   Understanding Botanical Names - March 29, 2000 Jeff Schalau, County Director, Agent, Agriculture & Natural Resources Arizona Cooperative Extension, Yavapai County You may have noticed when I write about a specific plant, I often use a common plant name, but almost always use a botanical or scientific name. This is not because I'm showing off or trying to make others feel diminished. It is simply because this is the language of horticulture. In reality, few plants even have English names. Botanical names (usually rooted in Latin or Greek) are universal. Taxonomists give plants their botanical names soon after they are discovered and they are officially adopted by the Nomenclature Section of an International Botanical Congress. This group meets every few years as needed. Plant taxonomy is a somewhat mundane, but necessary field. Understanding (if even just a little) it is helpful to those of us interested in horticulture. Taxonomy of all living organisms starts with the five kingdoms: Monera (bacteria), Protista, (one-celled animals), Fungi (mushroom, molds, and yeasts), Animalia (multi-celled animals), and Plantae (vascular plants). Kingdoms are divided into Phyla, Phyla into Divisions, Divisions into Orders, Orders into Families, Families into Genera, and Genera into Species. Taxonomic groups don't stop there. As horticulturists crossbred species, discovered desirable individuals and interesting mutants, they cloned them. This increased dilemmas for taxonomists and complicated the naming system. In addition to the genus and species, these plants are given variety names. For example Bermudagrass is a common turf grass that comes in many varieties. An example of using a botanical name for a variety of Bermudagrass is: Cynodon dactylon var. Blue Buddha. "Cynodon" is the genus and "dactylon" is the species. These are always italicized or underlined. "Blue Buddha" is the variety name. Sometimes the variety is called a subspecies. This is designated with a "ssp." Aside from all the technical talk, there are other practical reasons for using botanical names: many plant species have the same common names. Mock orange is a good example. Are we talking about plants in the genus Philadelphus or Pittosporum or some other mock orange? My philosophy for people interested in plants (but not in the nursery trade, plant scientists, or other serious endeavor): use common names, but pay attention to botanical names too. Now, I'll try to give you some motivation to do so. I'll be the first to admit botanical names are not always easy to pronounce but they often provide insight into the characteristics and/or origin of the plant they describe. For instance, Pyracantha is named for the Latin word "pryae" meaning funeral pyre and the Greek word "akanthos" meaning spine. In some cases, plants are named for the scientist or explorer that "discovered" them. A great example here is the genus Lewisia and several plants given the species name lewisii for Meriweather Lewis, the early explorer of the western United States. A few more examples follow. Lavender, the herb, belongs to the genus Lavendula and includes about 20 species of shrubs from the Mediterranean area, the Canary Isles, and India. It comes from the Latin word lavo which means "to wash". Greeks and Romans used lavender in their baths. Oxalis, a genus including wood sorrel and other plants we think of as weeds, is named for the Greek word "oxis" which means acid. Anyone that has tasted the stem of this plant knows that it is sour. Salvia, the genus of the herb common sage, comes from the Latin word "salveo", meaning to save or heal. Lupinus is the genus for the wildflower and cultivated border plant Lupine. The Latin word lupus meaning wolf or destroyer. It was once thought that lupines depleted soil fertility by their aggressive habits. The University of Arizona Cooperative Extension has publications and information on suitable landscape plants (including botanical names). If you have other gardening questions, call the Master Gardener line in the Cottonwood office at 646-9113 or E-mail us at mgardener@kachina.net and be sure to include your address and phone number. |