Latin for Botany Flashcards
(133 cards)
1
Q
Lovely
A
amabilis
2
Q
Notable, famous
A
nobilis
3
Q
Fragile, brittle
A
fragilis
4
Q
Able to bend
A
flexilis
5
Q
Curly
A
crispus
6
Q
Powdered
A
glaucous
7
Q
Smooth, hairless
A
glabra
8
Q
Creeping
A
repens, reptans
9
Q
Heart shaped
A
cordata
10
Q
Arrow shaped
A
hastata
11
Q
Oval
A
ovata
12
Q
White
A
alba, albus, album
13
Q
Black (G)
A
melan-, melano-
14
Q
Black (L)
A
nigra, nigrus, nigrum
15
Q
Blue (G)
A
cyana, cyanus, cyanum
16
Q
Green (L)
A
virens
17
Q
Yellow (G)
A
xanth-, zantho-
18
Q
Yellow (L)
A
lutea, luteus, luteum
19
Q
Red (L)
A
rubra, rubrus, rubrum
20
Q
Purple (L)
A
purpurea, purpureus, purpureum
21
Q
Grey or Ash
A
cinerea
22
Q
Marshy
A
palustris, palustre
23
Q
Meadow
A
pratensis, pratense
24
Q
Woods
A
Sylvestris, sylvestre
25
Mountain dwelling
monticola
26
Cultivated fields
arvensis, arvense
27
Cultivated
sativa, sativus, sativum
28
Vegetable garden
oleracea, oleraceus, oleraceum
29
Garden
hortensis, hortense
30
Annual
annua
31
Biennial
biennis
32
Perennial
perennis
33
One turn (G)
monotropa
34
One turn (L)
uniflora
35
Twice-twisted
bistorta
36
Twin or in a pair
didyma
37
Having two lobes
biloba
38
Three teeth
tridentata
39
Three leaves
triphyllum
40
Four petals
tetramera
41
With five leaves, leaflets or lobes
quinquefolius
42
Many seeds or knees
polygonum
43
Many joints
polygonatum
44
A thousand leaves
millefolium
45
Flower
anthus, flora
46
Fruit
carpus
47
Stem
caulis
48
Berry
coccus
49
Tree
dendron
50
Leaf
phyll
51
Root
rhiza, radix
52
Suffix: To bear or to carry
#NAME?
53
Wine bearing
vinifera
54
Bearing sleep
somnifera
55
Bearing a fragrant resin
balsamifera
56
Wax-bearing
cerifera
57
Carrying tulips
tulipifera
58
Suffix: Full of
-osa, -osus,- osum
59
Full of resin
resinosa
60
Ful of racemes
racemosa
61
Full of vessicles or bladders
vesiculosus
62
Full of tubers
tuberosum
63
Suffix: Little
ula
64
Suffix: Resembling
-oid, -folia
65
The leaf looks like a triangle of the Greek letter Delta
deltoides
66
Resembles Thalictrum the meadow rue
Thalictroides
67
Leaves like tansy
tanacetifolia
68
Leaves like holly
aquifolia
69
Leaves like Artemisia
artemesiifolia
70
Like a star
stellaria
71
Resembles tuberculosis or swollen glands
scrophularia
72
Resembles a membrane
membranaceus
73
Like ivy
hederacea
74
Like birch
betulina
75
Like a cat
cataria
76
Aster or Sunflower family
Asteraceae (Compositae)
77
Celery family
Apiaceae (Umbelliferae)
78
Mint family
Lamiaceae (Labiatae)
79
Myrtle family
Myrtaceae
80
Knotweed family
Polygonaceae
81
Rose family
Rosaceae
82
Valerian family
Valerianaceae
83
Ginger family
Zingiberaceae
84
Spectacular
spectabilis
85
nigra
black
86
Binomial Name
Linnaeus - Scientific Name Genus and Specific epithet -two-word names. It's like a last name or surname in that it
identifies as part of a group that shares characteristics
87
Binomial Name
Often the specific epithet is called the "species name," but taxonomists, whose job it is to make these names to classify organisms, reserve the use of the term "species name" for the genus name together with the epithet.
**Example:** Salmonberry
Rubus spectabilis
ROO-buss spek-TAB-ih-liss
88
Word Endings: Gender and Vowels
In Latin, every letter is pronounced.
sounding the final "-e" in a word instead of dropping it as you would in English.
**Example,** the neuter form of the previous epithets is spectabile, amabile, nobile, fragile and flexile.
Latin assigns genders to words and in this pattern:
a final "-e" makes the term neuter.
An "-is" ending makes it masculine or feminine.
89
specific epithet vulgaris or vulgare
| Word Endings: Gender and Vowels
means "common" or "abundant."
90
the gender ending in "a" means
| Gender endings
feminine
| ex. Maria
91
the gender ending in "us" means
| Gender endings
masculine
92
the gender ending in "um" means
| Gender endings
neuter
93
Officinalis
This epithet means the plant was listed in a pharmacopoeia
94
A diphthong is
two vowels joined together
95
to deal with diphthongs
is to voice the second vowel of the diphthong
Example: the e in the ae of Caesar, and algae, Spiraea, arborvitae and Crataegus (hawthorn)
96
common diphthong is
eu, pronounced "yoo"
97
second vowel in the diphthong "oe" is sometimes pronounced long
as in amoeba, Phoenix,
groenlandicum or Oenothera (evening primrose).
The oe can also be a short "e" as in foetid (FEH-tid) and Foeniculum (feh-NIK-kyoo-lum), the genus name for fennel.
98
"ei" is pronounced
like the "i" in height, and Cheiranthus, the wallflower genus.
99
"au" is pronounced
as in August
100
The aster or sunflower family: Asteraceae
The flowers are ray flowers, like daisies; this large family
includes yarrow, milk thistle, dandelion, the artemisias and burdock.
101
The celery family:
Apiaceae - The flowers and seed heads have an umbrella shape; this family
includes cumin, dill, fennel, angelica, parsley, gotu kola, anise and coriander.
102
The mint family:
Lamiaceae - With square stems and lip-shaped flowers, this family includes
thyme, basil, oregano, sage, rosemary, skullcap, lavender and ground ivy.
103
The laurel family:
Lauraceae - Includes cinnamon, sassafras, bay leaf and avocado.
104
The lily family:
Liliaceae - Includes garlic, onion, asparagus, sarsaparilla and yucca.
105
The myrtle family:
Myrtaceae - Includes allspice, clove, eucalyptus and tea tree.
106
The knotweed family:
Polygonaceae - Includes curly dock, rhubarb and the sorrels.
107
The rose family:
Rosaceae - This huge, aggregate family includes hawthorn, apples, agrimony, raspberry, meadowsweet, lady's mantle, almonds, cherries and peaches.
108
The valerian family:
Valerianaceae - Includes vervain, chaste tree and lemon verbena.
109
The ginger family:
Zingiberaceae - includes turmeric, cardamom and galangal.
110
Pronounce consonants as you would normally
but if you want a more authentic Latinate sound, make s soft, as in Baptissia rather than Bapteezha, which is more popular. One consonant to note is ch, which is pronounced like k in words derived from Greek - some examples from English are:
chorus, architect, character and Christmas.
In a sample of 600 scientific names that I reviewed, not one used the ch sound of chokecherry unless it was in a person's last name or a place name. The one place name to know is chinensis, meaning "from China."
111
Occasionally the ae diphthong is
a schwa sound, as in Chamaelirium, where it's an unstressed syllable.
112
two-syllable words
The stress always goes on the first syllable.
113
A genus is a group of species related by resemblance by things like structure or genes
Hydrastis - Genus names are always capitalized; that’s one way to distinguish them. H. canadensis is an abbreviated species name.
114
In addition to inventing taxonomic names, Carl Linnaeus collected the common names of plants in his travels. Mostly, these were two-word names, consisting of an adjective and a noun, e.g.: woody angelica and Sitka willow. Which term would you use for these two-word names?
binomial names - binomial, literally “two names.” Formal Latin or scientific names are also binomial.
115
Phoenix dactylifera is the species name for dates. “Dactyl” means “finger.” What does dactylifera mean?
bearing fingers - bearing fingers. Dates were thought to resemble fingers in the Egyptian counting system, which…counted some numbers on fingers!
116
The scientific name for meadowsweet is Filipendula ulmaria. The epithet “ulmaria” means “resembles an elm.” Which epithet below also uses a suffix meaning “resembling?’”
deltoides - answer: deltoides, as in Populus deltoides (Cottonwood), “shaped like a triangle or the Greek letter Delta.” Other suffixes that indicate resemblances include – aria, as in Stellaria media (chickweed), “like a star” and -ina, as in Agathosma betulina (buchu), “like birch.”
117
Which of the following contains a name WITHOUT a diphthong?
Rubus Idaeus (American red raspberry)
Eleutherococcus senticosis (formerly called Siberian ginseng, now called Eleuthero)
Urtica dioica (Stinging nettle)
Gaultheria procumbens (wintergreen)
Urtica dioica (Stinging nettle) - Urtica dioica. Every vowel gets pronounced here, although in other cases, people read “oi” as a diphthong – for example, del-TOY-deez in answer #4.
118
Which of the following names contain a word or syllable denoting the color yellow? (There may be more than one answer.)
Zanthoxylum americanum
Berberis vulgaris
Ephedra viridis
Gentiana luteus
Zanthoxylum americanum
Gentiana luteu
Zanthoxylum americanum and Gentiana luteus. Xanthos is a Greek word for yellow; luteus comes from lutum, a plant that yields a yellowish dye.
119
The epithet in the species name for horsetail, Equisetum arvense, indicates a habitat in which it grows. What does “arvense” refer to?
in cultivated fields - in cultivated fields. Oleracea means “of the vegetable garden,” as in Portulaca oleracea (purslane); Pratense/Pratensis means “in meadows,” as in Ledum palustre (Labrador tea), and sylvestris means “of the woods,” as in Dipsacus sylvestris (Teasel)
120
In which of the following does the pair of words NOT follow the identical stress pattern?
Chelone/Anemone - Chelone/Anemone. It’s a good practice to think of words that have the same ending and/or seem to rhyme in some way to figure out how to pronounce the word.
120
What does the suffix “–ula” mean?
little. “Calendula” mean “little calendar,” a reference to the long-flowering time of pot marigold across the months.
121
Some plant names incorporate the name of a botanist to honor them. Which of the following does NOT refer to a plant professional?
Achillea millefolium - Achillea millefolium. Achilles was the ancient Greek war hero described in The Iliad, an epic poem.
122
Which of the following plants does NOT have a compound leaf composed of three leaves?
Larrea tridentata (chaparral)
Arisaema triphyllum (Jack in the Pulpit)
Trifolium pretense (Red Clover)
Menyanthies trifoliata (bogbean)
Larrea tridentata (chaparral) - Larrea tridentata. “Dentata” means “furnished with teeth,” referring to chaparral’s three-toothed leaves.
123
The epithet “officinalis” means which of the following?
medicinal and pharmacopoeia - medicinal and of the pharmacopoeia; we will accept of the pharmacopoeia as well, since it’s the only definition offered in the Guide. Officinalis also means “sold in shops, especially apothecaries.”
124
means “berry.”
coccus, as in Eleutherococcus senitcosis (Eleuthero). “Anthus” and “flora” refer to flowers, “carpus” means “fruited,” and “rhiza” signifies “rhizomes.”
125
As in the genus name for Pasque flower, Pulsatilla, stress generally goes on a syllable ending with two consonants. T or F
true
126
A “ch” in a name is commonly pronounced like the “ch” in “church.” T or F
false - it is most often a hard “C” as it is pronounced in Greek
127
Stress is always placed on the second or third syllable from the end of a word 3 syllables or longer. T or F
true
128
In taxonomy, a family is usually a group of species, and names for families always end in the suffix –aceae (ay-see-ee or ay-see-ay). T or F
true
129
The specific epithet “vulgare” is pronounced “vul-GAIR.” T or F
F – the “e” is pronounced. There are no silent vowels in Botanical Latin.
130
Latin, like English, uses neuter, masculine and feminine endings on adjectives. T or F
False
131
If you’re going to divide a word into syllables, one rule to try is to use a consonant at the start of a syllable. T or F
true - example: Hu-mu-lus lu-pu-lus.
132
