Plant Name Hacks

Question 1

-aceae

Answer 1

“A-C-eye”
(-ae @ the end is pronounced “eye”)

“A-see”

“A-see-ee”

Question 2

edulis

Answer 2

edulis

Question 3

toxicarius

Answer 3

poisonous

Question 4

albus

Answer 4

white

Question 5

orientalis

Answer 5

relating to the Orient

Question 6

scandens

Answer 6

climbing

Question 7

pendulus

Answer 7

hanging

Question 8

Botanical name

Answer 8

Genus- species- variety

Aka: “binomial”, “scientific name”, “Latin name”

Question 9

Cultivar

Answer 9

Cultivarsdiffer from each other in one or more characteristics.

Cultivars are cultivated varieties.

They only occur through humans selecting plants to breed with each other.

A cultivar ofDigitalis purpurea maculatais ‘Superba,’ which means “spotted flowers that are showy, superb, or proud.”

Cultivars are called varieties by most people, but it is technically incorrect.

Question 10

Variety

Answer 10

Sometimes plants within a species are also arranged into groups called varieties based on slight variations of characteristics.

Varieties can reproduce by seed, but those sold at garden centers may differ slightly from how they appear in nature.

The variety for Digitalis purpurea maculata is maculata, meaning spotted, a reference to the spotted or mottled, purple Digitalis flowers.

Sometimes varieties are indicated by var. or v., for example, Digitalis purpurea var. maculata.

Question 11

Clone

Answer 11

A clone is the result of taking cuttings, such as leaf tissue, leaf buds, or bulb segments, from a plant that possesses superior characteristics, including disease resistance, pest resistance, or outstanding productivity and propagating to create many small plants that are identical to each other and to the mother plant.

Plants that are cloned include potato (Solanum tuberosum), grapes (Vitis), figs (Ficus), and trees including poplar (Populus) and willow (Salix).

Question 12

Hybrid

Answer 12

Hybrids are the result of a sexual cross between two or more parents, either genera or species, that are closely related and possess superior characteristics.

The name of a hybrid is proceeded by inserting an “X” before the hybrid.

Example: Quercus X beadleiis a hybrid ofQuercus alba(White oak) andQ. michauxii(Swamp chestnut oak).

Question 13

Plant taxonomy

Answer 13

The science of classifying and naming plants.

It is a branch of systematics, the science of determining how different biological organisms are related to each other.

Taxonomy classifies plants and other organisms into different taxonomic levels (Kingdom-phylum-class-order-family-genus-species).

Question 14

Macro

Answer 14

Big

Question 15

Phyllum

Answer 15

Leaves

Question 16

officinalis

Answer 16

Possibly- medicinal

Question 17

sylvestris

Answer 17

Likely grows well in shady woodland areas.

Question 18

“Var.”

Answer 18

“Variety,”

There can be different varieties of a single species. Varieties occur in nature.

For example, “In contrast to most redbuds, Cercis canadensis var. alba has a white flower.”

Question 19

“X”

Answer 19

Indicates a cross between two or more species, also known as a hybrid.

Hybrids can occur in nature or with human intervention. For example,Citrusxmeyeriis a citrus hybrid commonly known as Meyer Lemon.