Latin lingo

For those who like me can't tell their Busy Lizzies fron their impatiens and their Hedera from their ivy and their Primula vulgaris from their Primula japonica. Here's a short guide (cribbed from the web) on how to talk horticultural latin.
Sorry about the alignment of the text, pasting from MS Word doesn't work very well.

(So Palustris came from the marshes )



Frequently Used Latin in the Herb World

Latin Meaning
officinalis Was originally used medicinally
basilicum Royal or princely
communis Common (not an inferior plant)
vulgaris Common

The place the plant originated
Latin Meaning
japonica Japan
montana From the mountains
palustris From the marshes
chinensis China
canadensus From Canada or the Northeast Unites States
etruscus Tuscany
coreanus Korea


One part of the word leads to another
Latin Meaning
semperflorens ever blooming
sempervirens evergreen

Colors
Latin Meaning
sanguinea blood red
rubra red
purpurea purple
pictum painted
nigra black
maculata spotted
lutea yellow
aurea gold
aurantiaca orange
azurea blue
caerulea deep blue
griseum gray

About the flowers (florus)
Latin Meaning
geminiflorus Flowers arranged in pairs
nudiflorus Nude at flowering, leaves come out after flowers
confertiflorus With crowded flowers
lateriflorus Flowering on the side

The leaves (folia)
Latin Meaning
rotundifolia Round leaves
parvifolia Small leaves
millefolium Thousand leaved
longifolia Long leaves
hederifolius Ivy shaped leaves

How the plant behaves
Latin Meaning
scandens climbing
repens creeping
nana dwarf
humilis low growing

Special Characteristics
Latin Meaning
punctata spotted
mollis soft

[ 13. April 2006, 10:31 PM: Message edited by: Dave W ]

 

tut tut, spelling mistake, Mr W!! Surely you noticed? Sanguinea!!

 

What an absolute work of art Dave,How very very interesting.Thank you for that..............

 

It wisna me miss. I copied from the boy beside me


Ought to have spotted it but a g looks a bit like a q in some fonts.

[ 13. April 2006, 10:03 PM: Message edited by: Dave W ]

 

If anyone wants any Latin horticultural term translating I have a copy of Stearne's excellent book.
And from the marshes is fairly close.

 

Me transmitte sursum, Caledoni!

Beam me up Scotty

 

Remember Life of Brian, Dave?? When the Roman centurion gets Brian to translate properly "Romans go home!" You've definitely brought that to mind.

Yes, Palustris, the Stearn book is realy handy - but it's even easier if you've been forced to learn latin at school! They always said it was a useful thing to do!

 

Seen another one, Dave - should be hederifolius - or does an r look like a d in some fonts? :D

Ok, Ok, I'll stop being teacher now, promise!!

 

Most of my latin came from having to do extra maths sitting at the back of a latin class. The taught latin was much more interesting than the maths book I was supposed to be working through on my own.
Thanks for the reminder about Life of Brian - must see if our son can get hold of it on DVD so we can take it away in the van and do a bit of revision on our next trip.

Hederifolius = heid like an old book. Wrinkled brow.

[ 13. April 2006, 10:37 PM: Message edited by: Dave W ]