Understanding Botanical Names

To a layperson, the botanical names sound very intimidating. It is not uncommon to

wonder why have such complex names for plants, and why can't we just use common
names. The answer is that, common names do not uniquely specify a plant. You can
have more than one plant called trumpet vine or yellow bells. The botanical names, on
the other hand, uniquely specify every plant.

Another important fact is that a botanical name may tell you much more about a plant
than a common name. There is a meaning associated with each part of the name. This
will be clear in the following. The botanical names consist of two parts (or epithets),
genus and the specific epithet (species for short):

Botanical name = Genus + species

Genus: A genus refers to a group of plants which share certain structural
characteristics. The genus name may come from mythology, literature, people, places,
or something the plant resembles.
Species: The species name usually refers to a place where the plant is native, the
plant's appearance, or the name of the person credited with discovering it. Individual
species are precisely identified by analyzing the flowers and seeds of each plant. The
determining criteria might be the number of petals on the flower, or a certain
characteristic of the seed.
Example : Calliandra haematocephala

Calliandra - Calli = beautiful Andra = Male flower parts or stamens. This means, plant

with beautiful stamens.
haematocephala - haema - blood red cephale head; front. This means, one with blood-
red head or front.
To see how all this agrees with the flower, click here. This example shows that just
knowing the name gives one lots of information about the flower. 
This system was developed by Carl Linnaeus, an 18th century botanist. Today, the
name of a plant is coined by the botanists who first describe (identify as new) the
plant, after analyzing the characters and attributes of the plant. The rules of naming
are governed by the International Code of Botanical Nomenclature (ICBN). The
ICBN is in turn updated from time to time by a world-wide group of botanists.

Colors of Leaf Form Plant Peculiarities Plant Shape

Flowers/Foliage

acerifolius - maplelike acaulis - stemless  arborescens - treelike 

alba, albus - white  leaves  amabile, amabilis - elata - tall 
arg, argenteus - silvery  abr - delicate leaved  beautiful  elegans - elegant, slender,
ater - black  angustifolius - narrow leaves  blanda - pleasent  willowy 
aurantiaca - orange  aquifolius - spiney leaves  communis - common  recta, erecta - upright, erect 
aureus - golden  buxifolius - leaves like contorta - contorted fruticosa - shrublike 
aure, aurea, aureum - boxwood  growth habit  grand, grandi - big 
gold  ilicifolius - hollylike leaves  cordata - heart-shaped  humilis - low-growing 
azurea, azureus - azure, lanceolata - lance-shaped  crispa - finely waved, nana - dwarf, miniature 
sky blue  lauriflolius - laurel-like curled  pendula -drooping, pendulous 
caesius - blue gray  leaves  florida, floridus - prostrat, prostratum,
caerula - deep blue  longifolia - long-leaved  flowering  procumbens - prostrate 
candidus - pure white, macrophylla - large-leaved  gracilis - graceful  pumilia - low-growing, dwarf 
shiny  microphylla - small-leaved  grandiflora - large- repens, reptans - creeping 
canus - ashy gray, hoary  parvifolia - small-leaved  flowered  scandens - climbing
carneus - flesh colored  parvifolius - small leaves  hybridus - hybrid 
citrinus - yellow  palmate, palmatum - hand- incana - gray-haired  Origin of Species
coeruleus - dark blue  shaped leaves  lactea - milky 
coccineus - scarlet  populifolius - poplarlike laevis - smooth 
concolor - one color  leaves  maculata - spotted  aethiopium - Africa 
croceus - yellow  rotundifolia - round-leaved  majus - larger  alpin - alpine regions 
cruentus - bloody  salicifolius - willowlike maxima - largest  andi - Andes 
discolor - two or separate leaves millefolium - thousand- antill - West Indies 
colors  leaved  australis - southern 
flava, flavum - yellow  Plant or Flower Scents minor, minus - smaller  barbadensis - native to
glaucus - covered with minim - very small  Barbados 
gray bloom  minut, minutus - very borealis - northern 
griseum - gray  arom - odor  small  campestris - of the field or
incanus - gray, hoary  dulce - sweet  mollis - soft and/or hairy  plains 
lutea, luteus - reddish fragrans - fragrant  mon - one (one leaf, one canadensis - from Canada or
yellow  fragrantissima - very flower)  America 
miniata - of a reddish fragrant  multiflora - many- canariensis - from the Canary
color  mosch - musk odor  flowered  Islands 
nigra - black  odorata - scented nitida, nitidum - shining  capensis - from the Cape of
purpurea, purpureus - officinalis - used as  Good Hope 
purple  perenne, perennis - chilensis - from Chile 
rosea - rose-colored  perennial  chinensis - from China 
rubens, ruber - red, ruddy  pictum - painted  europa - from Europe 
rubra, rubrum - red  pulchella - pretty  hortensis - of the garden 
rufus - ruddy  punctata - spotted  indica - from India 
sanguinea - blood-red  semperflorens - insularis - of the island 
viridis - green everblooming  japonica - japonicum - from
sempervirens - evergreen  Japan 
speciosa - showy  littoralis - of the seashore 
spectabilis - spectacular  maritima - from near the sea 
spinosissimus - spiniest  montana, montanus - from the
spinosus - spiny  mountains 
superbum - superb  palustris - from marshes or
tomentosa, tomentosum - wetlands 
hairy  riparius - of river banks 
umbellata - having flowers rivalis, rivularis - of brooks 
in umbels  saxatilis - inhabiting rocks 
variegata - variegated  virginiana - from Virginia
villosa, villosum - softly
hairy 
vulgaris - common