Linnea borealis
Twinflower
CAPRIFOLIACEAE, The Honeysuckle family
At a little turn-out by a river in the Pinchot National Forest, the woodland floor was carpeted with this circumboreal species. It is named for Carolus Linneaus (1707-78), the Swedish scientist who created our system of classification and nomenclature for plants and animals. Formerly plants’ scientific names were composed of a series of descriptive phrases in Latin, then the language that scientists across the West had in common. Basically, each name was a whole paragraph. Linnaeus streamlined the names into a binomial system. Within families, each kind has a genus name and a species name, in the same way that people have a last name in common with their closest kin and a given name that refers specifically to them. Species names, or ‘specific epithets’ are descriptive. For instance, within the huge genus Aster, there is one called macrophylla, referring to its unusually large leaves. Aster alpinus lives in alpine regions. Miscanthus is a genus of grass, the species sinensis is native to China. And within Penstemon, a group of flowers with five stamens, there is a kind called davidsonii, named for the one described by Davidson.
Even though the system is based on the Latin language, it’s more accurate to call plant names Botanical or Scientific, because it is really it’s own language woven out of many types of words. Because the Greeks had names for so many plants, many scientific names, and our contemporary common names, come from their words. As new species are described new word are invented and Latinized. Mitella is a genus that is closely related to Tellimia, which it is an anagram of.
Names that come straight from Latin, and have been in use for that plant since antiquity:
Aster, a star
Fagus, the Latin name for Beech tree
Linum, the Latin name for flax plant.
Pinus, pine tree
Names that come from Greek:
Daphne, their name for the Laurel tree
Delphinium, from the word for Dolphin, named for the flower’s shape
And many names come from Latin and Greek that are descriptive, but aren’t an old word for the plant:
Exochorda, Pearl bush, from Greek, exo (outside) and chorda (a chord), referring to the structure around the seeds in the plant’s ovary.
Names from other languages:
Tsuga, and Fatsia, from Japanese
Coffea, from an Arabic name
Cocos, from Portuguese
Catalpa, from a Native American name
Names that come from people’s names:
Dahlia, after Swedish botanist Anders Dahl (1751-89)
Lewisia, after Meriwether Lewis (1774-1809)
Names that describe places or origins:
anglicus, of England
lusitanica, of Portugal
occidentalis, from the west
There’s no reason to be afraid of botanical names, as they are useful and can be a lot of fun. When reading a new plant name, take it slowly and pronounce each syllable. You’re probably not far off. When in doubt, stress the third from last syllable: PEE-uh-nee, CLEM-ah-tis, FOOK-see-uh. Wait! “Fooksia”? Yes, when a name honors a scientist or other figure, the original pronunciation of their name is conserved. Hence, my favorite example from the Dictionary of Botanical Latin: Warszewiczella, an orchid genus named for a Polish scientist (approximately Var-she-VEY-shell-uh).
