Have you heard gardeners rattle off the Latin names of plants and been awed or intimidated? There’s no need to be. You probably already know a lot of the Latin words and don’t realize it. Are any of these familiar? Artemisia, Aster, Begonia, Chrysanthemum, Clematis, Crocus, Delphinium, Geranium, Hibiscus, Hosta, Iris, Phlox and Potentilla. Then there are the Latin names that are slightly different from the common names but easy to figure out, like Tulipa for tulip, Paeonia for peony and Rosa for rose.
Every Latin plant name consists of two words. The first word represents the larger group to which the plant belongs, also called the genus. The first letter is always capitalized. The second word is the species and is lowercase. Often the species name is descriptive of the plant or tells something about its native location. For example Solidago canadensis is Canada goldenrod and Allium giganteum is a giant ornamental onion.
But why bother with Latin names at all? The main reason is to avoid confusion. (The second reason is to impress your friends!) Each plant has only one Latin name, while it may have many common names depending on what part of the country you are in, or on what your grandma called it.
There are several different plants called milkweed. In one of my reference books, I found ten different milkweeds and in another book, three more. If I tell someone I’m going to plant milkweed, how are they to know if I’m going to be planting a prairie where I might include the milkweed with the pods full of silky seeds, Asclepias syriaca,, or a wet boggy area where I could grow swamp milkweed, Asclepias incarnate, or a more formal flower bed where a milkweed called Asclepias tuberose is appropriate?
Here are some Latin names you might see and what they mean. Most are easy to figure out with just a bit of thought. Edulis – edible, grandifolia – large leaves, grandiflora – large flowers, nigra – dark, odorata – scented flowers, pendula – hanging, contorta – twisted or contorted, japonica- from Japan, purpurea – purple, multiflora , – many flowered, rubra – red, pygmaea – small. Some names are not so obvious but you will often see these: Alba – white, glabra – smooth, hirsute – hairy, maculate – spotted, officianlis – with herbal uses, viridis – green.
How do you learn all these Latin names? I wouldn’t sit down with a list and try to memorize them. Just notice them whenever you see them in a plant catalog, on a plant tag or in an article and soon you will be surprised at how much Latin you know.
How do you pronounce these words? Just separate the word into syllables and pronounce each letter the way it sounds and proclaim it with confidence and you’ll do fine. If it’s not exactly the way the listener would pronounce it, your self-assurance will make them think you are correct!
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