Latin for Botany Flashcards
Lovely
amabilis
Notable, famous
nobilis
Fragile, brittle
fragilis
Able to bend
flexilis
Curly
crispus
Powdered
glaucous
Smooth, hairless
glabra
Creeping
repens, reptans
Heart shaped
cordata
Arrow shaped
hastata
Oval
ovata
White
alba, albus, album
Black (G)
melan-, melano-
Black (L)
nigra, nigrus, nigrum
Blue (G)
cyana, cyanus, cyanum
Green (L)
virens
Yellow (G)
xanth-, zantho-
Yellow (L)
lutea, luteus, luteum
Red (L)
rubra, rubrus, rubrum
Purple (L)
purpurea, purpureus, purpureum
Grey or Ash
cinerea
Marshy
palustris, palustre
Meadow
pratensis, pratense
Woods
Sylvestris, sylvestre
Mountain dwelling
monticola
Cultivated fields
arvensis, arvense
Cultivated
sativa, sativus, sativum
Vegetable garden
oleracea, oleraceus, oleraceum
Garden
hortensis, hortense
Annual
annua
Biennial
biennis
Perennial
perennis
One turn (G)
monotropa
One turn (L)
uniflora
Twice-twisted
bistorta
Twin or in a pair
didyma
Having two lobes
biloba
Three teeth
tridentata
Three leaves
triphyllum
Four petals
tetramera
With five leaves, leaflets or lobes
quinquefolius
Many seeds or knees
polygonum
Many joints
polygonatum
A thousand leaves
millefolium
Flower
anthus, flora
Fruit
carpus
Stem
caulis
Berry
coccus
Tree
dendron
Leaf
phyll
Root
rhiza, radix
Suffix: To bear or to carry
NAME?
Wine bearing
vinifera
Bearing sleep
somnifera
Bearing a fragrant resin
balsamifera
Wax-bearing
cerifera
Carrying tulips
tulipifera
Suffix: Full of
-osa, -osus,- osum
Full of resin
resinosa
Ful of racemes
racemosa
Full of vessicles or bladders
vesiculosus
Full of tubers
tuberosum
Suffix: Little
ula
Suffix: Resembling
-oid, -folia
The leaf looks like a triangle of the Greek letter Delta
deltoides
Resembles Thalictrum the meadow rue
Thalictroides
Leaves like tansy
tanacetifolia
Leaves like holly
aquifolia
Leaves like Artemisia
artemesiifolia
Like a star
stellaria
Resembles tuberculosis or swollen glands
scrophularia
Resembles a membrane
membranaceus
Like ivy
hederacea
Like birch
betulina
Like a cat
cataria
Aster or Sunflower family
Asteraceae (Compositae)
Celery family
Apiaceae (Umbelliferae)
Mint family
Lamiaceae (Labiatae)
Myrtle family
Myrtaceae
Knotweed family
Polygonaceae
Rose family
Rosaceae
Valerian family
Valerianaceae
Ginger family
Zingiberaceae
Spectacular
spectabilis
nigra
black
Binomial Name
Linnaeus - Scientific Name Genus and Specific epithet -two-word names. It’s like a last name or surname in that it
identifies as part of a group that shares characteristics
Binomial Name
Often the specific epithet is called the “species name,” but taxonomists, whose job it is to make these names to classify organisms, reserve the use of the term “species name” for the genus name together with the epithet.
Example: Salmonberry
Rubus spectabilis
ROO-buss spek-TAB-ih-liss
Word Endings: Gender and Vowels
In Latin, every letter is pronounced.
sounding the final “-e” in a word instead of dropping it as you would in English.
Example, the neuter form of the previous epithets is spectabile, amabile, nobile, fragile and flexile.
Latin assigns genders to words and in this pattern:
a final “-e” makes the term neuter.
An “-is” ending makes it masculine or feminine.
specific epithet vulgaris or vulgare
Word Endings: Gender and Vowels
means “common” or “abundant.”
the gender ending in “a” means
Gender endings
feminine
ex. Maria
the gender ending in “us” means
Gender endings
masculine
the gender ending in “um” means
Gender endings
neuter
Officinalis
This epithet means the plant was listed in a pharmacopoeia
A diphthong is
two vowels joined together
to deal with diphthongs
is to voice the second vowel of the diphthong
Example: the e in the ae of Caesar, and algae, Spiraea, arborvitae and Crataegus (hawthorn)
common diphthong is
eu, pronounced “yoo”
second vowel in the diphthong “oe” is sometimes pronounced long
as in amoeba, Phoenix,
groenlandicum or Oenothera (evening primrose).
The oe can also be a short “e” as in foetid (FEH-tid) and Foeniculum (feh-NIK-kyoo-lum), the genus name for fennel.
“ei” is pronounced
like the “i” in height, and Cheiranthus, the wallflower genus.
“au” is pronounced
as in August
The aster or sunflower family: Asteraceae
The flowers are ray flowers, like daisies; this large family
includes yarrow, milk thistle, dandelion, the artemisias and burdock.
The celery family:
Apiaceae - The flowers and seed heads have an umbrella shape; this family
includes cumin, dill, fennel, angelica, parsley, gotu kola, anise and coriander.
The mint family:
Lamiaceae - With square stems and lip-shaped flowers, this family includes
thyme, basil, oregano, sage, rosemary, skullcap, lavender and ground ivy.
The laurel family:
Lauraceae - Includes cinnamon, sassafras, bay leaf and avocado.
The lily family:
Liliaceae - Includes garlic, onion, asparagus, sarsaparilla and yucca.
The myrtle family:
Myrtaceae - Includes allspice, clove, eucalyptus and tea tree.
The knotweed family:
Polygonaceae - Includes curly dock, rhubarb and the sorrels.
The rose family:
Rosaceae - This huge, aggregate family includes hawthorn, apples, agrimony, raspberry, meadowsweet, lady’s mantle, almonds, cherries and peaches.
The valerian family:
Valerianaceae - Includes vervain, chaste tree and lemon verbena.
The ginger family:
Zingiberaceae - includes turmeric, cardamom and galangal.
Pronounce consonants as you would normally
but if you want a more authentic Latinate sound, make s soft, as in Baptissia rather than Bapteezha, which is more popular. One consonant to note is ch, which is pronounced like k in words derived from Greek - some examples from English are:
chorus, architect, character and Christmas.
In a sample of 600 scientific names that I reviewed, not one used the ch sound of chokecherry unless it was in a person’s last name or a place name. The one place name to know is chinensis, meaning “from China.”
Occasionally the ae diphthong is
a schwa sound, as in Chamaelirium, where it’s an unstressed syllable.
two-syllable words
The stress always goes on the first syllable.
A genus is a group of species related by resemblance by things like structure or genes
Hydrastis - Genus names are always capitalized; that’s one way to distinguish them. H. canadensis is an abbreviated species name.
In addition to inventing taxonomic names, Carl Linnaeus collected the common names of plants in his travels. Mostly, these were two-word names, consisting of an adjective and a noun, e.g.: woody angelica and Sitka willow. Which term would you use for these two-word names?
binomial names - binomial, literally “two names.” Formal Latin or scientific names are also binomial.
Phoenix dactylifera is the species name for dates. “Dactyl” means “finger.” What does dactylifera mean?
bearing fingers - bearing fingers. Dates were thought to resemble fingers in the Egyptian counting system, which…counted some numbers on fingers!
The scientific name for meadowsweet is Filipendula ulmaria. The epithet “ulmaria” means “resembles an elm.” Which epithet below also uses a suffix meaning “resembling?’”
deltoides - answer: deltoides, as in Populus deltoides (Cottonwood), “shaped like a triangle or the Greek letter Delta.” Other suffixes that indicate resemblances include – aria, as in Stellaria media (chickweed), “like a star” and -ina, as in Agathosma betulina (buchu), “like birch.”
Which of the following contains a name WITHOUT a diphthong?
Rubus Idaeus (American red raspberry)
Eleutherococcus senticosis (formerly called Siberian ginseng, now called Eleuthero)
Urtica dioica (Stinging nettle)
Gaultheria procumbens (wintergreen)
Urtica dioica (Stinging nettle) - Urtica dioica. Every vowel gets pronounced here, although in other cases, people read “oi” as a diphthong – for example, del-TOY-deez in answer #4.
Which of the following names contain a word or syllable denoting the color yellow? (There may be more than one answer.)
Zanthoxylum americanum
Berberis vulgaris
Ephedra viridis
Gentiana luteus
Zanthoxylum americanum
Gentiana luteu
Zanthoxylum americanum and Gentiana luteus. Xanthos is a Greek word for yellow; luteus comes from lutum, a plant that yields a yellowish dye.
The epithet in the species name for horsetail, Equisetum arvense, indicates a habitat in which it grows. What does “arvense” refer to?
in cultivated fields - in cultivated fields. Oleracea means “of the vegetable garden,” as in Portulaca oleracea (purslane); Pratense/Pratensis means “in meadows,” as in Ledum palustre (Labrador tea), and sylvestris means “of the woods,” as in Dipsacus sylvestris (Teasel)
In which of the following does the pair of words NOT follow the identical stress pattern?
Chelone/Anemone - Chelone/Anemone. It’s a good practice to think of words that have the same ending and/or seem to rhyme in some way to figure out how to pronounce the word.
What does the suffix “–ula” mean?
little. “Calendula” mean “little calendar,” a reference to the long-flowering time of pot marigold across the months.
Some plant names incorporate the name of a botanist to honor them. Which of the following does NOT refer to a plant professional?
Achillea millefolium - Achillea millefolium. Achilles was the ancient Greek war hero described in The Iliad, an epic poem.
Which of the following plants does NOT have a compound leaf composed of three leaves?
Larrea tridentata (chaparral)
Arisaema triphyllum (Jack in the Pulpit)
Trifolium pretense (Red Clover)
Menyanthies trifoliata (bogbean)
Larrea tridentata (chaparral) - Larrea tridentata. “Dentata” means “furnished with teeth,” referring to chaparral’s three-toothed leaves.
The epithet “officinalis” means which of the following?
medicinal and pharmacopoeia - medicinal and of the pharmacopoeia; we will accept of the pharmacopoeia as well, since it’s the only definition offered in the Guide. Officinalis also means “sold in shops, especially apothecaries.”
means “berry.”
coccus, as in Eleutherococcus senitcosis (Eleuthero). “Anthus” and “flora” refer to flowers, “carpus” means “fruited,” and “rhiza” signifies “rhizomes.”
As in the genus name for Pasque flower, Pulsatilla, stress generally goes on a syllable ending with two consonants. T or F
true
A “ch” in a name is commonly pronounced like the “ch” in “church.” T or F
false - it is most often a hard “C” as it is pronounced in Greek
Stress is always placed on the second or third syllable from the end of a word 3 syllables or longer. T or F
true
In taxonomy, a family is usually a group of species, and names for families always end in the suffix –aceae (ay-see-ee or ay-see-ay). T or F
true
The specific epithet “vulgare” is pronounced “vul-GAIR.” T or F
F – the “e” is pronounced. There are no silent vowels in Botanical Latin.
Latin, like English, uses neuter, masculine and feminine endings on adjectives. T or F
False
If you’re going to divide a word into syllables, one rule to try is to use a consonant at the start of a syllable. T or F
true - example: Hu-mu-lus lu-pu-lus.
