Introduction
These word meanings and name derivations of
California plants have been taken from a variety of sources
which are listed on a separate page. I am not an expert
in Latin or Greek, and I make no firm guarantees as to the accuracy
or legitimacy of these definitions. Further, I take no
original credit for the work represented here, and claim merely
to have compiled information from published and online sources
and presented it in one location. One thing I have done
which I have not seen elsewhere is to include the names of particular
plants so that the reader may investigate some of these name
meanings with reference to the characteristics of a few of those
species that possess them. In addition to those many other
sources I have relied on, I wish to acknowledge the work of
Dr. Umberto Quattrocchi of Sicily, whose massive World Dictionary
of Plant Names, published in 4 volumes, includes 22,500
genera and over 200,000 species. It was only recently
that I became aware of this work, and I have been priviledged
through the internet to have made his acquaintance. I
expect I will be relying heavily on his scholarship, and I thank
him for it. I particularly want to thank David Hollombe
of the Santa Monica chapter California Native Plant Society
for his tremendous research and fine scholarship, and for his
numerous invaluable and unfailingly generous biographical contributions
and corrections. Without his knowledge and help, this would
be a far poorer effort. I also express appreciation to Orange
County botanist Bob Allen for his help and friendship, and to
Tom Chester, Jane Strong and Bob Muns, in whose company I have
spent many enjoyable outings. I especially want to acknowledge
the Herbarium and Education staffs at Rancho Santa Ana Botanic
Garden who, although not directly involved in the creation of
this work, have nevertheless helped me greatly in the identification
of plant specimens, introduced me to numerous interesting and
productive localities, and contributed greatly to the furtherance
of my botanical knowledge and to my enjoyment of native plants.
I have been extremely fortunate to have been able to benefit
from the knowledge and experience of many professional botanists
such as Bruce Baldwin, Jim Andre, Jon Rebman, Steve Junak, Dana
York, Fred Roberts, Tim Krantz, Jim Morefield and others, and
I thank them. I would be remiss in not also mentioning the wonderful
online series of biographical essays entitled " Who's
In A Name?" by Larry Blakely that are not only highly
informative but equally fun to read. The Dave's
Garden website with its Botanary section is also worthy
of mention, as is the online Dictionary
of Botanical Epithets and the Glossary
of Roots of Botanical Names.
A careful peruser of these pages may note different spellings
for the same root word. This is unavoidable whenever
a foreign language is translated into English. In some
instances different references give different derivations
for the same name, reflecting perhaps a certain amount of
guesswork. It is not always easy or even possible to
say where a name came from, what it means or what it refers
to. Many of these names were assigned decades or in some cases
centuries ago, and the namers have not always left records
as to why particular names were selected. Sometimes the generic
name alludes to a characteristic of a single species that
may have been the first one of its genus to be identified
but is not typical of all its related species, and therefore
may seem oddly chosen. Similarly, a specific name may
reflect a characteristic that is not typical of all known
subspecies or geographical variants. In many cases,
the reader will regretfully be left to guess for him or herself
just how these meanings actually relate to the plant in question.
This list should therefore be considered mainly as an interesting
source of information which may help to illustrate why some
plants have the names they do, and may at least point people
in the direction of learning more about the names of plants.
The reader should be aware that a specific epithet for one
genus might have a different derivation or meaning than the
same epithet for another genus, just as the names baileyi
or bakeri can refer to more than one individual. It is often
difficult to discern exactly where these names came from,
or what was in the mind of the author who published them.
No doubt this may have resulted in mistakes in the derivations
or meanings I have given for particular taxa. In many cases
the author of the taxonomic name is no longer available to
explain what he or she meant by the name or why it was chosen,
and sometimes there was never any published explanation even
while the author was alive. A source such as Stearn's Dictionary
of Plant Names may give a derivation which applies to
a taxon in Europe for example, but may not apply to our California
taxon. There is no official compilation or other published
work which may absolutely be relied upon, and I am only too
aware that information given on the internet is not always
accurate. For all these reasons the reader must be aware of
the limitations of a site such as this, and believe that I have made a good faith effort to present correct information.
I am grateful to Michael Simpson for his suggestion of placing stress marks in each name to assist in its proper pronunction. A phonetic pronunciation guide for the names in my website is presented here, and an essay on principles of botanic name pronunction is given here.
This website at present contains around 5,200
references. The links at the bottom of the page will take
you to different alphabetical sections of the list, and also
to sections on Southern California plant communities and the
development of botanical nomenclature, as well as a 750-item
glossary. It will be updated periodically as new information
becomes available to me. Depending on what browser you are using,
you may or may not be able to access the names of the photographed
flowers at the top of each section by moving your cursor over
the individual photos. The identifications are also given
at the bottom of each page. Anyone wishing to see more
of my photographs of Southern California flora in a larger format
may look at my other websites, Southern
California Wildflowers, Fall-Blooming
Plants of the East Mojave, and Field Trips Photo Gallery. You may also click on the
highlighted names of species in this list to go to a photograph
or photographs of that particular species with accompanying
botanical information. I would greatly appreciate being
contacted and corrected with any information contrary or supplemental
to that herein noted, or any sources of information on plant
names other than those listed on the sources page. I would
also be glad to receive any and all suggestions as to how this
site could be improved. If requested, my consent will
gladly be given for any non-commercial use of my photographs. |
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