Tricks and tips for botanical names

[Micromegas]

This weekend I learned an interesting thing: all binomial latin names ending in -ensis describes the place a plant comes from or where it was first described/identified...

For example Trichocereus cuzcoensis, comes from Cuzco

or

Eucalyptus camaldulensis (river red gum) was first identified at the Camalduleni monastery in Naples!

another example would be parvifolius, from parvi, small and folius, foliage: small foliage

anyone got anymore?

maybe I should know them already.

Micro

[occidentalis]

Yes

well basically knowing a little bit of latin helps.

a good resource is http://davesgarden.com/guides/botanary/

i often use it to learn the meaning of part of a latin name.

one i learned recently was 'oleracea' which means edible.

I always wondered where 'camaldula' was - thanks.

[ThunderIdeal]

(not helpful input)

some palms have mad names. neodypsis decarii. archontophoenix roebelini. madness.

[Micromegas]

Thanks creach that site is great, thanks a lot that's exactly what I was after! I'll be putting all sorts of name through that botanary!

And you're right TI that wasn't helpful at all

Though Archontophoenix Prince (chief) and phoenix (date palm) named Carl Roebelen (Roebelin), who discovered the species!

I believe in fact a double i (ii) at the end of species is the person who discovered the plant.

[planthelper]

my brain is like a sieve aswell and it takes me a long time to remeber a new latin name, and than being able to writte it down correctly is even another story.

however there is no alternative to it, and to know all the latin names is an absolute must.

the good thing with latin is that even if one is not 100% sure about the spelling, you will always find the right term if looking up an index, the latin names make mixing up plant pretty impossible!

the second name which is allways written in lower keys, Salvia officinalis (NEVER, Salvia Officinalis!! ) is allways a hint, either to the discoverer, or honored to person, location, peculiarety, or use. officinalis meaning for example, it has medical properties.

a few people think that if one is using latin, one is full of oneselfe with finger up the ass, but it's not a show off thing at all (ahem, just a bit ) it just simply the lingo of horticulture, and without it you can never be sure if two people talk about the same plant.

another issue, is pronouciation, well latin does not get pronounced like english, allthough most people i spoke too, like to think so....

[mauve]

the second name which is allways written in lower keys, Salvia officinalis (NEVER, Salvia Officinalis!! )

oops ..... i did the mistake in 100% of my posts ! Thanks PH, now i know better

[mark80]

oops ..... i did the mistake in 100% of my posts ! Thanks PH, now i know better

notocactus/ pardio magnifica caus ethere magnifecnt!

thelocactus rhinconesus ---> cause she is alitle rhino. Catha edulis --> edulis means edible hint hint.

[Torsten]

Common names are fine if you only know a few plants. They become completely useless as soon as you broaden your horizon, where you'll find for example beeches, teaks and other timber trees on every continent that are mostly unrelated. Or descriptive names like black wattle is a different species every few hundred kms.

Latin names can be difficult and tedious, but are the best way to prevent confusion, especially in a field like ethnobotany. The pronunciation gets even more problematic. In horticulture is is acceptable to use anglicised pronunciation, but in botany it really isn't. So, you will get people arguing whether Nicotiana should be pronounced the one would in english, or whether the french root of the name should be respected, or whether none of these matter and the name should be entirely latin. To keep botanical latin internationally relevant it seems silly to cut corners and certainly most european or american botanical academics will frown at such bastardisations.

Personally I like pronouncing latin names the latin way [even though I flunked latin most of the time]. It makes the most sense to me that way and it is universally understood. It also makes remembering their spelling much easier. Latin pronunciation is exactly as it is written, so once you learn the few differences between english and latin letters [vowels mostly] you can then pronounce every latin word without ever having heard it. No guesswork.

It does get funny at some botany event though. You might be talking to 2 people about the same plant, but to one you pronounce it anglicised and to the other in latin, just because that's how they said it to you and you don't want to start correcting people's lating names all the time. maidenii is a classic in that regard.

Clitoria - clitoris shaped

Mitragyna - capped ovary

Mammillaria - breast like

belladonna - beautiful lady