List of descriptive plant species epithets (A–H)

Since the first printing of Carl Linnaeus's Species Plantarum in 1753, plants have been assigned one epithet or name for their species and one name for their genus, a grouping of related species.^[1] These scientific names have been catalogued in a variety of works, including Stearn's Dictionary of Plant Names for Gardeners. William Stearn (1911–2001) was one of the pre-eminent British botanists of the 20th century: a Librarian of the Royal Horticultural Society, a president of the Linnean Society and the original drafter of the International Code of Nomenclature for Cultivated Plants.^[2]^[3]

The first column below lists seed-bearing species epithets from Stearn's Dictionary, Latin for Gardeners^[4] by Lorraine Harrison, The A to Z of Plant Names by Allen Coombes, The Gardener's Botanical^[5] by Ross Bayton, and the glossary of Stearn's Botanical Latin.^[6] Epithets from proper nouns, proper adjectives, and two or more nouns are excluded, along with epithets used only in species names that are no longer widely accepted. Classical and modern meanings are provided in the third column, along with citations to Charlton T. Lewis's An Elementary Latin Dictionary.^[7]^[a]

Key

LG = language: (L)atin or (G)reek

L = derived from Latin, or both Classical Latin and Greek (unless otherwise noted)

G = derived from Greek

H = listed by Harrison, and (except as noted) by Bayton

D = listed in Stearn's Dictionary

S = listed in Stearn's Botanical Latin

DS = listed in Stearn's Dictionary, with the word or root word listed in Botanical Latin

C = listed by Coombes

Epithets

Stream in Kamchatka with *Salix arctica*←

Notes

^ Words in the third column following "from" are related words from Classical Latin. The Latin and Latinised Greek words in the first column have masculine endings. If the genus is feminine, the -us ending generally becomes -a, -is is unchanged, and -er becomes -era, or occasionally -ra, as noted; other endings remain unchanged. For a neuter genus, -us becomes -um, -is becomes -e and -er becomes -erum, or occasionally -rum.
^ The arrow provides a link to the table row that describes the species epithet.
^ Since all of the references cited in the table except Coombes arrange their species epithets alphabetically, citations with page numbers are provided only for Coombes, and each source in the table except for Coombes is always represented by the same superscript.
^ Red links for species are followed by an asterisk linking to the genus.
^ The -um ending here denotes a genitive plural noun.
^ Harrison and Bayton list an -erus ending for many -fer and -ger epithets; Stearn occasionally gives an -ers ending.
^ The suffix -ulus and other diminutives can mean, among other things, "little" or "a little";^[44] the exact meanings are beyond the scope of this list.

Citations

^ Cullen, p. 38.
^ The Linnean Society.
^ Stearn, p. ix, x.
^ a b c d e f Harrison.
^ a b c Bayton.
^ a b c d e Stearn 2004.
^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z aa ab ac ad ae af ag ah ai aj ak al am an ao ap aq ar as at au av aw ax ay az ba bb bc bd be bf bg bh bi bj bk bl bm bn bo bp bq br bs bt bu bv bw bx by bz ca cb cc cd ce cf cg ch ci cj ck cl cm cn co cp cq cr cs ct cu cv cw cx cy cz da db dc dd de df dg dh di dj dk dl dm dn do dp dq dr ds dt du dv dw dx dy dz ea eb ec ed ee ef eg eh ei ej ek el em en eo ep eq er es et eu ev ew ex ey ez fa fb fc fd fe ff fg fh fi fj fk fl fm fn fo fp fq fr fs ft fu fv fw fx fy fz ga gb gc gd ge gf gg gh gi gj gk gl gm gn go gp gq gr gs gt gu gv gw gx gy gz ha hb hc hd he hf hg hh hi hj hk hl hm hn ho hp hq hr hs ht hu hv hw hx hy hz ia ib ic id ie if ig ih ii ij ik il im in io ip iq ir is it iu iv iw ix iy iz ja jb jc jd je jf jg jh ji jj jk jl jm jn jo jp jq jr js jt ju jv jw jx jy jz ka kb kc kd ke kf kg kh ki kj kk kl km kn ko kp kq kr ks kt ku kv kw kx ky kz la lb lc ld le lf lg lh li lj lk ll lm ln lo lp lq lr ls lt lu lv lw lx ly lz ma mb mc md me mf mg mh mi mj mk ml mm mn mo mp mq mr ms mt mu mv mw mx my mz na nb nc nd ne nf ng nh ni nj nk nl nm nn no np nq nr ns nt nu nv nw nx ny nz oa ob oc od oe of og oh oi oj ok ol om on oo op oq or os ot ou ov ow ox oy oz pa pb pc pd pe pf pg ph pi pj pk pl pm pn po pp pq pr ps pt pu pv pw Lewis.
^ Stearn.
^ POWO.
^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z aa ab ac ad ae af ag ah ai aj ak al am an ao ap aq ar Gledhill.
^ a b Coombes, p. 83.
^ Coombes, p. 251.
^ a b Coombes, p. 102.
^ a b Coombes, p. 260.
^ Coombes, p. 257.
^ Coombes, p. 240.
^ Coombes, p. 99.
^ Coombes, p. 268.
^ Coombes, p. 249.
^ a b c Coombes, p. 107.
^ a b Coombes, p. 231.
^ a b Coombes, p. 189.
^ a b c d e f g Coombes, p. 32.
^ a b Coombes, p. 128.
^ a b c d Coombes, p. 177.
^ a b c Coombes, p. 138.
^ a b c d Coombes, p. 23.
^ Coombes, p. 266.
^ a b Coombes, p. 300.
^ Coombes, p. 248.
^ a b c Coombes, p. 29.
^ a b c Coombes, p. 242.
^ a b c Coombes, p. 35.
^ Coombes, p. 184.
^ Coombes, p. 70.
^ a b Coombes, p. 96.
^ Coombes, p. 228.
^ a b c Coombes, p. 308.
^ a b Coombes, p. 171.
^ a b Coombes, p. 197.
^ Coombes, p. 206.
^ a b c Coombes, p. 271.
^ a b c d Coombes, p. 39.
^ Stearn 2004, p. 301.
^ a b c d Coombes, p. 41.
^ Coombes, p. 238.
^ Coombes, p. 87.
^ a b c Coombes, p. 31.
^ a b Coombes, p. 124.
^ a b c Coombes, p. 227.
^ a b c Coombes, p. 255.
^ a b c Coombes, p. 272.
^ a b c d e f Coombes, p. 42.
^ a b c d e f Coombes, p. 47.
^ a b c d Coombes, p. 34.
^ a b c Coombes, p. 33.
^ a b c Coombes, p. 72.
^ Coombes, p. 245.
^ a b c d e f Coombes, p. 43.
^ a b Coombes, p. 202.
^ Coombes, p. 121.
^ a b c d Coombes, p. 123.
^ a b Coombes, p. 216.
^ a b Coombes, p. 275.
^ Coombes, p. 74.
^ Coombes, p. 111.
^ a b c Coombes, p. 44.
^ a b Coombes, p. 210.
^ a b Coombes, p. 292.
^ a b c d Coombes, p. 82.
^ a b c d e f Coombes, p. 37.
^ Coombes, p. 276.
^ a b Coombes, p. 290.
^ a b c Coombes, p. 116.
^ a b Coombes, p. 160.
^ Coombes, p. 229.
^ a b c Coombes, p. 26.
^ Coombes, p. 263.
^ a b Coombes, p. 219.
^ Coombes, p. 50.
^ a b c Coombes, p. 52.
^ a b c Coombes, p. 104.
^ a b c Coombes, p. 67.
^ a b c Coombes, p. 262.
^ a b c Coombes, p. 194.
^ Coombes, p. 170.
^ Coombes, p. 213.
^ Coombes, p. 270.
^ a b Coombes, p. 106.
^ a b Coombes, p. 209.
^ a b Coombes, p. 134.
^ Coombes, p. 253.
^ Coombes, p. 114.
^ a b Coombes, p. 97.
^ a b Coombes, p. 136.
^ Coombes, p. 101.
^ Coombes, p. 246.
^ Coombes, p. 267.
^ a b c Coombes, p. 48.
^ a b Coombes, p. 277.
^ a b Coombes, p. 144.
^ a b Coombes, p. 69.
^ a b c Coombes, p. 108.
^ a b Coombes, p. 235.
^ a b Coombes, p. 38.
^ a b c Coombes, p. 84.
^ a b Coombes, p. 139.
^ a b c Coombes, p. 49.
^ a b c Coombes, p. 25.
^ Coombes, p. 86.
^ Coombes, p. 287.
^ a b Coombes, p. 143.
^ a b Coombes, p. 288.
^ a b Coombes, p. 163.
^ Coombes, p. 174.
^ a b Coombes, p. 181.
^ Coombes, p. 77.
^ a b Coombes, p. 59.
^ Coombes, p. 89.
^ Coombes, p. 203.
^ a b Coombes, p. 60.
^ Coombes, p. 243.
^ Coombes, p. 142.
^ a b Coombes, p. 76.
^ Coombes, p. 302.
^ Coombes, p. 46.
^ a b c Coombes, p. 180.
^ Coombes, p. 283.
^ Coombes, p. 135.
^ Coombes, p. 122.
^ Coombes, p. 225.
^ Coombes, p. 221.
^ Coombes, p. 54.
^ Coombes, p. 125.
^ Coombes, p. 273.
^ Coombes, p. 162.
^ Coombes, p. 182.
^ a b Coombes, p. 78.
^ a b Coombes, p. 165.
^ Coombes, p. 63.
^ Coombes, p. 117.
^ Coombes, p. 195.
^ Coombes, p. 66.
^ a b Coombes, p. 259.
^ Coombes, p. 105.
^ Coombes, p. 309.
^ Coombes, p. 57.
^ a b Coombes, p. 81.
^ a b Coombes, p. 137.
^ Coombes, p. 30.
^ a b Coombes, p. 24.
^ Coombes, p. 27.
^ Coombes, p. 207.
^ Coombes, p. 280.
^ Coombes, p. 133.
^ Coombes, p. 211.
^ Coombes, p. 218.
^ Coombes, p. 254.

References

Bayton, Ross (2020). The Gardener's Botanical: An Encyclopedia of Latin Plant Names. Princeton, New Jersey: Princeton University Press. ISBN 978-0-691-20017-0.
Coombes, Allen (2012). The A to Z of Plant Names: A Quick Reference Guide to 4000 Garden Plants. Portland, Oregon: Timber Press. ISBN 9781604691962.
Cullen, Katherine E. (2006). Biology: The People Behind the Science. New York, New York: Infobase Publishing. ISBN 9780816072217.
Gledhill, David (2008). The Names of Plants. New York, New York: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 9780521866453.
Harrison, Lorraine (2012). Latin for Gardeners: Over 3,000 Plant Names Explained and Explored. Chicago, Illinois: University of Chicago Press. ISBN 9780226009193.
Lewis, Charlton (1891). An Elementary Latin Dictionary. Oxford: Oxford University Press. ISBN 9780199102051. Available online at the Perseus Digital Library.
The Linnean Society (August 1992). "Publications by William T. Stearn on bibliographical, botanical and horticultural subjects, 1977–1991; a chronological list". Botanical Journal of the Linnean Society. 109 (4): 443–451. doi:10.1111/j.1095-8339.1992.tb01443.x. ISSN 0024-4074.
POWO (2019). "Plants of the World Online". London: Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. Archived from the original on March 22, 2017. Retrieved January 1, 2021. See terms of use.
Stearn, William (2004). Botanical Latin. Portland, Oregon: Timber Press. ISBN 9780881926279.
Stearn, William (2002). Stearn's Dictionary of Plant Names for Gardeners. London: Cassell. ISBN 9780304364695.

List of descriptive plant species epithets (A–H)

Key

Epithets

See also

Notes

Citations

References

Further reading