UNDERSTANDING BOTANICAL NAMES OF PLANTS

 Kerria, Japanese rose or Kerria rose (Kerria japonica)

Names are essential for the identity of things. We recognize each other through our names. All the plants have their botanical (scientific) names, but only a few of them have their common names. Common names are easy to memorize as they are in our own languages and are mostly related to their uses or peculiarities. However, the common names are not universal and vary from person to person, region to region, and country to country. Any one of us can give common names to plants for our convenience. Each plant can have several different common names. For example, Datura stramonium (dhatura or devil's apple) has over 25 common names in Sanskrit only, besides thousands of other names in other languages. The same common name may refer to several distinct species. On the other hand, the scientific names are unique, based on nomenclatural rules, and are accepted worldwide. No second plant in the world can have the same scientific name according to the rules of nomenclature. The rules for the botanical nomenclature of the plants are laid down in the International Code of Nomenclature for algae, fungi, and plants [ICN; previously International Code of Botanical Nomenclature (ICBN)].

Donkey tail or Burro tail (Sedum morganianum)

The scientific name of each plant is made up of two parts, a generic (or genus) epithet or name and a specific (or species) epithet. Together, these two parts of a name are referred to as a binomial. Two parts of a binomial are descriptive in nature and tell many things about that plant in the name itself. A generic name is a 'collective name' for a group of plants with similar characters. The generic as well as specific name usually specifies certain characteristics of the plant, the place where the plant is native to, or the name of a person. The botanical names are always written with the generic name first, starting with a capital letter. The specific epithet always follows the generic name, starting with a lower-case letter even when derived from a proper noun such as the name of a person or place. The scientific name is always followed by the name of a person, who discovered and named that plant (known as authority). The botanical names are italicized when typed or underlined when written with hand (they were underlined when typed with a typewriter machine earlier). Generic and specific names are in Latin or are Latinized words from other languages (mostly from Greek). The adoption of Latin has some advantages as well as it is a dead language and not prone to changes like English. Secondly, Latin is specific and exact in meaning and the grammatical sense of the words is easily perceivable.

Red powder-puff (Calliandra haematocephala)

Let's take an example of a very beautiful plant Calliandra haematocephala Hassk. for understanding botanical names. Literally, Calliandra is made up of two Greek words, Kallos (=beautiful) and andra (= male part of a flower or stamen), meaning a plant with beautiful stamens. Similarly, the specific epithet haematocephala is also a combination of two Greek words, haima (= blood red) and kephale (= head or front), meaning thereby, plant with blood-red head or front. In this name, Hassk. is an abbreviated form of the name of Justus Carl Hasskarl (1811-1894). Authority is generally ignored in non-scientific writings. This plant is known by many common names in different parts of the world, such as red powder-puff, powder-puff bush, blood-red tassel flower, calliandra, pompon, bellota, zhu ying hua, etc.

Putrjia (Putranjiva roxburghii)

Botanical names such as Putranjiva roxburghii (Putrjia or children's life tree; derived from the Indian name of a plant Putrjiva and father of Indian botany Roxburgh), Shivparvatia ciliolata (derived from the names of Hindu God Shiva and the Goddess Parvati), Mangifera indica (Mango; derived from mango bearing plant and India), Abutilon indicum (Indian mallow; derived from the Arabic word for a mallow-like plant and India), Indigofera himachalensis (derived from blue and Himachal), Festuca simlensis (specific name derived from Shimla), Nepeta hindostana (named after Latin word for catnip and Hindustan), Canna indica (derived from a Greek name for a type of reed and India) and many other plants have Indianness in their names.

Indian mallow (Abutilon indicum)

Burans or tree rhododendron (Rhododendron arboretum), a common tree in the Himalayan hills, has acquired its scientific name from its rose-coloured flowers and tree-like habit. 

Burans or tree rhododendron (Rhododendron arboretum)

The scientific names of plants look complicated, ugly, and boring to all including the students of botany. However, when we start going into the meanings of those names (can be checked in dictionaries of plant names or in Botanary at Dave's Garden), they become easy and interesting. The meanings of some common botanical names (compiled from Dictionaries of Plant Names) are given below.

Colors of Flowers/Foliage

Gagea lutea

• alba, albus - white
• aurantiaca - orange
• aureus - golden
• caerulea - blue
• candidus - pure white, shiny
• citrinus - yellow
• coccineus - scarlet
• discolor - two or separate colors
• flava, flavum - yellow
• glaucus - covered with gray bloom
• incana - gray, hoary
• lutea, luteus - reddish yellow
• nigra - black
• purpurea, purpureus - purple
• rosea - rose-colored
• rubra, rubrum - red
• sanguinea - blood-red
• viridis – green

Plant Shape

• arborescens - treelike
• elegans - elegant,
• slender, willowy
• erecta - upright, erect
• fruticosa - shrublike
• grandi - big
• humilis - low-growing
• pendula -drooping, pendulous
• prostrata, procumbens - prostrate
• pumilia - low-growing, dwarf

Plant Smell, Taste

• amara, amarus - bitter
• dulce - sweet
• foetida - foul smelling
• fragrans - fragrant
• moschata - musk odor
• odorata - scented

Leaf Form

• acerifolius - maplelike leaves
• lanceolata - lance-shaped
• longifolia - long-leaved
• macrophylla - largeleaved
• microphylla - smallleaved
• parvifolia, parvifolius - small-leaved
• palmatum - hand-shaped leaves
• rotundifolia - roundleaved
• salicifolius - willowlike leaves

Origin of Species

• alpina - alpine regions
• americana- from America
• australis - southern
• borealis - northern
• campestris - of the field or plains
• canadensis - from Canada
• chinensis - from China
• indica, indicus - from India
• insularis - of the island
• japonica, japonicum - from Japan
• maritima - from near the sea
• mexicana- from Mexico
• montana - from the mountains
• palustris - from marshes or wetlands
• saxatilis - inhabiting rocks
• 
  

Plant Peculiarities

• acaulis - stemless
• communis - common
• cordata - heart-shaped
• crispa - finely waved, curled
• florida, floridus -flowering
• gracilis - graceful
• grandiflora - largeflowered
• hybridus - hybrid
• incana - gray-haired
• lactea - milky
• laevis - smooth
• maculata - spotted
• majus - larger
• maxima - largest
• minor, minus - smaller
• mollis - soft and/or hairy
• multiflora - manyflowered
• nitida, nitidum - shining
• officinalis - used as
• perenne, perennis - perennial
• pictum - painted
• pulchella - pretty
• punctata - spotted

• repens, reptans - creeping
• scandens - climbing
• semperflorens - everblooming
• sempervirens - evergreen
• speciosa - showy
• spectabilis - spectacular
• spinarum - spiniest
• spinosus - spiny
• tomentosa, tomentosum - hairy
• umbellata - having flowers in umbels
• variegata - variegated
• villosa, villosum - softly hairy
• vulgaris - common