Euphorbia polychroma - euphorbia the spurge genus. XVII. alt. (by assim. to -IA1) of L. euphorbea, f. Euphorbus, name of a physician of Juba II, king of Mauretania, who is said to have named the plant after him; polychroma - having many or various colors. I've had this plant close to twelve years. It comes up every spring, is gorgeous, needs absolutely no care whatsoever and goes dormant in the fall. Common name is cushion spurge. I got my hands on some seeds and am winter sowing them.

mindy: here's a few: anemo=wind (anenome or wind flower), campan=bell(campanula) and chrys=golden (chrysanthemum) miriam

I like Arbutus unedo: unedo- L. "I eat one". Judging by the taste, one is more than enough!

Kevin : ])

My very most favorite plant name is Chamaecyparis pisifera 'Filifera Aurea Nana'......mostly because of the way it tumbles off the tongue whenn you say it out loud :-) When I was taking plant ID back in college, we got extra points if we got each part of BOTH the botanical and the common name correctly (correct spelling required!) and this one has so may parts, it was always a major point earner!!

Chamaecyparis pisifera 'Filifera Aurea Nana' = Dwarf golden threadleaf false (or Sarawa) cypress. That's a 10 pointer!!

Chamaecyparis - from the Greek KHAMAI, meaning ground and KUPARISSO, meaning cypress = "ground cypress"

pisifera - L. "bearing peas".....I assume refers to pea-like cones.

filifera - L. "thread-like"

aurea - L. "golden"

nana - "dwarf"

Here's a website that you may find interesting. It covers only specific epithets, but hey, to cover the Genus names would require another dictionary!
The names are listed alphabetically of course, so, just click on the link where a name of interest would occur and it will open a new page, with all of the inclusive names.
It includes a search function, also.
Rb

Here is a link that might be useful: Dictionary of Botanical Epithets

Here's one of my favorites: Officinalis, which indicates that the herb/flower is used for medicinal purposes. What is a little confusing, though, is that this doesn't necessarily indicate that it's something you'd want to, or even should, eat.

Etymology of Officinalis

Officina, a noun, is a Medievel Latin word derived from the noun opificina that was later shortened to officina. It referred originally to a workshop, later to a monastic storeroom, then to an herb store and finally to a pharmacy. The adjective, officinalis, in all of its declined forms is used in botanical Latin to mean used in medicine in the sense of used in the practice of medicine.

aquil = eagle-like (aquilegia = columbine) is the columbine eagle-like? hmmm....
petio = leaf stalk = petiolaris (hydrangea petiolaris)
platy = broad, flat (platycerium = flat horn) staghorn fern--speaking of which, does anyone know where I can get one of these next spring? I bought one in 2008 but it died. I don't know why. Miriam

No,no I have it wrong, it's scolopendrium--hart's tongue fern, described as "rarely found in the wild in North America but more common in other parts of the world...its strap-like foliage is not all lacy or delicate (you're telling me!); the fronds are usually 15-18" long, roughly tongue-shaped and with a gently undulating edge. A striking plant for the edge of a shady garden. Also known as Phyllitis scolopendrium. Zones 4-8." Amen. Miriam

GG, MIRIAM ET AL, can any of you help me solve the 'Hakonechloa' etymology? i know Greek has alot of 'k's in it, but I can't help but think that it has a japanese derivation (think Hokkaido!). Plse let me know if you find anything, and I'll keep looking..........
thanks much and best,
mindy

Here's one attenpt....

Hakone__ is a town in Ashigarashimo District in Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan.
chloa__(Etymology)
(Greek) chlÃ³Ä - young green vegetation, akin to chlôrós

oooh, I'm impressed, LWS! Any other Hakones out there?
I need to research when and how this wonderful plant was introduced here.that should verify the japanese- or other- nomenclature.
thanks much,
mindy

Here's what I found:

Hakonechloa is a single species of grass native to the area surrounding Mount Hakone on the island of Honshu, Japan and obviously named in part from that location. CHLOA is from the Greek word khloe, meaning young green shoot or grass (a number of plants have this suffix as part of their botanical name). To me, one of the most familiar common names for this grass, Hakone grass, is a pretty direct translation of the genus name :-)

And macra means large. Hakonechloa macra = large bladed Hakone grass.

Great thread! I'm sorry I've missed so much of it. ;)

I've always liked Euphorbia amygdaloides both for the way it rolls off the tongue, and the spelling of the specific epithet. It refers to being "almond-like", which I will assume is in regards to the leaves. Its common name is Wood Spurge.

Another cool one is Sempervivum tectorum, derived from the Latin semper, always, and vivo, I live, obviously referring to the plants longevity; tectorum means of the roof. From Josephine Addison's The Illustrated Plant Lore, it was apparently planted on cottage roofs in the hope that 'the dread rattling thunder which rifts Jove's stout oak with his own bolts may pass harmlessly over the lowly weed'. It may have simply been used as a natural ornament on door-posts, etc. One common name, Houseleek, seems to indicate a food use, which I can not confirm, although it certainly was used medicinally. The other common name, Hens & Chicks, refers to the way the plant self-propagates.

Here's another interesting website on taxonomy.

Here is a link that might be useful: Curious Taxonomy

Describing Acanthus spinosus, one of my gardening books says: the leaves are so incredible that they were the model of the Corinthian leaf motif used as decoration in ancient Roman and Greek architecture." Miriam

Thanks for the laughs. I especially liked the site, Curious Taxonomy.

20 years ago I worked in a biological research lab (Invertebrates), and the curator I worked for, Dr. Alan Solem, had a lot of fun naming new species. He liked to brainstorm new names with the staff that were both meaningful and funny.

When reading that site, under puns, I ran across one he named while I was there.

Ba humbugi Solem, 1983 (endodontoid snail) from Mba island, Fiji. He was describing the snail a day or so before Christmas vacation. Actually, he really liked Christmas.

The genus name of this group was already "Ba", and he just couldnÂt resist.

Ittibittium Houbrick, 1993 (mollusc) These are smaller than molluscs of the genus Bittium.

Houbrick was a malacologist from another institution my boss worked with. I think one-up-manship was going onÂ

OK, OK, I know this has nothing to do with plantsÂ.but I enjoyed travelling this tangent.

linnea,OT or not, what you shared is so much fun! thank you.hysterical! what a cool guy Solem is!must have been fun to work with.

gg, where ya been? plse tell us what source you used for that info- i want that book, site (or other!)

cool, i just noticed that amygdaloides has FOUR consonants in a row; i bet that's pretty rare.As to your cool info on semps, I have read that Iris tectorum(maybe my fav of all irises) was grown on Japanese thatched roofs, thus its name. My Love turns that into a joke, telling me that when I start asking him to garden on the roof, that'll be the day......!
best,
Mindy

Mindy, if you were asking me, I found most of that info in one of the texts on ornamental grasses I have (got a BIG horicultural library), but it does show up online as well :-) No particular sites......I just Google.

There is another, rather handy site I like that I sometimes use as a base to find more info.....it is sponsored by the competitive website whose name shall not be mentioned. Google 'botanary'.

yes, I was talking to you (I call you gg [prounounced gigi]); thank you for those tips!
mindy
p.s. i'll have to remember to genuflect next time I fly over Mt.Hakone. ho ho ho....

This has been such a fun thread - thank you all! I absolutely love words and their use (I get all excited when "Word Origins" is a category on Jeopardy, and goodness, if it is for Final Jeopardy, well, what more can one ask for, lol?).

I'm such a geek, I was laughing out loud reading the "Puns" section in coolplantsguy's link. DH asked what I was laughing at, but I didn't share - he just wouldn't understand.

Thanks everyone!
Dee

dee,
I'm going to be OT on my own thread, but with your interest, you might enjoy the game at
http://www.freerice.com/

It's an addictive word definition game that was created as a vehicle for raising money for world hunger. I really got into it for awhile and was psyched because I did pretty well (and thus raised alot of rice money[it's all donated by sponsors]). I got some Greek and Latin etymology dictionaries to learn more, so to do better . I never studied Latin but I do speak Plant Latin and fluent French, which has alot of greek and latin roots, so that helps a bit... Anyway, if you or or any others get active in the free rice world, let me know! i think about it this way: yes, it's an addiction, but through it, you end up doing alot of good for others. oh, and briefly learning some cool words, and some words that you will likely never ever use or see again in your life!!!
best,
mindy
cottonarboretum@comcast.net

Mindy, I've actually been to that site! It *is* a lot of fun - I don't dare use your link right now or I'll be up all night playing, lol!

Nice to know that others share in my geekdom... at least as far as words are concerned!

:)
Dee

Dee, Mindy, and Cool et al--after skimming Curious Taxonomy I'm thinking about changing my password to Vampyroteuthis Infernalis, which you savvy wordsmiths probably already know. Miriam, the Vampire Squid from Hell