly +
For Domingo Castillejo, 1744–1793, Spanish botanist +
Neo-Latin casuarius, cassowary, from resemblance of drooping branchlets to feathers of the cassowary +
Greek katharos, pure, and anthos, flower, alluding to neatness and beauty of flowers +
Greek kata, down, and skopeo, look, alluding to orientation of capsule mouth +
Greek kaulos, stem, and anthos, flower, alluding to insertion of flowers along stem +
Greek caulos, stem, and phyllos, leaf +
Greek keleos, burning, alluding to color and/or appearance of the inflorescence of C. cristata +
Classical Latin, Pliny's name for Celtis australis Linnaeus, the "lotus" of the ancient world +
Greek kentaurieon, ancient plant name associated with Chiron, a centaur famous for knowledge of medicinal plants +
Greek kentauros, centaur, alluding to plant’s supposed medicinal use by Chiron in Greek mythology +
Latin centrum, center, and atherum, prickle or awn, perhaps alluding to spine-tipped middle phyllaries of original species +
Latin centron, prickle, and generic name Madia +
Greek kentron, spur and stegion, roof, alluding to arched saccate spurs at base of involucre +
Greek kephale, head, and anthera, anther +
Greek keratos, horn, and odon, tooth, alluding to peristome teeth forked like goat horns +
Greek ceratos, horn, and phyllon, leaf +
Greek cerato, horned, and pteris, fern, referring to the antlerlike fertile leaf +
Greek keratos, horned, and theke, case, alluding to barbed fruit +
Greek kerkos, tail, and karpos, fruit +
Greek chaino, to gape, and aktis, ray, alluding to enlarged peripheral corollas of type species +
Greek chaino, open, and melon, apple, alluding to mistakenly presumed splitting of fruit +
Greek chaino, to gape, and rhis, snout, alluding to open throat of corolla as compared to Antirrhinum and Linaria +
Greek chaite, long hair, bristles, and adelphe, sister, alluding to adnation of awns and bristles of pappi +
Greek chaite, long hair, and pappos, pappus +
Greek chamai, low, and batos, bramble, alluding to habit +
Genus Chamaebatia and Latin - aria, connection, alluding to resemblance +
Greek, chamae -, creeping, low, on the ground, and generic name Chaenactis +
Greek chamai, on the ground, or dwarf, and cyparissos, cypress +
Greek chamai, dwarf, and daphne, laurel, alluding to low habit and persistent leaves +
Greek chamai, on the ground, and dorea, gift, in reference to small, low-growing palms of great beauty +
Greek chamae, on the ground, and lirion, white lily +
Greek chamae- , on the ground, lowly, creeping, and melon, orchard, alluding to common habitat +
Greek chamae-, on the ground or dwarf, and nērion, oleander, alluding to resemblance of flower color and foliage +
Greek chamai, dwarf, and rhodon, rose, alluding to appearance of plants +
Greek chamai, on the ground, and genus Saracha, alluding to low habit and similarity +
For J. A. C. Chaptal, 1756–1831, who invented the wine-making process called chaptalization +
Greek chasme, gap, and anthos, flower, alluding to the shape of the flower +
Greek cheilos, margin, and anthus, flower, referring to the marginal sporangia +
Greek cheilidon, swallow (bird), perhaps from lore reported by Aristotle and others that mother swallows bathe eyes of their young with the sap +
Greek chelon, tortoise, alluding to fancied resemblance between flower back and tortoise back +
Greek chen, goose, and pous, foot, in reference to the shape of the leaf +
Greek cheima, winter, and philia, love, alluding to evergreen habit +
Greek chion, snow, and doxa, glory or repute +
Greek chion, snow, and philios, loving, alluding to high-elevation habitats +
Greek chloros, green, and akantha, thorn +
Greek chlor -, green, and Crambe, a genus of Brassicaceae +
Greek chloros, green, and gala, milk, alluding to the lather-producing juice of the bulbs +
Greek chloros, green or yellow-green, and pyros, fire, hence red or yellow, alluding to yellowish green plants +
Name used by Dioscorides for plant that exudes milky juice or gum +
Greek choris, asunder or separate, and spora, seed, alluding to fruit breaking at constrictions into one-seeded segments +
Greek chorizo, to divide, and anthos, flower, alluding to tepals +
Greek chroma, color, and laina, cloak, evidently alluding to the colored phyllaries of some species, including the type +
Greek chrysos, gold, and actinos, ray +
Generic name Chrysanthemum and Latin -oides, resembling +
Greek chryseos, golden, and genus Hypnum +
Greek chrysos, golden, and balanos, acorn or fruit, alluding to yellow fruits of some individuals of C. icaco +
Greek chrysos, gold, and gonos, seed, apparently alluding to the bright yellow, hemispheric capitula or to the fertile cypselae from the cypsela-complexes of the ray florets +
Greek chrysos, gold, and lepis, scale, referring to yellow glands on various organs of the plant +
Greek chrysos, gold, and phyllon, leaf +
Greek chrysos, gold, and opsis, appearance or likeness, alluding to yellow corollas +
Greek chrysos, gold, and splenos, spleen, alluding to color of flowers and to alleged medical properties +
Greek chryseos, golden, and thamnos, bush +
Greek chylos, juice or succulence, and -isma, condition, alluding to fleshy leaves of C. scapoidea, the type species +
Genus Chylismia and Latin -ella, diminutive, alluding to flower size +
Italian kikenda, ancient name used in Tuscany for Gentianaceae taxon, probably Gentiana lutea +
For Bernardo Cienfuegos, ca. 1580 – ca. 1640, Spanish botanist +
Latin cimex, bug, and fugare, to drive away +
Greek kinklis, latticed gate, and eidos, shape or form, alluding to endostome +
Greek kinnamomon, cinnamon +
Greek kirkaia, a poetic name, alluding to mythical enchantress Circe’s usage of an unknown plant as a charm +
Latin cirrus, curl, and Greek phyllon, leaf, alluding to appearance +
generic name Cistus (rockrose) and Greek anthos, flower, in reference to similarity of the flowers +
Generic name Citrus and Latin - ellus, diminutive, alluding to supposed resemblance of fruits +
Greek klao, break, and podion, little foot, apparently alluding to fragile setae +
For “Dr. Asahel Clapp, of New Albany, Indiana, one of the most zealous botanists of our Western States….” Quoted from protologue. +
Greek klasma, fragment, and odon, tooth, alluding to irregularly bifid endostome +
Greek kleistos, closed, alluding to lip and petals that diverge only near apex, forming tube for most of their length, the flower thus appearing closed +
Greek kleistos, unopened, and karpos, fruit, alluding to indehiscent capsule without operculum +
Origin obscure, perhaps from Greek kleos, glory, or after Kleo, Greek muse of history, first used by Priscian, fourteenth-century medical writer +
Genus Cleome and serrata, serrate, alluding to leaflet margins +
For William Clifton, vital dates unknown, first attorney general of Georgia (1754–1764), later Chief Justice of West Florida +
Greek klimakion, small stair or ladder, alluding to broad perforations of endostome segments united by transverse tissue resembling rungs of a ladder +
Greek cnide, nettle, and skolos, thorn, alluding to stinging hairs +
Greek, coccos, seed or berry, and lobos, capsule or pod, alluding to fleshy hypanthium surrounding fruit +
Greek coccos, berry, and thrinax, trident or winnowing fork +
Latin cochlear, spoon, alluding to leaf shape of some species +
Distorted Greek kodon, bell, and phoras, bearing, alluding to capsules with bell-shaped calyptrae +
Greek koilos, hollow, and glossa, tongue +
Greek kilos (Latin coelus), hollow, and phragmos, partition, alluding to deep pits on sides of fruit septum where seeds are located +
For Auguste Henri Cornut de Coincy, 1837–1903, Spanish botanist, discoverer of first species described +
Greek koleos, sheath, and gyne, female, alluding to thin staminal tubelike sheath surrounding ovary and style +
Latin coluber, racer snake, perhaps alluding to twisting of deep furrows on stems of some species +
Columbia (River), and doria, an early name for goldenrods +
Greek komaros, arbutus, and staphyle, cluster of grapes, alluding to resemblance of fruit clusters to those of Arbutus unedo +
Greek kome, hair of head, and stoma, mouth or gap, alluding to fimbriate scales at corolla throat +
Latin, derived from a name applied by Pliny the Elder to a climbing plant of uncertain identity +
Greek kommi, gum, and carpos, fruit, in reference to gummy-glandular fruit +
For Antonio Condal, 1745–1804, Spanish physician who accompanied Peter Loefling on a journey up the Orinoco River +
Latin conus, cone, and genus Mitella, alluding to hypanthium shape and general resemblance +
Greek konos, cone, and karpos, fruit, alluding to shape of densely clustered fruits +
Greek konos, cone, and kline, bed, alluding to conic receptacles +
Greek conos, cone, and pholis, scale, alluding to conelike inflorescences +
Greek konos, cone, and stoma, opening, alluding to operculum +
For Hermann Conring, 1606–1681, German professor of medicine and philosophy at Helmstedt +
For Lincoln Constance, 1909–2001, Californian botanist +
Latin convallis, valley +
Latin convolvo, to entwine, alluding to twining habit of most species +
Greek korallion, coral, and rhiza, root, referring to coral-like appearance of branching, underground rhizome +
Greek kordyle, club, and anthos, flower, alluding to somewhat clavate corolla +
Greek koreos, bug, and karpos, fruit, alluding to pectinately winged cypselae of original species +
Greek korethron, broom, and gyne, female, alluding to style-branch appendages +
Greek coris, bug, and spermum, seed +
Latin corrigia, shoelace, perhaps alluding to the slender stems +
Greek coryph, head/helmet/crown, and Greek anthos, flower, refe rring to the apical location of flowers in contrast with the ring of lateral flowers in the related genus Mammillaria +
Greek koskinon, sieve, and odon, tooth, alluding to peristome +
Latin cotoneum, quince, and - aster, incomplete resemblance, alluding to similarity of leaves in some species +
Greek kotyledon, a cup-shaped hollow, alluding to leaf form of a plant now placed in Umbilicus +
Greek Krataigon, thorn, from Greek kratos, strength, and akis, sharp tip, alluding to thorns of some species +
Greek cratos, strong, and neuron, nerve, alluding to leaf costa +
Greek krepis, slipper or sandal, possibly alluding to shape of cypselae, a name of a plant in writings by Theophrastus +
Greek krokos, saffron, and anthemon, flower, alluding to petal color +
Greek krokis, downy fibers of woolen cloth, and - idium, diminutive, alluding to axillary tomentum +
Greek krokos, crocus, and osme, scent, because the dried flowers boiled in water smell like the spice saffron obtained from that plant +
Greek kropion, scythe, and ptilon, wing or feather, perhaps alluding to perceived winglike or featherlike appearance of curved, pinnately toothed leaves, the allusion to “feather” explicit by Rafinesque, “col. feather,” but not explained +
Greek krossos, fringe or tassel, and -idion, diminutive, alluding to tassel-like fringe on adaxial surface of costa +
Greek krossos, fringe, and petalon, petal, alluding to fimbriate petals of the type species +
Greek krossos, fringe or tassel, and soma, body, alluding to aril +
Greek cryptos, hidden, and gramme, line, referring to the ± marginal soral bands hidden by revolute margins +
Greek kryptos, hidden, and stegein, to cover, alluding to enclosure of five-scaled crown within corolla tube +
Greek ktenos, comb, and lepis, scale, apparently alluding to stiffly spreading cilia on margins of stipules +
Latin cuniculus, rabbit, and tinus, shrub, thus rabbit brush, commonly used name for species of Chrysothamnus in the broad sense +
For William C. Cusick, 1842–1922, Oregon plant collector +
Greek kyklos, circle, and aden, gland, alluding to arrangement of nectaries below ovaries +
Greek kyklos, circle, and antheros, blooming, alluding to single, ringlike stamen +
Greek kyklos, circle, and diktyon, net, alluding to large laminal cells +
Greek cyclo, circular, and pogon, beard, perhaps in reference to pubescent bases of sepals of the type species +
Latin cylindrus, cylinder, and Opuntia, the genus from which this segregate was removed +
Latin cymbalum, rounded, concave, and -aria, resemblance, alluding to leaf shape +
Greek kyma, wave, and phyll, leaf, in reference to the undulate-margined leaves +
Greek kynos, dog, odon, tooth, and -ium, diminutive, alluding to peristome +
Greek kynos, dog, and phallos, penis, alluding to brilliant red color inside rupturing fruits, which reminded early botanists of a dog’s penis +
Greek, kyphos, bent, humped, and meris, part, in reference to the gibbous fruit +
Greek Kypris, Aphrodite, and Latin pes, foot, perhaps an orthographic error for Greek pedilon, slipper +
Greek kypsele, a hollow box or chest, such as a beehive, which the capsule is thought to resemble +
For Dominico Cirillo, 1739–1799, Italian physician and professor of natural history, University of Naples +
Greek kyrtos, curved or arched, and hypnon, moss, alluding to incurved dry leaves +
Greek kyrtos, curved or arched, and mnion, moss, alluding to capsules +
Greek kyrtos, curved swelling, and podium, foot, probably alluding to conspicuous column foot +
Greek kystos, bladder, and pteris, fern, alluding to the indusium, which is inflated when young +
D
Greek dakryo, weep, and phyllon, leaf, alluding to tearlike appearance of proximal prorulae of basal laminal cells +
Greek dactylos, finger, and rhiza, root, in reference to the fingerlike tuberoids of the more primitive species +
For Jacques Daléchamps (or D’Aléchamps), 1513–1588, French surgeon and botanist +
Greek, ancient name +
For William Darlington, 1782–1863, Philadelphia botanist +
Greek dasy- , thick- or dense-, and lirion, white lily, alluding to the compact arrangement of flowers in the inflorescence +
Cited by Dioscorides as Roman name for a species of Catananche Linnaeus (Asteraceae), applied here possibly alluding to similarity +
Greek dekas, ten, and odon, tooth, alluding to combination of five sepals and five alternating epicalyx segments +
For Charles Deering, frequent sponsor of J. K. Small in his botanical explorations +
Greek deire, neck, and gyne, pistil or woman, referring to sepals that sit on top of ovary and form a necklike extension +
For “Dom. Delaire,” who sent a specimen to Lemaire from a garden in the Orléans district of France +
Greek delos, visible, and sperma, seed, in reference to the seeds being exposed as the fruits dehisce +
Greek delphinion, derived from delphin, possibly for fancied resemblance of flowers of some species to classical sculptures of dolphins +
Greek dendron, tree, and genus Alsia, suggesting a dendroid Alsia +
Greek dendro, tree, and phylax, epiphyte or guardian, in reference to the epiphytic habit +
Named after A. W. Dennstaedt, 1826, German botanist +
Greek depas, saucer, referring to the saucerlike indusium of the type species, Deparia prolifera, which is aberrant in the genus +
For François Descurain, 1658–1740, French botanist and apothecary +
For Johann van der Deutz, ca. 1743–1784, Dutch merchant and patron of Carl Peter Thunberg +
Greek diamorphe, contrary or different form, alluding to fruit compared with that of related genera +
Latin Diana, Roman sylvan goddess, and - ella, diminutive suffix, alluding to the forest habitat and small stature +
Greek diapero, to pass through, alluding to pseudo-polytomous branching pattern (“proliferous inflorescence”) of type species +
Greek di - two, chaite, long hair, and - phore, bearer or carrier, alluding to the two awnlike pappus elements +
Greek dichelos, split hoof, and stemma, crown or garland, alluding to the bifid perianth appendages that form a corona +
Greek dicha, in two, and odontos, tooth, alluding to partially divided peristome teeth +
Greek dis, double, and chondros, grain, alluding to each flower producing two 1-seeded capsules in D. repens, the type species +
Greek di, two, chroma, color, and anthos, flower, indicating 2-colored nature of flowers +
Greek di, two, and koris, bug, alluding to the two, “buglike” cypselae of the original species +
Genus Dicranum and Latin -ella, diminutive +
Greek dicranon, pitchfork, and odon, tooth, alluding to forked peristome teeth +
Greek dikranos, twice-forked, and pteris, fern, derived from pteron, feather, in reference to the leaf architecture +
Greek dicranos, two-headed, and stegos, sheath or cover, alluding to two-lobed calyx +
Genera Dicranum and Weissia, alluding to relationship with Dicranum and fancied resemblance to Weissia +
Greek di -, two, and etos, year, alluding to biennial duration of the plants first named by Nuttall +
Latin digitalis, finger of a glove, alluding to resemblance of tubular flowers to glove fingers +
Latin dimorphus, having two forms, and carpus, fruit, alluding to production of two fruit types in some species +
Greek di- , two, morphe, shape, and theca, case or container, alluding to two forms of cypselae within each head +
Greek Dione, mother of Aphrodite, Greek goddess of love and beauty whose Roman name was Venus +
Greek Dios, Zeus, and pyros, grain, Theophrastean fruit name of unknown application appropriated by Linnaeus +
Diphasium, a generic name, and -astrum, incomplete resemblance +
Greek dis, twice, and phyllon, leaf +
Greek di-, two, and physkion, little gut, alluding to double bladder of spore sac and capsule wall +
Greek dis-, two, and plakos, placenta, alluding to splitting of capsule into valves bearing parietal placentae +
Greek diplo- , double, and taxis, arrangement, alluding to number of seed rows in each locule of fruit +
Greek distichos, in two rows, alluding to leaves +
Greek di-, two, and trichos, hair, alluding to peristome split longitudinally into two segments +
Greek ditry, two or three, and syn, together, alluding to number and union of stamens +
For Manfred Dittrich, b. 1934, German botanist +
Greek dodeka, twelve, and hema, dart or javelin, alluding to involucral awns +
Greek dodeka, twelve, and theoi, gods, fanciful name given by Pliny to a primrose purportedly protected by the gods +
For Ignatz Doellinger (1770–1841), German botanist +
For James Donald Richards, 1920 – 1980, American bryologist +
For David Douglas, 1798–1834, Scottish botanist and collector in northwestern North America +
Greek drepane, sickle, and clados, branch, alluding to curvature of branch leaves +
Greek drosos, dew, and anthos, flower, in reference to the glistening papillae +
For Thomas Drummond, 1780 – 1835, Scottish botanist who collected extensively on two expeditions to North America +
Greek drymos, woods, and kallos, beauty +
Greek drys, oak, and petalon, leaf, alluding to resemblance of petal shape to leaves of some oaks +
Greek drys, tree, and pteris, fern +
Generic name Dyssodia and Greek - opsis, resembling +
E
For Alice Eastwood, 1859–1953, western American botanist +
Greek ekkremes, hanging, and -idium, diminutive, alluding to pendulous capsule +
Greek echinos, hedgehog, an d Cactus, an old genus name +
Greek echinos, spine, and Cereus, a genus of columnar cacti +
Greek echinos, hedgehog, and kystis, bladder, alluding to prickly, hollow fruits +
Greek echius, rough husk, and doros, leathern bottle, alluding to ovaries, which in some species are armed with persistent styles, forming prickly head of fruit +
Greek echinos, hedgehog, and masto, breast, referring to the spiny tubercles +
Greek echinos, hedgehog, and pepon, melon or pumpkin, alluding to prickly fruits +
Greek echinos, sea-urchin or hedgehog, and phyllon, leaf, alluding to spinose proximal leaf margins +
Greek echis, viper, and ites, of the nature of, alluding to twining habit and deleterious quality +
For Michael Pakenham Edgeworth, 1812–1881 Irish botanist and British civil servant in Bengal +
for Johann A. F. Eichhorn, 1779–1856, Prussian statesman +
Greek heleios, dwelling in a marsh, and charis, grace +
For Adolph Daniel Edward Elmer, 1870–1942, collector and botanist in western North America +
Greek eleutheros, free, and plectron, spur, referring to free spur of sepal +
Generic name Encelia and Greek -opsis, resembling +
Greek enkyklos, to encircle, referring to the lateral lobes of the lip, which encircle the column +
For George Engelmann, 1809–1884, German-American physician and botanist +
Greek entos, inside, and odon, tooth, alluding to peristome teeth inserted below capsule mouth +
Genus Entodon and - opsis, resembling, alluding to similarity +
Greek entosthi, within, and odon, tooth, alluding to position of teeth inside capsule +
Greek epi, upon, and hydor, water, probably alluding to habitat of similar looking Equisetum Linnaeus and/or Hippuris Linnaeus, misapplied here. +
Greek epi -, on, and dendron, tree, alluding to the epiphytic habit +
Greek epi, on, lobos, pod or capsule, and iov (ion), violet, alluding to violet flower at apex of fruit +
Greek epi, upon, and phyllon, a leaf, referring to flowers borne on leaves, actually phylloclades, leaflike stems +
Greek epi, upon, and pterigion, little wing, alluding to small dorsal leaves +
Greek epi, upon, thele, nipple, and anthos, flower, describing flower position near tubercle apex +
Greek epi-, upon, and xiphos, sword, alluding to sword-shaped persistent style +
Latin <i>equis</i>, horse, and <i>seta</i>, bristle, referring to the coarse black roots of <i>E. fluviatile</i> +
A name mentioned by Dioscorides, presumably for a plant now referable to Senecio or a related genus +
Greek eremos, desert, and krinon, lily +
Greek eremia, desert, and thera from genus Oenothera, probably alluding to habitat and likeness +
Generic name Erica and Greek meros, part or portion, alluding to resemblance of leaves +
Greek eri, early, or erio, woolly, and geron, old man, perhaps alluding to pappus, which becomes gray and accrescent in some species, or to solitary, woolly heads of some of species +
Greek erion, wool, and botrys, bunch of grapes, alluding to woolly inflorescences +
derived from Greek erion, wool, and caulos, stalk +
Greek erion, wool, and gony, knee, alluding to the hairy nodes of the species first described, E. tomentosum +
Greek erion, wool or cotton, and phoros, bearing +
Greek erion, wool, and phyllon, leaf +
Genus Eruca and Latin - astrum, resembling +
Greek eryso, to ward off or to cure, alluding to the supposed medicinal properties of some species +
Greek erythros, red, and anthe, bloom, alluding to corolla color of type species, E. cardinalis +
Greek erythros, red, alluding to the pink to purple flowers of Erythronium dens-canis +
For Johann F. G. von Eschscholtz, 1793-1831, Estonian physician and biologist who traveled with Chamisso on the Romanzoff (or Kotzebue) Expedition to the Pacific Coast +
Greek eu, well, and kalyptos, covered, alluding to deciduous calyptra covering stamens in flower bud +
Greek eu -, good or true, and chiton, tunic, alluding to ‘close-fitting’ clusters of bracts subtending clusters of heads +
Greek eu-, good or well, and klados, branch, alluding to well-developed whorls of stem leaves +
Greek eu-, good or pretty, and knide, nettle, alluding to stinging trichomes and showy flowers +
Greek eu, good or well, and kommi, gum, alluding to abundant latex in younger tissues of plant +
Greek eu-, good, and onyma, name, apparently applied ironically, the genus having had the bad reputation of poisoning cattle +
For Mithridates Eupator, King of Pontus, 132–63 B.C. +
Greek euphraino, to delight, alluding to supposed improvements in vision from the application of E. officinalis +
Genus Eurhynchium and Latin - astrum, incomplete resemblance +
Greek eurys, wide, and baios, few, perhaps alluding to the few, wide-spreading ray florets +
Alexander’s rock aster +
Greek eu- , well, truly, and trocho- , wheel-like, alluding to whorled leaves +
Latin evolvo, not twisting, alluding to nontwining habit, as contrasted with Convolvulus +
Greek exo -, outside, and chorde, string, alluding to free placentary cords external to carpels +
F
Latin fagus, beech, and Greek pyrus, wheat, alluding to resemblance of the achene to a beech-nut +
Classical Latin name, from Greek figos, an oak with edible acorns, probably from Greek fagein, to eat +
For August Fendler, 1813–1883, German-born plant collector in North and South America, early botanical explorer of southwestern United States +
For August Fendler, 1813–1883, botanical collector, and Latin -ella, honor +
Latin ferus, fierce or wild, referring to the horrid spines, and Cactus, the genus from which this segregate was removed +
Latin filum, thread, and - ago, possessing or resembling, alluding to abundant cottony indument +
Latin filum, thread, and pendulus, hanging, alluding to root tubers of F. vulgaris hanging together with threads +
Latin fimbria, fringe, and stylus, style +
For Carlo Giuseppe, Conte di Firmian, 1717 – 1782 Austrian statesman and Governor-General of Lombardy +
For Étienne de Flacourt, 1607–1660, Governor of Madagascar +
For Gottfried F. Fleischmann, 1777–1850, teacher of Schultz-Bipontinus at Erlangen +
For Marie-Jean-Pierre Flourens, 1794–1867, physiologist, perpetual secretary, Académie des Sciences, Paris +
Latin, of a spring, alluding to aquatic habitat +
For Johan Erik Forsström, 1775 – 1824, Swedish pastor and plant collector +
for Dr. John Fothergill, (1712-1780), London physician and patron of early American botany +
Latin fraga, fragrance, and aria, possession, alluding to sweet-smelling strawberry fruit +
Probably from Latin frango, to break, and -ula, diminutive, alluding to brittleness of twigs +
For Benjamin Franklin, 1706–1790, American statesman, diplomat, physicist, man of letters +
for F. H. T. Freese, d. 1876, student of C. F. Ecklon, 1795–1868, who first used the name (as Freesea), although in a different sense +
For John Charles Frémont, 1813 – 1890, U.S. military explorer and politician, and Greek dendron, tree +
Latin, fritillus, checkered, alluding to the markings on the tepals of many species +
for Joseph Aloys von Froelich, 1766–1841, German physician and botanist who published on Sonchus, Hieracium, and Gentiana +
Latin funis, rope, and -astrum, incomplete resemblance or diminutive, alluding to twining of stem tips in F. angustissimum, a South American species +
for Antoine François de Fourcroy, 1755–1809, French chemist who helped establish the system of chemical nomenclature +
G
For M. Gaillard de Merentonneau (or Charentonneau?), eighteenth-century French patron of botanists +
For Mariano Martínez de Galinsoga, 1766–1797, court physician and director of the Botanic Garden, Madrid +
Greek gamos, union, and chaete, loose and flowing hair, alluding to basally connate pappus bristles +
For Abram P. Garber, 1838–1881, of Columbia, Pennsylvania, noted for his contributions to the flora of Florida +
For Nicholas Garry, 1782–1856, deputy-governor of the Hudson’s Bay Company from 1822–1835, diarist of his 1821 travels in the Northwest Territories, friend and benefactor of David Douglas +
For Jean-François Gaulthier, 1708–1756, botanist and physician of Québec +
For Louis Joseph Gay-Lussac, 1778–1850, French chemist +
For Claude Gay, 1800–1873, French author of Flora of Chile, and Greek phyton, plant +
Italian gelsemino, from Persian-Arabic yāsamīn, jasmine, probably alluding to similarity of flowers +
Latin gemma, bud, and Greek bryon, moss, alluding to asexual reproduction +
Genus name Gentiana and Latin -ella, diminutive, alluding to resemblance +
Genus name Gentiana and Greek -opsis, resembling +
Greek ge, earth, and kaulos, stalk, alluding to slightly subterranean and stemlike rhizome +
Greek geuo or geyo, to give relish, alluding to quality of roots of St. Benedict's herb, G. urbanum +
Latin glandula, gland, and Cactus, an old genus name +
Genus Globulina and Latin -ella, diminutive +
Greek glochis, projecting point or barb on an arrowhead, and -idion, smaller or little, alluding to pointed extension of anther connectives +
Greek glossa, tongue, and petalon, spreading, alluding to outspreading tongue-like petals +
Greek glossa, tongue, and stigma, spot, alluding to ligulate stigma +
Greek glyptos, carved, and pleura, rib, alluding to cypselae +
Greek gnaphalion, a downy plant, the name anciently applied to these or similar plants +
For William Gollan, 1855–1905, Scottish superintendent of Edinburgh Botanic Garden and collector in Kashmir +
Latin gossypion, cotton, and Greek anthemon, flower, presumably in reference to the villous tepals +
For Antoine Gouan, 1733–1821, French botanist and ichthyologist at Montpellier, director of botanical garden in 1767, later professor of botany and medicine +
Greek graptos, marked, and petalon, leaf, alluding to petals +
Latin gratia, graceful, and -ola, diminutive, alluding to medicinal qualities of some species +
for Asa Gray, 1810–1888, botany professor at Harvard, for many years the pre-eminent American botanist +
For Abel Joel Grout, 1867 – 1947, American bryologist +
Spanish mispronunciation of "Huaicum," Bahamas Islands Taino Amerindians' name for the tree and the medicine derived from its resin +
For Antoine Guillemin, 1796–1842, French botanist, author, and explorer +
For John Gundlach, 1810–1896, naturalist and traveler +
Possibly for Pedro Gutierrez, Spanish nobleman, not specified by Lagasca +
Greek gymnos, naked, and anthos, flower, alluding to highly reduced or absent perianth +
Greek gymnos, naked, and karpos, fruit, referring to the absence of indusia +
Greek gymnos, naked, and sperma, seed, alluding to epappose cypselae +
Genus Gymnostomum and Latin -ella, diminutive +
Greek gymnos, nude, and stoma, mouth, alluding to lack of peristome +
Genus Gynandra (Orchidaceae), and Greek opsis, resemblance +
Greek gypsos, gypsum, and philios, loving, alluding to habitat of some species +
Greek gyros, circle, and andros, of male, alluding to helically twisting showy anthers at dehiscence +
Greek gyrus, circle, and genus Weissia, alluding to resemblance and well-developed, persistent annulus +
H
Greek habros, delicate or splendid, and anthos, flower +
For Ingebrigt Severin Hagen, 1852 – 1917, Norwegian bryologist +
Greek halimos, of salt, and lobos, rounded protuberance, alluding to superficial resemblance of fruit indumentum to salt +
Greek halos, sea, and ragis, grape-berry, alluding to maritime habitat and bunched fruits +
Latin hamatus, hooked, in reference to the hooked central spines, and Cactus, an old genus name +
Latin hamatus, hooked, and caulis, stem, alluding to curved stem apices +
Greek, haplos, simple, and kladion, branchlet, alluding to 1-pinnate branching +
Greek haplos, single, and odontos, tooth, alluding to single peristome +
Greek haploos, simple, and phyton, plant, alluding to absence of calycine glands and floral nectaries +
Greek haploos, simple, and esthes, raiment +
for Roland MacMillan Harper, 1878–1966, southeastern American botanist, and Greek kallos, beautiful, alluding to the attractive flower +
For Edward H. Harriman, 1848–1909, American financier and patron of science +
For William H. Harris, 1860–1920, F.L.S., British botanist and prolific collector of Jamaican plants +
for William H. Harris, 1860–1920, Superintendent of Public Gardens and Plantations of Jamaica +
For Samuel Hart Wright, 1825–1905, collector of the specimens from which the genus was described +
For S. Clinton Hastings of San Francisco, supporter of S. Watson et al. (1876–1880) on California botany +
Greek hecastos, each, and cleios, to shut up, alluding to one floret enclosed in each involucre +
For Ernst Ludwig Heim, 1747–1834, medical doctor in Berlin renowned for establishing sanitary health practices and said to have introduced Alexander von Humboldt to botany +
Generic name Helianthus and Latin - ella, diminutive +
Greek helios, sun, and anthos, flower, alluding to heads +
Greek helios, sun, and chrysos, gold, and helichrysos, Greek name for a local species of Asteraceae +
Greek helios, sun, and - merus, part +
Greek, helleborus, ancient name for this plant +
Greek hemeros, day, and kallos, beauty, alluding to the showy flowers, which bloom and wilt in one day +
Generic name Hemizonia and Latin - ella, diminutive +
Greek hemi -, half, and zona, belt or girdle, alluding to cypselae half enfolded by phyllaries +
Greek henicos, single, alluding to single, unbranched stems arising from creeping primary stems +
For Roger Hennedy, 1809–1877, Scottish phycologist +
for William Herbert, 1778–1847, prominent British botanist and specialist in bulbous plants +
For Louis Antoine Prospere Herissant, 1745 – 1769, French physician, naturalist, and poet +
for Sigismund Friedrich Hermbstädt, 1760–1833, German botanist +
Latin hernia, rupture, and -aria, pertaining to, alluding to use in treatment of hernias +
Greek herpes, snake, and neuron, nerve, alluding to terminally strongly sinuous costa +
For Clarence Luther Herrick, 1858–1903, geologist and botanical collector in New Mexico, president of University of New Mexico +
For Theodor Herzog, 1880–1961, German botanist, and Latin, - ella, diminutive +
Greek hesperos, western, and aloe, a kind of plant +
Greek hesperos, western, and genus name Evax, alluding to first discoveries from western limits of Evax distribution +
Genus Hesperis and Greek anthos, flower, alluding to resemblance of flowers +
Greek hesperos, evening, alluding to time when flowers of some species are most fragrant +
Greek hesperos, western, and kallos, beauty +
Greek hesperos, west, and knide, nettle +
Greek hesperos, western, and linon, flax +
Greek hesperos, evening or western, and mecon, poppy +
Greek heteros -, different, and anthemis, a genus name +
Greek heteros, different, and antheros, anther +
Greek heteros, differing, and kladion, branchlet, alluding to growth form +
Greek heteros, different, and melon, apple, alluding to low stamen number +
Greek heteros, different, and phyllon, leaf, alluding to somewhat different stem and branch leaves +
Greek heteros, different, and pteron, wing, alluding to dorsal wing of samara being thickened on abaxial edge and bent upward, opposite of arrangement in other genera with dorsal-winged samaras +
Greek hetero-, other or different from, and genus Savia +
Greek heteros, different, and thece, container, alluding to dimorphic cypselae +
For Johann Heinrich von Heucher, 1677–1747, Austrian-born medical botanist and professor of medicine at Wittenberg, later Dresden +
Greek hex, six, and alectryon, rooster, alluding to six longitudinal fleshy crests on the floral lip +
Greek hexastylis, with six styles +
Greek hippeus, rider, and astron, star, the allusion obscure +
For Hippocrates, ca. 460–370 BC, Greek physician +
Greek hippos, horse, and mania, fury, alluding to effect of the caustic latex on horses +
Greek hippos, of horse, and phaeos, splendor, probably alluding to ancient use of silvery leaves as horse fodder to supposedly make their coats shine or boost their energy +
For Christian Cajus Lorenz Hirschfeldt, 1742–1792, Austrian botanist/horticulturist +
For William Welles Hollister, 1818–1886, California rancher +
For Arthur Herman Holmgren, 1912–1992, Noel Herman Holmgren, b. 1937, and Patricia Kern Holmgren, b. 1940, American botanists, and Greek anthos, flower +
Greek holo -, whole, complete, and karphos, chaff, alluding to paleate receptacles +
Greek holos, whole, and diskos, disc, alluding to entire floral disc +
Genus Homalia and Greek adelphos, brother, alluding to similarity +
Genus Homalothecium and Latin - ella, diminutive, alluding to resemblance +
Greek homalos, equal, even, and theke, case, alluding to straight, cylindric capsules of some species +
Greek homos, similar, and mallos, wool, thus bending to one side, alluding to leaves slightly and uniformly curved +
For William Jackson Hooker, 1785 – 1865, British botanist and first Director of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew +
Genus Horkelia and Latin - ella, diminutive +
For Frederick Hinsdale Horsford, 1855 – 1923, Vermont farmer and commercial seedsman, and probably also for Eben Norton Horsford, 1818 – 1893, chemist +
For John Thomas Howell, 1903–1994, California botanist +
For Eric Hultén, 1894–1981, Swedish botanist, specialist of the circumpolar flora +
For Armando Theodoro Hunziker, 1919–2001, Argentinean botanist +
genus Hyacinthus and Greek oides, resembling +
Greek hydor, water, and angeion, diminutive of angos, vessel or container, alluding to shape of mature, dehisced capsule +
Greek hydr-, water, and chari, grace +
Greek hydro, water, and clavis, club-shaped, presumably from shape of pistils +
Greek hydor, water, and elaia, olive, probably alluding to habitat and oiliness and/or form of leaves +
Greek hygros, wet, and genus Amblystegium +
Greek hygros, wet, and genus Hypnum, alluding to habitat +
Greek hyle, forest, and Cereus, the genus from which this segregate was removed +
Genus Hylocomium and Latin - astrum, incomplete resemblance +
Greek hylokomos, forest inhabitant, alluding to habitat +
Greek hyle, wood, and genus Telephium +
Greek hymên, membrane, and kallos, beauty, in reference to the corona +
Greek hymen, membrane, and pappos, pappus, alluding to membranous pappus scales +
Greek hymen, membrane, and phyllon, leaf +
Greek hymen, membrane, and stylos, pillar, alluding to systylius capsule +
Greek hymen, membrane, and thrix, hair, possibly alluding to scarious-aristate pappus scales +
Genus Hyophila and Greek adelphus, brother +
Greek hyos, hog, and kyamos, bean pod, alluding to use of fruits as hog’s food +
Greek hyper, above, and eikon, image, alluding to ancient Greek custom of decorating religious figures with Hypericum species to ward off evil spirits +
Greek hypo, beneath, and choiras, pig, alluding to pigs digging for roots +
Greek hypo, below, and lepis, scale, in reference to position of sori under the revolute leaf margin +
Greek hypo, beneath, and pterygion, small wing, alluding to underleaves +
I
Derivation unknown +
Latin imbrex, roof tile, and Greek bryon, moss, alluding to strongly overlapping leaves +
Latin indusium, tunic, and -ella, diminutive, alluding to inrolled hyaline leaf margins +
Greek eiresione, a wreath or staff entwined with strips of wool, alluding to the long woolly hairs often encircling the calyx +
Greek iso -, same, and carphos, small dry body, evidently alluding to uniform receptacular paleae +
Genus Isopterygium and Greek - opsis, resembling +
Greek isos, equal, and pteron, wing, alluding to complanate leaves +
Greek isos, equal, and theke, case, alluding to symmetric capsule +
For Eli Ives, 1779–1861, professor of pediatrics, materia medica, and botany at Yale University +
For Zennoske Iwatsuki, b. 1929, Japanese bryologist, and Latin -ella, diminutive +
J
For Victor Jacquemont, 1801–1832, French botanist, explorer +
For Félix Jafuell, 1857–1931, clergyman who collected plants in South America, and Greek bryum, moss +
For Edwin P. James, 1797–1861, American physician and naturalist on the Stephen Harriman Long expeditions of 1819 & 1820 +
For Robert Leslie James, 1897–1977, American botanist and historian, and Greek anthos, flower +
Named for Thomas Jefferson (1743-1826), third president of the United States +
for John Thomas Howell, 1903–1994, California botanist and Eriogonum scholar +
for Thomas Drummond +
K
Derivation obscure, perhaps for Anders Kallström, 1733–1812, a contemporary of Scopoli +
For Peter Kalm, 1715–1779, Swedish botanist, pupil of Linnaeus, collector in eastern North America +
Genus Kalmia and Greek opsis, resemblance +
For Baron W. F. von Karvinsky, 1780–1855, botanical collector in Brazil and Mexico +
For William Kerr, d. 1814 collector in the far east, sponsored by Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, and superintendent of Botanic Garden, Peradinaya, Sri Lanka +
For Nils Conrad Kindberg, 1832 – 1910, Swedish bryologist +
For Christoph Ludwig Koeberlin, 1794–1862, German clergyman and botanist +
Genus Kopsia and Greek -opsis, resemblance +
For Vincenz Franz Kosteletzky, 1801 – 1887, Czech botanist +
For either Johann Georg Heinrich Kramer, 1684–1744, Austrian Army physician and botanist, or his son William Heinrich Kramer, d. 1765, Austrian physician and naturalist, or both +
For Antonio Krapovickas, b. 1921 Argentinian botanist +
for S. P. Krasheninnikova, 1711–1755, academician and professor in Saint Petersburg, author of the first flora of Saint Petersburg +
For Carl Wilhelm Krug, 1833–1898, major collaborator with Urban on the West Indian flora, and Greek dendron, tree +
L
Greek lachne, wool, and anthos, flower, in reference to pubescent flowers +
Greek lachnos, wool, and chaulos, stem, in reference to the long, soft, upwardly pointed hairs on scapes of the type +
For Magnus Lagerstroem, 1696–1759, friend of Linnaeus and supporter of Uppsala University +
Greek lago, hare, and phyllon, leaf, alluding to sericeous leaves of original species +
Genus Laguna, for Andrés de Laguna, 1499 – 1559 Spanish botanist and physician to Pope Julius III, and - aria, similarity +
Latin laguncula, flask or bottle, and aria, pertaining, alluding to fruit shape +
Greek lapsanae, a vegetable mentioned by Dioscorides, perhaps actually Raphanus, with lyrate leaves resembling those of Lapsana +
Lapsana, generic name, and Latin - astrum, indicating inferiority or an incomplete resemblance +
For Juan Antonio Pérez Hernández de Larrea, 1730–1803, Catholic bishop of Valladolid, Spain +
For José Victorino Lastarria Santander, 1817–1888, lawyer and founder of the Liberal Party in Chile +
For J. Cl. M. Mordant de Launay, 1750–1816, lawyer, later librarian at Musée d’Histoire Naturelle, Paris +
For René-Théophile-Hyacinthe Laënnec, 1781–1826, French physician, inventor of the stethoscope +
For Melines Conkling Leavenworth, 1796–1862, American physician and botanist who collected in the southeastern United States +
For G. W. Leibnitz, 1646–1716, philosopher, political advisor, mathematician, and scientist +
named for Dr. Edward Frederick Leitner, 1812-1838, German physician, naturalist, and explorer of southern Florida +
Greek lenos, trough, and phyllon, leaf +
Greek lepis, scale, and anthos, flower, referring to small, scalelike flowers +
Greek lepidos, scale, and sparton, Spanish broom (the plant) +
Greek leptos, slender, and arrhen, male, alluding to stamen filaments +
Greek leptos, narrow, and genus Bryum, alluding to leaf shape +
Greek leptos, thin, alluding to fine outline of laminal cells +
Greek leptos, slender, and odontos, tooth, alluding to narrow peristome teeth +
Greek leptos, thin, and hymen, membrane, alluding to endostomial basal membrane +
Greek, leptos, slender, and genus Pterigynandrum y +
Greek leptos, slender or small, and sperma, seed, alluding to form and size +
Genus Leptostomum and Greek -opsis, resemblance +
Greek lepyron, scale, and petalon, petals, alluding to scalelike petals inserted into calyx +
Greek lepyron, rind or husk, and diklis, double-folding, alluding to two-valved capsule +
For Charles Léo Lesquereux, 1806 – 1889, Swiss-American bryologist and paleontol o gist +
For C. F. Lessing, 1809–1862, German-born botanist, his nephew K. F. Lessing, and grandfather G. E. Lessing +
Leucanthemum, a genus name, plus Latin - ella, diminutive +
Greek leuco- , white, and anthemon, flower +
Greek leuc-, white, and Iva, a related genus, perhaps alluding to white indument of leaves +
Greek leukos, white, and bryon, moss +
Greek leucos, white, and krinon, lily +
Greek leucos, white, and lepis, scale, alluding to stem leaves +
Greek leukos, white, and phyllon, leaf +
Greek leucos, white, and genus Physalis, alluding to large, white corolla and resemblance +
Greek leucos, white or clear, and spora, seed, alluding to transparency of matured seeds +
Greek limne, marsh, and anthe, flower, alluding to habitat +
Greek limne, pool, and philos, loving, alluding to habitat +
For Sextus Otto Lindberg, 1835 – 1889, Scandinavian br y ologist +
For Ferdinand Jacob Lindheimer, 1801–1879, German expatriate, botanist/intellect, settled in Texas +
Greek liparos, fat, greasy, or shining, referring to the almost oily feel and luster of the leaves typical of plants in this genus +
Greek, leipo, to fall, and carpha, chaff, referring to deciduous transparent inner secondary scale of the spikelet in many species +
Latin liquidus, fluid, liquid, and Arabic ambar, amber +
Greek lirion, lily, and dendron, tree +
Greek lithos, stone, and carpos, fruit, referring to the hard fruit wall +
Latin littora, shores, and -ella, small, alluding to small lakeshore habitat +
for Patrick Murray, Baron of Livingstone (d. 1671), whose collections formed the nucleus of the Edinburgh Botanic Garden +
for Edward Lloyd (Lhwyd in Welsh), 1660–1709, curator of the Oxford Museum, who first found Lloydia serotina in the mountains of Wales +
For P. Loefling, 1729–1756, Swedish botanist and explorer +
For Leopold Loeske, 1865 – 1935, German bryologist and journalist, and Greek bryon, moss +
For Leopold Loeske, 1865–1935, German botanist, and Greek hypnum, lichen or, by usage, pleurocarpous moss +
Lomaria, a subgenus of Blechnum (Blechnaceae), plus Greek - opsis, like +
Greek lomatis, fringe or hem, and gonium, diminutive of gone, pistil, alluding to decurrence of stigma along ovary margin +
Greek lophos, crest, and phoreus, a bearer, in reference to tufts of hairs in areoles +
For Loran Crittenden Anderson, b. 1936, fervent American enthusiast of Asteraceae, especially Chrysothamnus and related taxa +
For Paul Günter Lorentz, 1835–1881, German bryologist +
For Friedrich Benjamin Lütke (later russified to Count Fyodor Petrovich Litke), 1797 – 1882 Russian sea captain and Arctic explorer +
For Alphonse Luisier, 1872–1957, French bryologist +
For Istrán Lumnitzer, 1750–1806, Hungarian botanist +
possibly from Italian lucciola, to shine, sparkle, or Latin gramen luzulae or luxulae, diminutive of lux, light, because hairs of several species have shiny appearance when covered with dew +
Genus Lycium and Greek anthos, flower, presumably alluding to resemblance of spinescent L. lycioides +
Greek lykion, name used by Dioscorides and Pliny for a spiny shrub, probably a species of Rhamnus supposedly from Lycia, ancient region of Asia Minor, alluding to resemblance +
Lycopodium, a genus name, and - ella, diminutive +
Greek lygos, twig or stick, and desme, bundle, alluding to clumped, sticklike stems with reduced leaves +
For John Lyon, 1765–1814, Scottish-born, early American botanist and explorer of southern Appalachians +
For William Scrugham Lyon, 1851 – 1916 botanist, nurseryman, plant collector in California and Philippines, and Greek thamnos, bush or shrub +
Greek lysis, dissolve, and chiton, a tunic, referring to the spathe, which withers soon after flowering +
Greek lysis, dissolve, and mache, strife, alluding to soothing properties +
M
Latin machaera, sword, and anthera, anther, alluding to curved, sword-shaped anther appendages +
for Alexander Macleay, 1767-1848, Scottish botanist, entomologist, and Secretary to the Colony of New South Wales +
Greek makros, large, and aden, gland, probably referring to the prominent viscidium, which is often referred to as a “gland” +
Greek macros, long, and antheros, anther, alluding to long-exserted stamens +
Greek macros, long, and kome, hair, alluding to long hairs on calyptrae of some species +
Greek macros, long, and mitra, cap, alluding to large calyptra +
Greek makros, large, thelys, female, and pteris, fern +
For Pierre Magnol (1638-1715), professor and director of the botanical garden at Montpellier, France +
Latin Maius, May, and Greek anthemon, flower +
Greek malakos, soft, and melon, apple +
Greek malakos, soft, or malache, mallow, and thamnos, shrub, alluding to habit +
Greek malakos, soft, and thrix, hair +
Greek malle, arm-hole, and pherein, to bear, in reference to the seed pockets of the fruits +
Latin name derived from Greek malacho, to soften, alluding to emollient qualities of some species +
Genus Malva and Latin -astrum, incomplete resemblance +
Latin, malva mallow, and viscidus, sticky, alluding to sap +
Latin mamilla, nipple, in reference to shap e of tubercles, which produce “milky” white latex in some species +
Malabar Manil, from Portuguese Manilhas Insulas (Manila, Philippines), and kara, edible fruit +
Anagram of specific epithet salmantica +
For Moses Marshall, 1758–1813, American botanist, nephew of and assistant to Humphrey Marshall +
for Car 1863, physicist at the University of Florence, Italy +
Genus Maurandya and Latin -ella, diminutive, alluding to presence of personate corolla in Maurandella +
Latin Mauros, a native of North Africa, and Greek anthemon, flower +
Greek mazos, breast, alluding to two ridges on abaxial lip of corolla or to nipplelike tubercles at inner throat of corolla in M. pumilus +
For Antoni de Meca-Caçador-Cardona i de Beatrin, 1726–1788, benefactor of Royal College of Surgery of Barcelona +
Greek meio-, fewer, and trichos, hair, alluding to calyptra +
Greek melas, black, and leukos, white, alluding to colors of tree trunk and branches, respectively, in M. leucadendron, the type species +
Greek melam- (combining form of melas before b and p), black, and pyros, wheat, alluding to color of seeds +
Greek melan, black, and Latin, anthera, anther +
Greek melas, black, and anthos, flower, alluding to the black perianth in some species +
Greek melas, black, and stoma, opening, alluding to stained mouth, especially of children, when fruits of some species are eaten +
Greek mene, moon, and sperma, seed +
For Archibald Menzies, 1754–1842, Scottish physician and naturalist with Vancouver Expedition 1790–1795, whobrought the type species from the Northwest Coast +
Latin Mercurius, Roman mythological deity, and -alis, belonging to, alluding to belief that it was discovered by him +
Greek mesembria, midday, and anthemum, blo oming +
Greek mesos, half, and pilos, felt or ball, perhaps alluding to shape of medlar fruit resembling half a ball +
Greek meta, change or instead, and stemma, girdle or crown, alluding to corona of separate scales in place of a crown +
Greek micros, small, and anthemom, flower +
Greek mikros, small, and anthos, flower +
Greek mikros, small, and bryon, moss +
Latin micro-, small, and mitra, headband, alluding to small calyptra +
Greek micros, little, and Monolepis, the genus in which this ta xon is often placed +
Greek micro -, small, and seris, endive or chicory +
Greek mikros, small, and stachys, spike, alluding to inflorescence +
Greek micro- , small, and genus Thlaspi +
For Mathias Mielichhofer, 1772 – 1847, Austrian collector of generitype specimen +
Greek mimos, imitator, and anthe, flower, alluding to Mimulus-like corolla +
Latin mimulus, diminutive of mimus, comic or mimic actor, alluding to monkey-faced corolla of some species +
for P. H. G. Moehring, 1710–1791, Danzig naturalist +
Latin mordicus, biting, alluding to sculptured seed surfaces and margins, appearing as though bitten +
For Josephus Monninus (José Moñino y Redondo), eighteenth-century Spanish Count of Florida-Blanca, administrator, and patron of botany +
Greek monos, one, and ptilon, soft feather, alluding to pappus of M. bellidiforme, a solitary plumose bristle +
Greek monos, one, and tropos, turn or direction, alluding to flowers all turned in one direction on inflorescence axis +
opsis, resemblance +
For Charles A. Mosier, 1871–1936, first superintendent of Royal Palm State Park, Florida’s first state park (now Everglades National Park) +
for H. G. Muehlenbeck, 1798–1845, Swiss physician +
For P. A. Munz, 1892–1974, American botanist, and Greek thamnos, shrub +
Greek <i>mycel-</i>, fungus or mass of threads, and <i>-is</i>, association, alluding to tuft of long fine hairs at junction of corolla tube and limb +
Greek myo, to shut, and poros, hole, alluding to transparent spots on leaves closed with pellucid substance +
Greek mus, mouse, and oura, tail, from shape and texture of the fruiting head of M. minimus. +
Genus Myrcia and Greek anthos, flower, alluding to resemblance +
Greek myrios, countless, and phyllon, leaf, alluding to capillary segments of lower and/or submersed leaves +
Greek mys, mouse, oura, tail, and clados, branch, alluding to resemblance +
N
from Greek Narkissos, mythological youth who fell in love with his own reflection and changed into a flower +
Greek Narthex, rod, alluding to appearance of stems +
Latin nasus, nose, and tortus, distortion, alluding to pungency of plants +
Genus Neckera and Greek -opsis, resemblance +
For Patrick Neill, 1776 – 1851 Scottish printer, naturalist, and secretary of the Caledonian Horticultural Society +
Greek nema, thread, and Greek kaulos, stem +
Greek nema, thread, and stylos, pillar or rod, alluding to the style with threadlike arms +
Greek neo-, new, gaea, earth or world, and rhinum, nose, alluding to being native to the New World +
For the Holmgren family: Arthur Hermann Holmgren, 1912–1992, Noel Herman Holmgren, b. 1937, and Patricia Kern Holmgren, b. 1940 +
Greek neos, new, and the genus name Lloydia, for Francis Ernest Lloyd, 1868–1947, Canadian botanist +
For John Macoun, 1831 – 1920 Canadian botanist and explorer +
For Guy L. Nesom, b. 1945, American botanist, avid researcher of Asteraceae +
Greek nephros, kidney, and lepis, scale, in reference to shape of the indusia +
Greek neros, flowing, and genus Syrenia, presumably alluding to resemblance +
Ancient Greek name for oleander, perhaps from neros, moist or fresh, alluding to habitat and/or evergreen habit +
For Nicander of Colophon, second century B.C.E., Greek physician and poet known for his works on toxicology and natural history +
For Jean Nicholas Nicollet, 1786–1843, “…who spent several years in exploring the country watered by the Mississippi and Missouri rivers, and who was employed by the United States Government in a survey of the region….” Quoted from protologue. +
For Jean Nicot, 1530–1600, French ambassador at Lisbon, who sent tobacco plants and/or seeds to French court ca. 1560 +
Greek nipha, snow, and trichos, hair, alluding to hoary appearance owing to hyaline hair-pointed leaves +
Japanese Nippon, name of Japan, and Greek anthemon, flower +
Greek nitron, native soda, and philios, loving, for the habitat preference of the plants +
For Domenico Nocca, 1758–1841, Italian clergyman, botanist, director of botanic garden at Pavia +
Anagram of genus name Pterogonium +
for Abbé C. P. Nolin, eighteenth-century French arboriculturist and director of the royal nurseries +
Greek notho -, false, and Calaïs, a synonym of Microseris +
Greek notho-, spurious, and generic name Chelone +
Greek notho, false, and chlaena, coat, in reference to the reflexed leaf segment margins that form false indusia +
Greek nothos, false, and scordon, garlic +
For Thomas Nuttall, 1786–1859, British naturalist and plant collector, and Greek anthos, flower +
Greek nyct, night, in reference to noctural flowering +
Greek nymphaia and Latin nymphaea, water-lily, from Latin (nympha) or Greek (nymphe) mythology, goddess of mountains, waters, meadows, and forests +
O
Greek okhros, pale yellow, probably alluding to color of stem, leaf, and fruit of some species +
Greek okto, eight, and blepharis, eyelash, alluding to peristome teeth +
Greek odontos, tooth, and -ites, connection or association, alluding to traditional use to treat toothaches +
Greek odontos, tooth, and stoma, mouth, alluding to the erect, subulate filaments at the flower throat +
Greek oikeios, of a household (Latin oeceos), and Latin clades, destruction, possibly alluding to breaking up of existing classification +
Greek oidema, swelling or tumor, and Latin podium, platform, alluding to capsule neck +
Greek oinos, wine, and thera, seeking or catching, alluding to roots of some unknown plants possessing perfume of wine, perhaps misapplied by Linnaeus +
Greek oligos, few, and meros, part, alluding to fewer stamens and petals than in other genera of family +
Greek oligo-, few, and trichos, hair, alluding to calyptra +
Greek omalo, even or equal, and theke, container, envelope, or sheath, perhaps alluding to involucres +
Greek onkos, tumor, and phoros, bearing, alluding to goiterlike swelling (struma) at base of capsule +
Greek onos, vessel, and kleiein, to close, in reference to the sori, which are enclosed by the revolute fertile leaf margins +
Latin operculum, cover, alluding to distal portion of fruit separating as a lid +
Latin ophis, snakelike, and glossa, tongue, in reference to the sporophore tip +
Greek oreios, of mountains, and chrysos, gold +
Greek oreo, mountain, and stemma, crown +
Greek, ornis, bird, and gala, milk, alluding to the color of the flowers +
Greek ornithos, bird, and staphyle, cluster of grapes, allusion obscure +
Greek orobos, a kind of vetch, and anchein, to strangle, alluding to host plant and parasitic habit +
Greek horos, mountain, and generic name Chaenactis +
Greek orthos, straight, and ilium, side or flank, possibly alluding to secund inflorescence +
Greek orthos, straight, and carpos, fruit, alluding to distinctness from Melampyrum, which has oblique fruits +
Greek, ortho- , straight, and odon, tooth, alluding to peristome teeth +
Greek Orthosie, goddess of prosperity, and one of the Horae, daughters of Zeus and Themis +
Greek orthos, straight, and theke, case, alluding to erect capsule +
Greek, orthos, straight, and trichos, hair, alluding to straight, erect calyptral hairs in many species +
Greek oryche, pit, and phragmos, partition, alluding to fruit septum +
Greek orykter, digger, alluding to a name once applied to some of the indigenous people within the range of the genus, now considered derogatory +
Greek osteon, bone, and sperma, seed, alluding to hard fruits of original species +
Latin ostrya, hop-hornbeam, from Greek ostryos, scale, in reference to the scaly infructescences +
Malay am ottelambel, apparently from otta, to stick to, in reference to thin leaves that stick to body, and am bel, nymphaea +
Greek oxys, sour, and dendron, tree, alluding to taste of twigs and leaves +
Greek oxys, acute, and rhynchos, nose, alluding to beaked operculum +
Greek oön, egg, and - opsis, likeness, alluding to a perceived egglike appearance of heads +
P
Greek pachys, thick, and Cereus, a genus of cacti +
Greek <i>pachys</i>, stout, and <i>pachys</i>, man, alluding to thickness of staminal filaments +
Greek palame, palm, and clados, branch, alluding to spreading branches, although inappropriately +
for R. T. Palhinha (1871–1950), a Portuguese botanist +
Classical Greek name, perhaps derived from pálin, again or once more, and oúron or oureó, urine or to make water, alluding to diuretic properties of roots and leaves of P. spina-christi +
Latin palustris, marshy, and -ella, diminutive, alluding to habitat +
Latin papula, nipple, alluding to leaf cell papillae +
Greek para-, near, and genus Leucobryum, alluding to resemblance +
Greek para, beside or near, and generic name Senecio +
Latin paries, wall, referring to habitat of original species +
Greek para- , beside, and onyx or onychos, fingernail, alluding to use for treating whitlow or felon, a disease of the fingernails +
For William E. Parry, 1790–1855, arctic explorer during whose first expedition to the North American Arctic (1819–1820) specimens of the genus were first collected +
For D. B. Pascal, French/Italian physician/botanist, once director of royal garden at Parma +
Latin passio, passion or suffering, and flos, flower, alluding to floral morphology perceived to symbolize Christ’s crucifixion +
Greek pattalias, pricket or stake, alluding to stout, conical beak surmounting stigma in P. palmeri, the type species +
For Anna Paulowna Romanov, 1795–1865, Grand Duchess of Russia and daughter of Czar Paul I, Hereditary Princess of the Netherlands +
For Edwin Blake Payson, 1893–1927, American botanist and first monographer of Lesquerella +
Latin pediculus, louse, alluding to belief that livestock feeding on P. palustris developed lice +
Greek pedio, a plain, referring to its supposed habitat, and Cactus, an old genus name +
Greek pelex, helmet, in reference to dorsal sepal, which is united with petals to form narrow hood +
Greek pelte, small shield, and andros, male, referring to the shield-shaped tops of the staminate flowers +
Greek penios, thread, and Cereus, a genus of cacti +
Greek pente, five, and stemon, stamen, alluding to the conspicuous nature of the staminode +
Greek pente, five, and chaite, long hair, alluding to 5 pappus bristles of type species, Pentachaeta aurea +
Greek penta, five, and gramma, lines (as in written characters), for the pentagonal leaf blades +
Greek pente, five, and linon, net, alluding to connective appendages intertwined around stigma +
Genus Pera and Greek phyllon, leaf, alluding to resemblance to leaves of P. arborea +
Greek, peri, very, and callos, beautiful, used by Homer for “very beautiful” +
Latin, persica, peach, and - aria, pertaining to, alluding to resemblance of leaves of some species +
Attributed to Dioscorides, Greek petasos, broad-brimmed hat, alluding to large basal leaves +
Greek petros, rock, and doria, an early name for goldenrods +
Greek petra, rock, and genes, born, alluding to habitat +
Greek petros, rock, and phyton, plant, alluding to habitat +
Greek petra- , rock, and rhagas, rent or chink, translation of Latin saxifraga, rockbreaking, alluding to prevalence in rock crevices +
Greek peuke, pine or fir, and phyllon, leaf +
Greek phalakros, bald-headed, and seris, a kind of endive +
Greek phaneros, free, and phlebium, vein, for the nonanastomosing venation found in the type species, P. nobilis +
Greek phaulos, paltry, uncomely, ill to handle, and thamnos, shrub +
Greek mythological name, possibly for Phaedimus, mythical son of Amphion and Niobe, slain by Apollo +
Greek phegos, beech, and pteris, fern +
apparently Greek ephemeros, living for one day, and anthos, flower +
Greek phero, bear, and thrix, hair, alluding to vestiture throughout, especially on corolla lobes +
Greek phil-, loving, and adelphos, brother, traditionally (but on uncertain grounds) considered to be an honorific for Ptolemy Philadelphus, 309–246 B.C.E., King of Ptolemaic Egypt +
Greek philo- , loving, and notis, moisture, alluding to habitat +
Greek phlebos, vein, referring to the prominent venation +
Greek phoebus, the sun, and anthos, flower +
Greek phoenix, date palm, and kaulos, stem, alluding to petiolar remains +
Greek phor, thief, and dendron, tree, alluding to parasitism +
Genus Phyllanthus and Greek -opsis, resembling +
Greek phyllon, leaf, and anthos, flower, alluding to apparent production of flowers on leaves (actually plagiotropic branchlets) of some species +
A sea-nymph in Greek mythology, allusion obscure +
Greek phyllon, leaf, and spadix, spadix +
Greek physa, bladder or bellows, and alis, belonging to, alluding to inflated fruiting calyx +
Genus Physcomitrium and Latin -ella, diminutive +
Greek physa, bladder, and mitrion, little turban, alluding to often urn-like calyptra +
Greek physa, bladder, and karpos, fruit, alluding to inflated follicles of some species +
Greek phyton, plant, and Latin lacca, crimson dye, in reference to the pigment the berries yield +
Generic name Picradenia and Greek - opsis, resembling +
Greek picro- , bitter, and thamnos, bush, alluding to bitterness of the plants +
Latin pilosus, shaggy, and Cer eus, a genus of cacti +
Greek pilos, cap, and stylos, pillar or column, alluding to style terminated by caplike stigma +
Greek pinaro, dirty, squalid, and pappos, pappus, alluding to color of pappi +
For Louis Piré, 1827 – 1887, Belgian bryologist and father-in-law of Jules Cardot, and Latin - ella, diminutive +
Latin Piso, for Willem Pies, c. 1611–1678, Dutch physician and botanist who collected in northeastern Brazil in the mid-eighteenth century under the auspices of Prince Johan Maurits van Nassau +
Greek pitys, pine, and opsis, appearance or likeness, alluding to pine-needlelike leaves of P. pinifolia +
Greek pityros, bran, and gramma, lines (as in written characters), referring to the farina covering the abaxial leaf blade surface +
Genus Plagiobryum and Greek -oides, similarity +
Greek plagios, oblique, and bryon, moss, alluding to markedly oblique mouth of capsule +
Greek plagios, oblique, and mnion, moss, alluding to arching sterile stems +
Greek, plagios, oblique, and theke, case, alluding to capsule orientation +
Greek planis, wanderer, and –odes, resemblance, alluding to original assignment to another genus +
Greek platys, broad, and anthera, anther +
Greek platys, broad, and eilema, envelope, alluding to broad phyllaries +
Greek platys, broad, and dictyon, net, alluding to pattern of laminal cells +
Greek platys, broad, and gyros, circle, alluding to wide annulus +
Genus name Platyloma and Latin -ella, diminutive, alluding to replaced later homonym +
Greek platys, broad, and genus Schkuhria +
Greek platus, broad, and stemon, stamen +
Greek platy, broad, and thely(s) , woman, alluding to the broad, flat rostellum +
Probably for Julius August Plaubel, fl. 1828–1834, mycologist and homeopathist of Gotha, Thuringia +
Greek plektos, woven, and kephale, head, alluding to interwoven fringes of phyllaries +
Greek pleio, in compounds, more than usual, and acanthos, a prickly plant, or acantha, thorn +
Greek pleos, many, and pelte, shield, in reference to the peltate scales covering immature sori +
Greek pleros, very many, aden-, gland, and -phoros, bearing, alluding to many glands on leaves and subtending floral bracts +
Greek pleurikos, of the side, and spora, sown seed, alluding to parietal placentation +
Greek pleura, side or rib, and chaite, long hair or mane, alluding to laterally borne sporophytes +
Greek pleura, side, and korone, crown, alluding to squamellae that appear to form a crown subtending bristles +
Greek pleuron, rib, and thallos, branch, referring to cespitose, slender, aerial shoots +
Genus Pleurozium and Greek opsis, resembling +
Greek pleura, side, and ozos, branch, alluding to pinnate branching +
For Charles Plumier, 1646–1704, French botanist who collected extensively in the West Indies +
Greek podos, foot, and phyllon leaf +
Greek podos, foot, and stemon, stamen, alluding to stamens elevated on foot-stalk (andropodium) +
Greek poly-, numerous, and karpos, fruit, alluding to the numerous capsules +
Greek polys, many, and karpos, fruit, alluding to numerous capsules +
Greek poly, numerous, and kneme, limb, in reference to the numerous branches resembling the spokes of a wheel +
Greek polys, many, and ctenos, comb, alluding to leaves +
Genus Polygala and Latin -oides, resembling +
Greek poly- , many, and gony, knee, in reference to the jointed rhizome +
genus name Polygonum and Latin - ella, diminutive +
Greek poly, many, and gony, knee joint (traditional interpretation), or gone, seed (grammatically correct interpretation) +
Greek poly, many, and pous, podion, little foot, in allusion to numerous knoblike prominences of the stem +
Greek polys, many, and premnon, stump or stem, alluding to diffuse much-branched habit +
Greek poly, many, and stachys, spike, alluding to many branchlets of the inflorescence in some species +
Greek polys, many, and stemma, garland or wreath, alluding to numerous filiform divisions of corona segments in P. viridiflorum, the type species +
Greek poly, many, and stichos, row, presumably in reference to the rows of sori on each pinna +
Genus Polytrichum and Latin -astrum, incomplete resemblance +
for Giulio Pontedera, 1688–1757, Italian botanist +
For Henri de Ponthieu, a West Indian merchant who sent plant collections to Sir Joseph Banks in 1778 +
Genus Porana and Greek -opsis, resembling +
Greek poros, hole, and phyllon, leaf, alluding to gland-dotted leaf blades +
Greek poros, hole, and trichos, hair, alluding to perforated inner peristome segments +
Greek potamos, river, and geiton, neighbor +
Latin potens, powerful, and - illa, diminutive, alluding to supposed medicinal qualities of some species +
Genus Poterium and Latin -idium, diminutive +
Genus Prenanthes and Latin - ella, diminutive, alluding to original assignment of type species +
Greek prenes, drooping, and anthos, flower, alluding to drooping heads +
For John Prescott (d. 1837), a British botanist resident in Russia who traveled widely in northern Asia +
Greek prostheke, appendix, in reference to appendage on back of column +
Genus Psathyrotes and Greek - opsis, appearance +
Greek pseud- , false, and genus Abutilon +
Greek pseudo- , false or resembling, and generic name Elephantopus +
Greek pseud-, false or resembling, and genus Ephemerum +
Greek pseudes, false, and generic name Bahia +
Greek pseudes, false, and genus Braunia, alluding to resemblance +
Greek pseudes, false, and genus Bryum, alluding to similarity +
Greek pseudes, false, and genus Calliergon +
Greek pseudes, false, and genus Campylium +
Greek pseudo, resembling but not equaling, and generic name Clappia +
Greek pseudes, false, and genus Crossidium +
Greek pseudes, false, and genus Cryphaea +
Greek pseudo- , false, and genus Cydonia, alluding to resemblance +
Greek pseudes, false, and genus Ditrichum, alluding to similar gametophyte morphology +
Greek pseudo -, deceptively similar, and genus name Gnaphalium, alluding to resemblance +
Greek pseudo - , false or resembling, and genus Gynoxys +
Greek pseudes, false, and genus Leskea +
Greek pseudes, false, and genus Leskeella +
Green pseudo-, false, and Latin -ella, diminutive, meaning false little Lycopodium, because of its resemblance to Lycopodiella +
from Greek pseudos, false, and Phoenix, the date palm +
Greek pseudo, false, and the generic name Orchis +
Greek pseudo, false, and genus Orontium, alluding to resemblance of seeds +
Greek pseudo- , false, and genus Scleropodium +
Greek pseudo- , false, and genus Stellaria, alluding to resemblance +
Greek pseud os, false, and genus Taxiphyllum +
Greek pseudo, false, and tsuga, hemlock +
Greek psilos, slender, and karphos, chaff, alluding to papery paleae of heads +
Greek psilos, naked, and pilon, hair, alluding to calyptra +
Greek pter- , winged, gyne, female, and andros, male, presumably alluding to lateral position of gametoecia +
Greek pteris, fern, derived from pteron, wing or feather, for the closely spaced pinnae, which give the leaves a likeness to feathers +
Greek pteron, wing, and kaulos, stem, alluding to stems winged by decurrent leaf bases +
Greek pteron, wing, glossa, tongue, and aspis, shield +
Greek pteron, wing, and spora, sown seed, alluding to membranous wing on each seed +
Greek pteron, wing, and stege, covering, alluding to winged bract +
Greek pterygos, wing, and neuron, nerve, alluding to longitudinal costal lamellae +
Greek ptyx, fold, and mitra, turban, alluding to plicate calyptra +
Greek ptyx, folded, and sperma, seed, in reference to the ridged endocarp +
Greek ptychos, fold, and stoma, mouth, alluding to pleated appearance of capsule mouth +
Greek phoenikeos, reddish purple, alluding to classical name punicum malum, apple of Carthage +
For Frederick Traugott Pursh, 1774 – 1820, German botanist, student of North American flora +
Genus Pylaisia and Greek adelphos, brother, alluding to resemblance +
Greek pyr, fire, and acanthos, thorn, alluding to fiery thorns +
Latin pyramis, pyramid, and -ula, diminutive, alluding to calyptra +
Greek pyrrho, flame-colored, and bryon, moss, alluding to peristome +
Greek pyrrhos, yellowish red, and pappos, pappus, alluding to color of pappi +
Greek pyrrhos, reddish or tawny, and kome, hair of the head, alluding to reddish pappi in some species +
Greek pyxidos, small box, and antheros, anther, alluding to opening of anthers by transverse slit, simulating box lid +
Q
Latin quinc-, five, and -ula, diminutive, alluding to opaque spots on corolla as compared to dark spots in Physalis +
R
Greek rhakos, rag or remnant, and mitra, turban, alluding to calyptra frazzled or lobed at base +
Greek rhakos, rag or remnant, and pilos, felt cap, alluding to basally torn calyptra of some taxa +
For Constantin Samuel Rafinesque, 1783–1840, naturalist and polymath who traveled widely in nineteenth-century America +
Raillardia, orthographic variant of generic name Railliardia, and Latin - ella, diminutive +
Latin rana, frog, unculus, little, allusion to the wet habitats in which some species grow +
For Raymond Carl Jackson, b. 1928, American botanist and plant geneticist +
Latin re- , again, and sedo, calm, assuage, alluding to medicinal properties attributed by Pliny the Elder to plants growing close to Rimini (Italy) +
For Alvaro Reynoso, 1829–1888, Cuban chemist and agriculturalist, who revolutionized the sugar industry +
Greek rhabdos, rod, presumably alluding to ribbed capsule, and genus Weissia, alluding to resemblance +
Greek rhachis, ridge, and theke, case, alluding to ribbed capsule +
Greek rhagado, crack or split, and - olus, diminutive, perhaps alluding to gaps between margins of enfolding phyllaries +
Greek rhapidos, a rod, and phyllon, leaf, in reference to the spines of the leafbases, or perhaps meaning having the leaf of Rhapis (a genus of small Asian palms) +
Greek rhexis, breaking, and phyllon, leaf, alluding to fissile distal leaf margins +
Greek rhis, nose or snout, and anthos, flower, alluding to protruding adaxial lip of corolla +
Greek rhiza, root, and mnion, moss, alluding to large, branched rhizoids +
Greek rhiza, root, and phoros, bearing, alluding to conspicuous prop roots +
Greek rhodon, rose, and bryon, moss, alluding to leaf rosettes +
Greek rhodon, rose and dendron, tree +
Greek rhodon, rose or red, and genus Myrtus, alluding to flower color +
Greek rhodon, rose, and typos, pattern, alluding to resemblance to genus Rosa +
Greek rhynchos, beak, and generic name Sida, a lluding to beaked mericarps +
Greek rhynchos, snout, and spora, seed +
Greek rhynchos, nose, and stego, cover, alluding to rostrate operculum +
Genus Rhytidium and Greek adelphos, brother, alluding to relationship +
Genus Rhytidium and Greek - opsis, appearance, alluding to similar leaves +
Invalid genus name Roellia and Greek bryon, moss, to coin a valid name for the genus +
For Eugenio Montaña y Roldan Otumbensi, who evidently was heroic in a battle on the plains of Apam +
for Rev. T. Romney Robinson, 1792-1882, Irish astronomer at Armagh and friend of Thomas Coulter, botanist at Dublin +
For Romulus, one of the mythical founders of Rome, the type species of the genus being common around that city +
Latin rosula, rosette, and Greek bryon, moss, alluding to clustering of leaves +
For Olaus (Olof) Johannes Rudbeck, 1630–1702, and Olaus (Olof) Olai Rudbeck, 1660–1740, father and son, professors at Uppsala University, predecessors of Linnaeus +
classical Latin name for sorrel, probably derived from rumo, to suck, alluding to the practice among Romans of sucking the leaves to allay thirst +
S
For F. G. J. von Sachs, 1832–1897, German plant physiologist, noted by Grisebach to be “ingeniosi” +
Latin sagina, ancient name for Spergula once included in Sagina, a feasting, fatten, alluding to early use as forage +
Latin sagitta, arrow +
Greek sairos, curling back lips to show teeth, and karpos, fruit, perhaps alluding to recurved teeth of capsules +
Latin sal, salt, cornu, horn, in reference to the appearance of the plant and its association with saline habitats +
Greek salpinx, trumpet, and chroa, color or complexion, alluding to flowers +
for Antonia Maria Salvini,1653--1729, an Italian professor of Greek who helped Micheli with his botanical work. +
For John Herman Sandberg, 1848–1917, Swedish-born American botanist and physician who collected extensively in the Pacific Northwest +
Latin sanguis, blood, in reference to color of sap +
Latin sanguis, blood, and sorbeo, to absorb, apparently alluding to traditional European and Asian uses to stop external or internal bleeding, suggested by dark red flowers of some species and medieval doctrine of signatures +
for Raimond de Sangro, Prince of Sanseviero +
Greek sarco, flesh, and batos, bramble, alluding to the leaves and thorns +
Greek sarco, fleshy, and Latin cornis, horned, in reference to the appearance of the plants +
Latin sarmentosus, stoloniferous, and genus Hypnum +
For Michel Sarrazin de l’Etang, 1659–1734, King’s physician in New France, who sent specimens to Europe +
For Henry P. Sartwell, 1792–1867, “one of my earliest and most valued botanical correspondents….” Quoted from protologue. +
For Nicolas Théodore (1767–1845) and Horace Bénédict (1740–1799) de Saussure, Swiss naturalists +
Latin saxum, rock, and frango, to break, alluding to growth in rock crevices and/or medical use for kidney stones +
Genus Saxifraga and Greek opsis, resemblance +
Latin scabra, rough, and related genus Wyethia +
For Jacob Christian Schaeffer, 1718–1790, German botanist, zoologist, theologian, and clergyman +
For Johann Jakob Scheuchzer, 1672–1733, Swiss botanist +
For Christian Julius Wilhelm Schiede, 1798–1836, a German naturalist and plant collector in Mexico +
Greek schisis, splitting, and andro, male +
Greek schistos, split or divided, and -idium, diminutive, alluding to peristome +
Greek schist, cleft, and phragma, fence, alluding to incomplete septum of ovary and fruit +
Greek schistos, split or divided, and stego, cover, apparently alluding to erroneous observation that operculum splits +
Greek schizos, divide, and anthos, flower, alluding to irregularly divided corolla +
For Ernst Friedrich von Schlotheim, 1764 – 1832, German paleontologist +
Greek schoinos, rope, and bryon, moss, alluding to appearance of stems, particularly when dry +
Greek schoenos, rush, and caulos, stem +
Greek schoenos, rush, and lirion, white lily +
Greek schoinos, a rush, reed, and plectos, plaited, twisted, woven, in reference to the use of culms in making useful objects +
Genus Schwetschkea and Greek -opsis, resembling +
Latin sciurus, squirrel, and genus Hypnum, alluding to appearance reminiscent of squirrel tail +
Greek skleros, hard, and anthos, flower, alluding to the indurate hypanthium +
Greek sclero, hard, cruel, in reference to the hooked spines, and Cactus, an old genus name +
Greek skleros, hard, and karpos, fruit, alluding to hardened paleae enfolding disc cypselae +
Greek scleros, hard, and lepis, scale, alluding to pappus +
Greek skleros, hard, and linon, flax, alluding to fruit +
Greek skleros, hard, and podion, foot, alluding to stiff seta +
Greek skolios, crooked, and - pous, footed, alluding to the tortuous, recurved pedicels +
Greek skopelos, crag, and philia, fondness, alluding to characteristic rocky habitat +
Greek scopulus, rock or crag, and phil, fond of, alluding to habitat +
Latin scorpio, scorpion, alluding to shoot apex curved like a scorpion tail in S. scorpioides +
Association with the disease scrofula by the doctrine of signatures +
from Selago, an ancient name for Lycopodium, a genus resembling Selaginella, and Latin, -ella, diminutive suffix +
Greek selene, moon, in re ference to nocturnal blooming, and Cereus, the genus from which this segregate was removed +
Greek sematos, mark, and phyllon, leaf, alluding to inflated row of alar cells +
Latin semper, always, and vivum, that which is alive +
reputedly from Latin senex, old man or woman, alluding to the white pappus bristles resembling the white hair of an elderly person +
For Sequoyah, also known as George Guess, inventor and publisher of the Cherokee alphabet +
Sequoia, generic name of coast redwood, and Greek dendros, tree +
Greek sericos, silky, and carpos, fruit, alluding to densely pubescent cypselae +
For John Shepherd, 1764–1836, curator of the Liverpool Botanic Garden +
For Lloyd Herbert Shinners, 1918–1971, botanist, long at Southern Methodist University, founder of the journal Sida +
For Lloyd H. Shinners, 1918–1971, American botanist +
Genus Sibara and Greek opsis, appearance +
Genus Sibbaldia and Greek – opsis, resembling +
Greek sikyos, cucumber or gourd, and sperma, seed +
Greek sideros, iron, and xylon, wood, alluding to durability +
For Johann August Carl Sievers, 1762–1795, German-born apothecary who explored eastern Russia in search of medicinal rhubarb +
For Thomas Williams Simmonds, d. 1804, English naturalist +
Greek Sino- , pertaining to China, and generic name Senecio +
Latinized ancient Greek name used by Dioscorides and Pliny for various species of mustards +
Greek sys, pig, and rynchos, snout, alluding to swine grubbing the roots for food +
For John Kunkel Small, 1869–1938, American botanist +
For Timotheus Smielowsky, 1769–1815, Russian botanist and pharmacist from St. Petersburg +
For Captain Soleirol, collector in Corsica +
Latin solidus, whole, and - ago, resembling or becoming, probably alluding to healing properties +
For H. M. C. L. F. zu Solms-Laubach, 1842–1915, German botanist +
Greek sphoron, modest, and anthos, flower, alluding to small flowers +
genus name Spergula, and Latin -aria, pertaining to +
Greek sphaera, sphere, and alkea, mallow, alluding to arrangement of mericarps in a spherical head +
Greek sphaira, sphere, and meros, a part, alluding to the capitate arrays of heads in S. capitata +
Evidently from Latin sphagnum, a moss, and cola, dwelling in, perhaps alluding to usually wet habitats +
Greek sphen, wedge, and kleio, to inclose, probably alluding to persistent calyx covering cuneiform fruits +
Greek speira, to become spiral, alluding to flexile branches being suitable for wreathing into garlands +
Greek speira, coil, and anthos, flower, in allusion to the spirally arranged inflorescence +
Genera Splachnum and Bryum, alluding to resemblances +
For G. Ledyard Stebbins, 1906–2000, California botanist +
Greek stenos, narrow, and anthos, flower, alluding to the narrow tepals +
Greek stenos, narrow, and Cereus, referring to the genus from which this segregate was removed +
Greek stenos, narrow, and gonos, seed, alluding to achene +
Greek stenos, narrow, and rhynchos, snout, alluding to the narrow rostellum on the column +
Greek stephanos, crown, wreath, and meris, part, presumably alluding to appearance of plumose bristles of pappus +
Greek stereos, thick, and phyllon, leaf +
For Pedro Jaime Esteve (Stevius), d. 1556, noted medical practitioner and botany professor of Valencia, Spain +
Greek stiktos, punctured or spotted, and kardia, heart, alluding to glandular-punctate abaxial surfaces of heart-shaped leaf blades +
For Benjamin Stillingfleet, 1702–1771, British botanist +
Latin stramineus, straw-colored, and last element of genus name Calliergon +
Genus Streptanthus and Latin -ella, diminutive +
Greek streptos, twisted, and anthos, flower, alluding to crisped petal margin +
Greek streptos, twisted, and - pous, -footed, alluding to the bent or twisted peduncles +
Latin strigosus, covered with short, bristly trichomes, and –ella, diminutive +
Greek stylos, column, pillar, or pole, and cline, couch or bed (or gyne, female, specified by Nuttall in protologue), alluding to narrowly cylindric receptacles of the type species +
Greek stylos, style, and mekon, poppy +
Greek stylos, style, and phoros, bearing, in reference to the conspicuous style, unusual in the family +
For Wilhelm Nikolaus Suksdorf, 1850–1932, German botanist and collector in the Pacific Northwest +
For William S. Sullivant, 1803–1873, American bryologist, who collected the type specimen in Ohio +
For Joseph Donat Surian, d. 1691, French physician who collected plants in the West Indies +
Greek sym-, united, and blepharis, eyelash, alluding to peristome teeth each parted in distal half into two ciliate divisions +
Greek symphysis, junction, and trichos, hair, perhaps alluding to a perceived basal connation of bristles in the European cultivar used by Nees as the type +
Greek symplokos, connected, and karpos, fruit, in reference to the infructescence +
Greek symplokos, connected, twisted, entwined, evidently alluding to connation of stamens and their adnation to petals in type species, S. martinicensis Jacquin +
Greek syngonos, joined together, and anthos, flower, from connate petals of pistillate flowers +
Greek synthlipsis, compression, alluding to flattened fruits +
Greek syn, together, and thyris, valve, alluding to capsule valves adhering below to the placentiferous axis +
Greek syn, plus, and trichos, hair, alluding to twisted peristome united by a basal membrane +
Greek syrrepo, to close the eye, and odon, tooth, alluding to narrow, connivent, horizontal peristome teeth of some species closing capsule mouth upon drying +
Greek systenos, tapering to a point, and theke, case, alluding to involucre teeth +
T
For Jacobus Theodorus Tabernaemontanus, 1525–1590, German physician and herbalist +
From generic name Talinum, and Greek opsis, resembling +
Malayam thaali, shampoo, and paruthi, cotton, alluding to use and resemblance, respectively +
Greek taxis, arrangement, and phyllon, leaf, alluding to leaf pattern +
Greek taxis, order, and thele, nipple, alluding to single row of papillae over cell lumina +
For Thomas Taylor, 1775 – 1848, British bryologist and coauthor of the Muscologia Britannica +
Latin tectum, roof, and aria, a substantive suffix, alluding to the rooflike indusium of some species +
Greek tephros, ashlike or ash-colored, and seris, endive or chicory, presumably alluding to color of the densely woolly leaves +
Latin terminus, terminal, and alis, pertaining, alluding to leaf clusters at branch tips +
Greek tetra, four, and kokkos, kernel or berry, alluding to 4-lobed capsule in T. dioicus +
Greek tetradymos, fourfold, evidently alluding to numbers of phyllaries and florets in heads of original species +
Greek tetra, four, and gonia, angle, in reference to the shape of the fruit +
Greek tetra, four, gonio, angle, and theca, container, alluding to quadrangular involucres +
Greek tetra, four, and neuron, nerve, alluding to venation of ray floret corollas +
Greek tetraplo - , fourfold, and odon, tooth, alluding to arrangement of exostome teeth +
Greek tettares, four, and pteron, wing, alluding to fruit appearance +
Greek tessares, four, and zygon or zygos, yoke or crossbar, alluding to 4-merous flowers +
Greek tetra, four, and odontos, tooth, alluding to peristome +
Thaliktron, an ancient name used by Dioscorides +
Greek thamnos, shrub, and bryon, moss, alluding to growth form +
Greek thele, nipple, and sperma, seed, alluding to papillate cypselae of original species +
Greek thele, nipple, and Cactus, an old genus name, in reference to the tubercle shape +
Genus Thelypodium and Greek opsis, appearance +
Greek thelys, female, and podion, little foot, alluding to gynophore carrying pistil +
Greek thelys, female, and pteris, fern +
Greek theros, summer, and rhodeos, rose, alluding to flowering time and resemblance +
Greek thespesios, divine, wondrous, or excellent, alluding to planting in sacred groves and use for carving religious sculpture +
Greek thladias, eunuch, and anthos, flower, alluding to staminodes in neuter flowers +
For naturalist and plant collector Frederick William Thurow, 1852–1952, originally from Germany, of Hockley, Texas, near Houston +
Greek thymon, thyme, and phyllon, leaf +
Greek thyrsos, thyrse or panicle, and anthos, flower, and Latin -ella, diminutive, alluding to inflorescence +
Greek thysanos, fringe, and karpos, fruit, alluding to fruit margin +
For Ivar T. Tidestrom, 1864–1956, Swedish-born American botanist noted for floras of central and western United States +
After the Swedish botanist E. Tillands, 1640–1693 +
Latin tomentum, wooly hairs, alluding to felted rhizoids, and genus Hypnum +
For Olaf Toren, 1718–1753, Swedish clergyman and naturalist with Swedish East India Company +
For David Townsend, 1787–1858, American amateur botanist +
Greek trachelos, collar or neck, and sperma, seed, alluding to elongated narrow-tipped seeds +
Greek trachys, rough, and cystis, bladder or bag, alluding to mammillose laminal cells +
Greek trachys, rough, and xiphion, little sword, alluding to leaves marginally roughened by serrations +
for John Tradescant, gardener to Charles I of England +
Latin trans- , across, and Bering Sea, alluding to distribution +
for Ernst Rudolph von Trautvetter (1809-1889), Russian botanist +
Greek trema, hole, and odon, tooth, alluding to perforate peristome teeth +
Greek tri- , three-, and aden, gland, alluding to staminodal glands alternating with sets of stamens +
Greek tris- , three-, and anthos, flower, alluding to aggregation of flowers in threes upon spikes +
Greek treis, three, and anthemon, flower +
Greek treis, three, and bolos, a point, for a kind of caltrop, alluding to fruits resembling that ancient metal instrument with three or four spines arranged so that one always projects upward, thrown on the ground to stop cavalry and foot soldiers +
Greek trichos, hair, and kentron, spur, referring to the slender nectarless spur found in some species of the genus +
Greek trichos, hair, and koronos, crown, apparently alluding to setiform pappus elements +
Greek thrix, hair, and manes, cup, alluding to the hairlike receptacle extending from the cuplike involucre +
Greek tricho -, hair, and phorum, carrier or stalk +
Greek tricho- , hairlike, and ptilon, feather, alluding to pappus scales +
Greek trichos, hair, and stigma, stigma, in reference to the penicillate stigma +
Greek trichos, hair, and stoma, mouth, alluding to peristome of filiform teeth +
Latin, one-third of a foot, alluding to height +
Greek, treis, three, and glochis, a point +
Latin trinitas, trinity, alluding to Trinity Lake, type locality of the species, and genus Eurybia, a close relative +
Greek tri, 3-fold, and phoros, bearing, possibly in reference to the few-flowered inflorescence or the 3 crests on the lip of the type species +
Greek tria, three, and physarion, small bladder, alluding to three pouches of abaxial corolla lip +
Greek tri- , three-, pleuro- , ribbed, and sperma, seed, alluding to strongly 3-ribbed cypselae +
Greek tri, three, pteron, wing, and calyx, in reference to the perianth +
Greek trion, three, pteron, wing, and klados, branch, alluding to perceived tripinnate branching +
Latin triquetrus, three edged, and -ella, diminutive, alluding to leaves commonly arranged in three rows +
genus Triteleia and Greek opsis, like +
For Giovanni Battista Triumfetti, 1658 – 1708, Italian botanist, director of the botanical garden in Rome +
Greek tropis, keel, and karpos, fruit, alluding to fruit shape +
For Hans von Türckheim, 1853–1920, plant collector in Guatemala and West Indies +
Persian thoulyban or Turkish tulbend, turban, alluding to the shape of the just-opening perianth +
Local Native American Tumamoc, name for the hill upon which the Carnegie Institute Desert Laboratory is located +
Latin turris, tower, alluding to pyramidal shape of plants due to overlap of leaves and fruits +
Said to be based on Latin tussi s, cough, for which the plant has a medicinal reputation +
Greek, perhaps from typhein, to smoke or to emit smoke, in allusion either to the use of the spikes for maintaining smoky fires or to the smoky brown color of the fruiting spikes. +
U
Latin umbellula, partial umbel +
Malayalam ooren, to loosen or soak, alluding to retting process to extract fibers from stem tissues of U. lobata +
Greek uro- , tail, and pappus, alluding to slender terminal bristle on each pappus scale +
Greek uro, tail, and sperma, seed, alluding to beaks of cypselae +
Latin uvula, alluding to the flowers hanging like that organ, and to formerly supposed efficacy in treating diseases of it +
V
for Antonio Vallisneri, Italian botanist, 1661–1730 +
for George Vancouver (1757-1798), English navigator and explorer +
For Nicolas Louis Vauquelin, 1763–1829, French chemist and pharmacist +
For “rev. Patr. Mich. Venegas Hispani,” 1680–1764, “qui primus notitiam naturalem civilemque circà Californiam scripsit” +
For G. Venturi, 1830–1898, Italian lawyer and bryologist +
Ancient Latin name used by Pliny, probably corruption of barbascum, bearded, alluding to dense tomentum, or barbarum, medicinal plaster, alluding to use of some species +
Late Latin form of Greek Berenike/Pherenike, phero, bearer, and nike, victory, probably alluding to Saint Veronica +
Genus Veronica and Latin -astrum, resembling +
Latin vesicularis, like a little bladder, alluding to lax areolation of laminal cells +
Latin vincere, conquer, and toxicum, poison, alluding to presumed medicinal benefit as a counter-poison +
Latin voluta, twisted, spiral, and - aria, possession, alluding to spirally coiled corolla lobes of original species +
Garipons, spoken in French Guiana, voyria, local name alluding to edible roots of achlorophyllous heterotrophic plants, probably Voyria rosea Aublet +
W
For Franz de Paula Adam von Waldstein, 1759–1823, Austrian soldier and botanist +
For Augustin Friedrich Walther, 1688 – 1746, German physician, anatomist, and botanist at Leipzig University +
For Nathaniel A. Ware, 1789–1853, teacher in South Carolina and plant collector, especially in Florida +
For Carl Friedrich E. Warnstorf, 1837–1921, German teacher and botanist +
fFor George Washington, 1732–1799, American patriot and first president of the United States +
For Lieutenant Amiel Weeks Whipple, 1816–1863, commander of Pacific Railroad Expedition 1853 & 1854 +
possibly for Christian Wilhelms, fl. 1819–1837, plant collector in the Caucasus +
For Friedrich (later Frederick) Adolph Wislizenus, 1810–1889, botanical collector in southwestern United States and adjacent Mexico +
For Johann Friedrich Wolff, 1778–1806, German physician, and Latin ella, diminutive +
in honor of Thomas Jenkin 1820, English botanist +
X
Greek xanthos, yellow, and -i smos, condition or quality, alluding to bright yellow florets +
Greek xanthos, yellow, evidently alluding to an ancient name for a plant that produced a yellow dye +
Greek xanthos, yellow, and kephale, head +
Greek xanthos, yellow, and rhiza, root +
Greek xeros, dry, and chrysos, gold, perhaps alluding to phyllaries +
Greek xeros, dry, and phyllon, leaf, alluding to the sclerified foliage +
Greek xylon, wood, and kokkos, berry, alluding to fruit +
Y
Z
Derivation equivocal, perhaps from misreading of Latin azania, a kind of pine cone, or from Latin zamia, loss, from the "sterile appearance" of the pollen cones +
for Gian Girolamo Zannichelli, 1662–1729, Venetian apothecary and botanist +
Greek zelos, emulation, and genus Meteorium, alluding to similarity +
Greek Zephyros, west wind, and anthos, flower +
Greek zeuxis, a yoking or joining, referring to partial union of lip and column, or possibly to fusion of pollinia +
Greek zygos, yoke, and aden, gland, referring to the pair of glands on each tepal of the type species +
For Johann Gottfried Zinn, 1727–1759, professor of botany, Göttingen, known for botanical studies in Mexico +
Greek zygon, yoke, alluding to 16 peristome teeth initially connate in pairs in some species +
Greek zygon, yoke, and phyllon, leaf, alluding to conjugate leaflets as in Z. fabago +