AB-AM

       In the following names, the stressed vowel is the one preceding the stress mark. It is not always
       easy to ascertain where such stress should be placed, especially in the case of epithets derived
       from personal names. I have tried to follow the principle of maintaining the stress of the original
       name as outlined in the Jepson Manual, and have abandoned it only when it was just too awk-
       ward. In the case of some names, I have listed them twice, reflecting eithersome disagreement or
       conflict in the rules of pronunciation, some uncertainty on my part as to the correct pronunciation,
       or that simply sometimes there is no single correct pronunciation. . In other instances, the way I
       record it is just that which sounds right to my ear.

• a-: before a consonant, Greek prefix meaning "not, without, less" e.g. acaulis, "without a stem," apetalus, "without petals"
• a-/ab-: Latin prefix meaning "away from," e.g. abaxialis, "away from the axis"
• ab'bottii: after Edwin Kirk Abbott (1840-1918), born in Quebec, graduated Hillsdale College 1869 and Michigan University Medical College in 1871, was a practicing physician in Salinas, California and later in Monterey. And David Hollombe sent along the following from Cantelow and Cantelow, "Biographical Notes on Persons in whose Honor Alice Eastwood Named Native Plants," (Leaflets of Western Botany 8 (5): 83-101): "... born in Hartley, Canada, 27 Dec. 1840, died in Monterey, California, 11 June 1917 [should say 1918]. Graduate of Ann Arbor Medical School; early resident of Salinas, California, where he established the first drug store and maintained it for 34 years; served the county as weather observer for 40 years and rendered other public services; his favorite study was botany and he was an ardent collector of plants, especially in monterey County; his herbarium was given to the California Academy of Sciences by Mrs. Abbott after the doctor's death." (ref. Malacothamnus abbottii)
• ab'errans: deviating from the normal (ref. Antennaria luzuloides ssp. aberrans)
• a'bertii: after James William Abert (1820-1897), army officer and explorer, born November 18, 1820, in Mount Holly, New Jersey, the son of Maj. John James Abert, an officer in the Corps of Topographical Engineers. In his teens he attended Princeton University, where he graduated, probably from its academy, in 1838; he entered the United States Military Academy at West Point in September of that year. In 1842 he was assigned to the Fifth United States Infantry. After an uneventful year of garrison duty in Detroit, Abert was transferred to the Corps of Topographical Engineers in May 1843. His first assignment in the corps was that of assistant topographical engineer in an extensive survey of the northern lakes, 1843-44. During that time he married Jane Stone, and they had a son. In the summer of 1845 Abert was attached to the third expedition of John Charles Frémont, whose assignment was "to make reconnaissance southward and eastward along the Canadian River through the country of Kiowa and Comanche." Frémont, however, chose to take his main party on to California, and gave command of the Canadian River mission to Abert, with an assistant, Lt. William G. Peck. Except for the two young officers, the entire party of thirty-three was composed of civilians. In his report Abert described in detail the geology, flora, and fauna of the Canadian valley. His maps of the region were the most accurate of the time, and later explorers found them quite useful, especially for finding campsites and watering places. In the summer of 1846 Abert and Peck accompanied Gen. Stephen W. Kearny's Army of the West to New Mexico. Abert came down with a fever in July and had to remain behind at Bent's Fort to recuperate. While he was sick he continued his studies in natural science and ethnology and compiled a tribal dictionary. Afterward he joined Peck in Santa Fe, and the two lieutenants conducted a thorough survey of New Mexico as far south as Socorro. They visited each of the Rio Grande pueblos and, as before, took note of the geology and wildlife of the new American territory, as well as of the habits and customs of its native residents. Abert then went to Washington to submit his report to Congress. From 1848 to 1850 he served on the faculty at West Point, where he taught drawing. He was promoted to first lieutenant in 1853 and to captain in 1856. After the death of his first wife he married Lucy Taylor, with whom he had several children. In 1860, after serving two years in Florida, he traveled in Europe to study military affairs and visit various forts and arsenals. When the Civil War broke out Abert served in the Shenandoah valley from June 1861 to September 1862. On March 3, 1863, he was promoted to major and assigned to the United States Army Corps of Engineers. He was later severely injured by a fall from his horse, and in 1864 he resigned from the army. He had been brevetted lieutenant colonel for his "faithful and meritorious service." During the next five years, Abert and his family engaged in the mercantile business in Cincinnati, Ohio. From 1869 to 1871 he served as examiner of patents in Washington. He taught English literature at the University of Missouri from 1877 to 1879 and afterward was president of the Examining Board of Teachers of Public Schools in Kentucky. Abert was reappointed a major in the United States Army on January 14, 1895, and retired almost immediately. He died at his home in Newport, Kentucky, on August 10, 1897. Despite the value of Abert's western frontier journals, they lay almost forgotten in government files until 1941, when H. Bailey Carroll first published the 1845 report in the Panhandle-Plains Historical Review. William A. Keleher published Abert's New Mexico report in 1962. In 1967 and 1970 special publications of the Abert journals were edited under the title Through the Country of the Comanche Indians in the Fall of the Year 1845 by John Galvin, a California historian. They featured illustrations of Abert's watercolors, many of which were obtained from his descendants. A species of finch that Abert discovered was named Pipilo aberti in his honor (Information extracted from the Handbook of Texas Online) ( ref. Sanvitalia abertii)
• A'bies: Latin name for silver fir (ref. genus Abies)
• abieti'num: resembling genus Abies (ref. Arceuthobium abietinum)
• -abilis: a Latin adjectival suffix used to indicate a capacity or ability to do something, and employed when the root infinitive ends in -are (e.g. variabilis, "ability to change," from variare, "to change")
• abbrevia'tus: shortened or abbreviated in some fashion
• abjec'tus: cast down, rejected, low, mean, worthless (ref. Juncus hemiendytus var. abjectus)
• abla'ta: from the Latin ablatus, "removed, withdrawn" (ref. Carex luzulina var. ablata)
• aborig'inum/aboriginus: ancestral, native, original (ref. Cymopterus aboriginum, Malacothamnus aboriginum, Lotus aboriginus)
• abor'tiva: with parts missing, imperfect; producing abortion (ref. Cryptantha cinerea var. abortiva)
• abramsia'na: see abramsii below (ref. Callitropsis [formerly Cupressus] abramsiana, Chamaesyce abramsiana)
• a'bramsii: after LeRoy Abrams (1874-1956), professor of botany at Stanford University, who collected plants from throughout the Southern California region in the late 1890's to 1905 and published a book entitled Flora of Los Angeles and Vicinity first in 1904, then 1911, finally in 1917. He also produced The Floral Features of California in 1915, and the four-volume Illustrated Flora of the Pacific States, Washington, Oregon and California, the only completely illustrated flora for California, featuring copious line drawings illustrating diagnostic features, especially seed, fruit and flower characters. Abrams was the author of the first three volumes and Roxanna Ferris that of the fourth. He was one of the founding members of an organization in the San Francisco Bay area called the Biosystematists. Abrams was on the staff of the Dudley Herbarium at Stanford, and was assistant curator at the U.S. National Herbarium 1905-1906. His name is on the Abrams' lupine, Lupinus albifrons var. abramsii, which he collected in Santa Lucia, California in 1920. He was responsible for finding a rare cypress, [Cupressus arizonica ssp. nevadensis] about which Donald Peattie wrote in A Natural History of Western Trees (1950): "Most of the California cypresses tend to be rare and local in their occurrence, but none more so than this one, which was discovered in 1915 by that dean of California botanists, Leroy Abrams. He drove south along the road between Bodfish and Havilah for about 3 miles to the summit of a grade, then turned off on an unsurfaces clay road ... for 2 1/2 miles. And there he came upon thousands of specimens of this conical tree, its foliage in summer, when Abrams first saw it, a dusty gray-green, though in spring when the rains are ending it is a fine glowing green. Flowering takes place in February and March and at that time many of the specimens, according to the ranchers, appear as golden trees, powdered over with untold numbers of yellow male flowers." Many of the common names in the CNPS Inventory of Rare and Endangered Species of California were coined by Abrams in his Illustrated Flora (ref. Dudleya abramsii, Heuchera abramsii, Pogogyne abramsii)
• Abro'nia: from Greek abros meaning "graceful or delicate," in reference to the appearance of the bracts below the flowers (ref. genus Abronia)
• abrotanifo'lia: having leaves resembling southernwood, Artemisia abrotanum (ref. Gilia capitata ssp. abrotanifolia)
• abrup'ta: ending suddenly, abrupt (ref. Carex abrupta)
• absin'thium: Stearn's Dictionary of Plant Names says that this is the "Latin and pre-Linnaean name for wormwood, the botanical name for which is Artemisia absinthium.It is used to flavor absinthe. In biblical days it was a symbol of calamity and sorrow." (ref. Artemisia absinthium)
• Abu'tilon: from the Arabic word for a mallow-like plant (ref. genus Abutilon)
• abyssin'ica: Abyssinian, native to Ethiopia (ref. Guizotia abyssinica)
• Aca'cia: from the Greek name akakie taken from ake or akis, "a sharp point," in reference to the thorns (ref. genus Acacia)
• Acae'na: from the Greek word for "thorn" from the fruit (ref. genus Acaena)
• Acaly'pha: from the Greek akalephes for "nettle," being an ancient name for a kind of nettle but applied by Linnaeus to this genus because of the nettle-like appearance of the leaves (ref. genus Acalypha)
• Acamptopap'pus: from the Greek akamptos, "stiff," and pappos, "pappus," thus meaning stiff or unbending pappus (ref. genus Acamptopappus)
• acanthicar'pa/acanthocarpa/acanthocarpus: with thorny fruits like those of Acanthus (ref. Ambrosia acanthicarpa, Opuntia acanthocarpa, Plagiobothrys acanthocarpus)
• acanthifo'lia: with spiny leaves like those of Acanthus
• acan'thium: from the root meaning "spiky, spiny or thorny," and the suffix -ium meaning "characteristic of" (ref. Onopordum acanthium)
• acanthocar'pa: see acanthicarpa above (ref. Cylindropuntia acanthocarpa)
• acanthocla'da: with thorny branches (ref. Polygala acanthoclada)
• acantho'ides: appearing like a spike or spine (ref. Carduus acanthoides)
• Acanthomin'tha: from the Greek acantha, "thorn," and mentha, "mint," hence a mint that is characteristically thorny (ref. genus Acanthomintha)
• Acanthoscy'phus: from the Greek acanthos, "flower," and scyphos, "a cup, goblet or jug," in reference to the position of the flowers in an involucre (ref. genus Acanthoscyphus)
• Acan'thus: from the Greek acanthos, meaning "flower," and referring to the statuesque flower spikes which last for many weeks, and the plant most celebrated in architecture since the Greeks adopted its leaf form for the well-known decoration on the caps of their Corinthian columns (ref. genus Acanthus)
• acau'lis: without a stem (ref. Anisocoma acaulis, Hymenonyx acaulis, Limosella acaulis, Stenotus [formerly Haplopappus] acaulis)
• ac'cidens: falling forward, alluding to the stems and pods. Many of the names that have -dens as a suffix relate to teeth (Bidens, latidens, acutidens, serratodens), but others don't (splendens, ascendens) (ref. Astragalus accidens)
• -acea: a Latin adjectival suffix which indicates resemblance or material out of which something is made (e.g. drupacea, "like a drupe," oleracea, "resembling garden herbs or vegetables used in cooking," ranunculacea, "Ranunculus-like," crustacea, "resembling or being made out of a shell or rind," membranacea, "like a membrane")
• -aceae: the ending of plant family names
• aceph'alus: headless
• A'cer: the classical Latin name for the maple which seems to derive from the same roots as for the word acrid and possibly acerbic, and refers to either sharpness or hardness, the wood having been used for writing tablets and spear hafts by the Romans (ref. genus Acer)
• acer'bus: bitter
• acero'ides: maple-like
• acero'sa: sharp, or with stiff needles (ref. Iva acerosa)
• acetosel'la: pre-Linnaean name for common sorrel and other plants with acidic leaves (ref. Rumex acetosella)
• -aceum/-aceus: see -acea above (e.g. malvaceum, "like a mallow"; coriaceus, "leathery"; rosaceus, "like a rose, rosy"; oleraceus, "resembling greens or vegetables"), also "of or pertaining to"
• achillaeo'ides: like genus Achillea
• Achil'lea: named for Achilles, who supposedly used plants of the genus to staunch the wounds of his soldiers at the siege of Troy (ref. genus Achillea)
• achilleifo'lia: with foliage like Achillea (ref. Gilia achilleifolia)
• A'chlys: after a minor Greek goddess, the Goddess of hidden places or obscurity, perhaps alluding to the woodland habitat or to the inconspicuous flowers which have no perianth. Other mythological sources give different interpretations. One is that Achlys was the eternal Night (Perhaps the Mist of Death, which clouded the eyes of the dying), and the first created being which existed even before Chaos, and another (Hesiod) that she was the personification of misery and sadness, a daughter of Nyx (Night) and as such she was represented on the shield of Heracles as pale, emaciated, and weeping, with chattering teeth, swollen knees, long nails on her fingers, bloody cheeks, and her shoulders thickly covered with dust (ref. genus Achlys)
• Achnather'um/Achna'therum: awned scale or awn-scaled, from Greek achne, "chaff, glume," and ather, "stalk, barb" alluding to the lemma (ref. genus Achnatherum)
• Achyrachae'na: from the Greek and Latin meaning "a chaffy achene" and alluding to the pappus (ref. genus Achyrachaena)
• Achyrony'chia: from the Greek for "chaff claw" or "fingernail" alluding to the chaffy calyx (ref. genus Achyronychia)
• acicular'is: needle-like (ref. Eleocharis acicularis, Linanthus acicularis)
• acina'ceus: shaped like a curved sword or scimitar
• -acious/-aceous: abounding in, containing, having, as in "membranaceous"
• Acleisan'thes: from the Greek a, "without, lacking" cleis, "something which closes, lock" and anthos, "flower," and thus meaning "without an involucre" (ref. genus Acleisanthes)
• Ac'mispon: a name published by C.S. Rafinesque and explained by him as "hooked point" in reference to the hooked tip of the pod (ref. genus Acmispon)
• acmophyl'lus: with pointed leaves
• Aconi'tum: the ancient Greek name of this plant, loosely translated as "unconquerable poison" (ref. genus Aconitum)
• Acono'gonon: new generic name for some of the species formerly in Polygonum, from the Greek acon, "whetstone," and gone, "seed," a possible allusion to the rough seeds. There has been some uncertainty as to the correct spelling of this name, with some sources going with Aconogonum, but it appears that the Jepson Manual 2nd edition will give it this spelling (ref. genus Aconogonon)
• Aco'rus: from the Greek akoron and akoros, an ancient name applied both to the sweet flag Acorus calamus and the yellow flag Iris pseudacorus. The name became the Latin acorus and acorum which Pliny used for an aromatic plant whose root stocks were used for cosmetics (ref. genus Acorus)
• Acour'tia: after a Mrs. Mary Elizabeth Catherine Gibbes A'Court (1792-1878), daughter of Abraham Gibbes and wife of Lt-Gen. Charles Ashe a'Court. Mary was an English amateur botanist (ref. genus Acourtia, formerly Perezia)
• Acra'chne: from the Greek akros, "the summit, highest, at the top," and achne, "chaff, glume," in reference to the terminal glume (ref. genus Acrachne)
• acrade'nia/acrade'nius: from the Greek for "pointed-glanded," each of the involucral bracts having a large gland at its tip (ref. Isocoma [formerly Haplopappus] acradenia)
• a'cris: sharp-tasting, biting, acrid (ref. Ranunculus acris, Trimorpha acris)
• acris'pum: from the prefix a-, "without," and crispum, "finely waved, closely curled," and referring to the hairs (ref. Galium catalinense ssp. acrispum)
• Acrop'tilon: from the Greek for "feather-tipped" from the bristles of the pappus (ref. genus Acroptilon)
• Ac'taea: the Jepson Manual says "an ancient Greek name, from its wet habitat and similarity to Sambucus leaves," and Umberto Quattrocchi says: "Latin actaea for a strong-smelling plant, herb Christopher (Plinius); Greek aktea, akte, 'the elder-tree, elder,' referring to the leaves or to the fruits" (ref. genus Actaea)
• ac'toni: I presume that this name comes from the town of Acton, California, which is located on the Antelope Valley side of the western end of the San Gabriel range (ref. Encelia actoni)
• acu-: sharply-pointed
• aculea'ta: prickly (ref. Arenaria aculeata, Parkinsonia aculeata)
• aculeatis'simus: very prickly
• aculeola'ta: with small prickles (ref. Arabis aculeolata)
• acumina'ta/acumina'tum/acumina'tus: having a long tapering point (ref. Crepis acuminata, Eriochloa acuminata, Microseris acuminata, Thelypteris acuminata, Panicum acuminatum, Cyperus acuminatus)
• acu'ta/acu'tus: with a sharp but not tapering point (ref. Gentianella amarella ssp. acuta, Juncus acutus)
• acu'tidens: sharply toothed (ref. Quercus acutidens)
• acutifo'lia/acutifo'lius: with pointed leaves (ref. Physalis acutifolia)
• acutiros'tris: very sharply beaked (ref. Astragalus acutirostris)
• acutis'sima: very sharply pointed
• a'damsii: after Joseph Edison Adams (1903-1981), professor emeritus of botany at the University of North Carolina and author of "A Systematic Study of the Genus Arctostaphylos" published in 1935. The following is from an obituary in Castanea, the Journal of the Southern Appalachian Botanical Society, Vol. 47, No. 1 (1982): "A specialist in the taxonomy of vascular plants, he was nationally known as the co-author of the textbook, Plants: An Introduction to Modern Botany. The text, co-authored with V.A. Greulach, is widely used in the United States and has been translated into several foreign languages. He also wrote extensively on plant anatomy and plant morphology. His lifelong research and graduate teaching interest was in the classification and phylogeny of flowering plants. His research and that of all his doctoral students was directed to that effort. He was a challenging and stimulating, as well as congenial, graduate adviser and seminar leader, an outstanding lecturer, superbly organized, articulate, a master of language and an excellent writer. He was a provocative, pithy, professional scientist, who played a large role in the development and excellence of [his] department in the 40's and 50's. He was a member of the N.C. Academy of Science, the Association of Southeastern Biologists, the Botanical Society of America and the American Association for the Advancement of Science. Born in Middletown, N.Y., Adams received his bachelor's degree from the University of Michigan and his masters from Columbia University. He received his doctorate from the University of California at Berkeley." He taught at UNC from 1935 to 1969 (ref. Arctostaphylos glandulosa ssp. adamsii)
• adenocar'pus: glandular- or sticky-fruited
• adenocau'lon: from the Greek aden, "a gland," and caulon, "stem," referring to the small depression on the stem (ref. Epilobium adenocaulon)
• adenoph'ora/adenoph'orum: bearing or producing glands as some part of the plant, often referring to sticky glands (ref. Ageratina adenophora, Ditaxis adenophora, Eupatorium adenophorum)
• Adenophyl'lum: from the Greek for "gland-leaf" (ref. genus Adenophyllum)
• adenophyllus: having glandular leaves
• Adenosto'ma: from the Greek aden, "a gland," and stoma, "a mouth," in reference to the 5 glands at the mouth of the sepals (ref. genus Adenostoma)
• Adian'tum: from the Greek adiantos, meaning "unwetted" or "unwettable," and referring to the way the fronds repel water (ref. genus Adiantum)
• admira'bilis: noteworthy in some fashion, admirable
• adna'tus: growing together in a joined but apparently abnormal manner
• Adol'phia: named for Adolphe Theodore Brongniart (1801-1876), son of mineralogist, chemist, geologist and paleontologist Alexandre Brongniart. Adolphe was a student of the Rhamnaceae, a pioneer in the study of plant morphology and physiology, author of an important work on fossil plants, and a French botanist whose classifications of fossil plants showed surprisingly accurate relationships between extant and extinct forms. In 1831 he became an assistant to the botanist Rene Desfontaines at the National Museum of Natural History in Paris, and took his place two years later, a position he was to hold for the remainder of his life. He is considered one of the founders of modern paleobotany, and made substantial contributions to the field of angiosperm morphology also producing a valuable first account of pollen. He founded the Societe botanique de France (ref. genus Adolphia)
• Adon'is: Stearn's Dictionary of Plant Names says: " The flower is supposed to have sprung from the blood of Adonis who was gored to death by a wild boar. He was beloved of Aphrodite and by some accounts was unsuccessfully wooed by her. Adonis was regarded by the Greeks as the god of plants. It was believed that he disappeared into the earth in autumn and winter only to reappear in spring and summer. To celebrate his return, the Greeks adopted the Semitic custom of making Adonis gardens, consisting of clay pots of quickly growing seeds." (ref. genus Adonis)
• adpres'sus: pressed against or lying flat against, as in the case of hairs on some plant stems or scales on cones
• adscensio'nis: an internet search turned up the fact that the type specimen of Aristida adscensionis is from Ascension Island, and several other species that are associated with that island, such as Pteris adscensionis and Oldenlandia adscensionis, use the specific epithets adscensionis, ascensionis and ascensionense, so I think we can with confidence attribute the derivation of this name to that South Atlantic island (ref. Aristida adscensionis)
• adsur'gens: rising to an erect position (ref. Lupinus adsurgens)
• adun'ca/adun'cus: hooked, like the beat of a parrot, crooked, or bent backwards (ref. Viola adunca)
• adven'us: newly arrived, therefore not native
• -ae: a suffix usually given to a personal name to convert that name to a substantival commemorative epithet in cases where the personal name is that of a woman, thus parryae, commemorating Mrs. Charles Parry (see Nomenclature)
• Ae'gilops: from the ancient Greek name aegilops for a kind of long-awned or bearded grass and used by Theophrastus for a kind of oat (ref. genus Aegilops)
• aegyp'tium: presumably Egyptian (ref. Dactyloctenium aegyptium)
• ae'mulus: imitating
• aene'us: possessing a more or less bronze or coppery color
• aeo'lica: there are a couple of possibilities here: (1) derived from Aeolia, an ancient region of the western coast of Asia Minor in present-day Turkey made up of a group of cities founded by the Aeolians c. 1100 b.c.; (2) or from the Greek aiolos, "shifting, flexible, changeable, variegated" from Aiolos, God of the Winds (ref. Pentachaeta exilis ssp. aeolica)
• Aeo'nium: a Latin name for one species of this family of succulents given by Dioscorides (ref. genus Aeonium)
• aequa'le/aequa'lis: equal (ref. Geranium aequale, Alopecurus aequalis)
• aequi-: a prefix generally indicating the characteristic of being equal in some regard
• aequifo'lius: with equal leaves (ref. Erigeron aequifolius)
• aequila'terus: equal-sided (ref. Carpobrotus aequilaterus, now named Carpobrotus chilensis)
• aequinoctia'lis: belonging to the equinoctial zone; from the equatorial regions (ref. Lemna aequinoctialis)
• aer'ius: aerial, above the ground
• Aeschyno'mene: from the ancient Greek name for a sensitive plant used by Pliny, aischynomene, derived from aischyno, "shame," and from the Latin aeschynomene for a plant which shrinks when touched, a sensitive plant (CRC World Dictionary of Plant Names) (ref. genus Aeschynomene)
• Aes'culus: the Latin name for a kind of oak bearing edible acorns but applied by Linnaeus to this genus (ref. genus Aesculus)
• aestiva'lis: of the summer, often flowering then (ref. Adonis aestivalis)
• aes'tivum: flowering, ripening or developing in summer (ref. Triticum aestivum)
• aethio'pica: of or from Ethiopia, or possibly from a larger region of Africa (ref. Chasmanthe aethiopica, Zantedeschia aethiopica)
• aethio'pis: Pliny the Elder's The Natural History (edited by John Bostock) at the Online Books Page contains the following: "Aethiopis (Generally identified with the Salvia argentea of Linnæus, Silver sage, or else with the Salvia Æthiopis, Woolly sage) is a plant with leaves resembling those of phlomos, large, numerous, hairy, and springing from the root. The stem is square, rough, similar to that of arction in appearance, and with numerous axillary concavities. The seed resembles that of the fitch, being white and twofold; the roots are several in number, long, fleshy, soft, and of a viscous taste; when dry they turn black and hard, and might easily be taken for horns. In addition to Æthiopia, this plant grows upon Mount Ida in Troas, and in Messenia. The roots are gathered in autumn, and left to dry for some days in the sun, to prevent them from turning mouldy. Taken in white wine they are curative of affections of the uterus, and a decoction of them is administered for sciatica, pleurisy, and eruptions of the throat. The kind, however, which comes from Æthiopia, is by far the best, and gives instantaneous relief." (ref. Salvia aethiopsis)
• aetnen'sis: named after Mt. Etna, the volcanic mountain of Sicily, this taxon is called Mt. Etna broom (ref. Genista aetnensis)
• -aeum/-aeus: a Greek adjectival suffix indicating "belong to or from" (e.g. europaeus, "of or from Europe")
• affin'e/affin'is: bordering on or related or similar to (ref. Lithophragma affine, Axonopus affinis, Castilleja afffinis, Cryptantha affinis, Mentzelia affinis, Phacelia affinis)
• africa'na: of or from Africa (ref. Malcolmia africana, Tamarix africana)
• a'gardhianus/agardhia'nus: after Swedish botanist Jacob Georg Agardh (1813-1901), son of Carl Adolph Agardh. Jacob was the author of "Synopsis Generis Lupini." He was also a professor of botany at the University of Lund 1854-1879 and published works on marine algae, the main one being "Species, genera et ordines algarum." He followed in the footsteps of his father by being a member of the Swedish parliament 1867-1872 (ref. Lupinus agardianus now part of L. concinnus)
• Agasta'che: from agan, "very much," and stachys, "an ear of corn or wheat," having many spikes (ref. genus Agastache)
• Aga've: from the Greek agauos, "admirable, noble," in reference to the admirable appearance of the century plant (ref. genus Agave)
• Agerati'na: diminutive of Ageratum (ref. genus Ageratina)
• aggrega'ta: "flocking together," or growing in groups, clustered (ref. Ipomopsis aggregata)
• agnici'dus: sheep-killing, presumably from the root agnus, "lamb" with the same ending as in regicide ("the killing of a king"). From David Hollombe: "Astragalus agnicidus was at first thought to be responsible for poisoning sheep on A. Henry Tosten's ranch in Humboldt County. ( It has been found to be harmless to cattle and there is doubt whether it was actually responsible for the sheep death.)
  (ref. Astragalus agnicidus)
• agni'num: from the Latin agninus, "of a lamb, fleecy" (ref. Eriogonum cithariforme var. agninum)
• ag'nus-ca'stus: this taxon is commonly called chaste tree. The following is quoted from Gernot Katzer's Spice Pages: "Chaste tree carries several 'sacred' names, which more or less directly refer to its reputation as an anaphrodisiac. In ancient Greece, the tree was called agnos, which apparently the early Christians confused both with a similar Greek term hagnos, 'chaste,' and with Latin agnus, 'lamb,' the Christian symbol of purity. Under the name agnus castus, 'chaste lamb,' the plants were often used among Christian monks as a help against the evils of the more fleshy desires, of which there were many." Castus is Latin for "pure" (ref. Vitex agnus-castus)
• -ago: a Latin substantival suffix used to indicate a resemblance or property (e.g. plumbago, "a kind of lead, a plant called leadwort," from plumbum, "lead")
• Ago'seris/Agoser'is: the Greek name for goat chicory (ref. genus Agoseris)
• agres'tis: growing in the fields (ref. Astragalus agrestis, Fritillaria agrestis)
• agrifo'lia: according to William Stearn's Dictionary of Plant Names, agrifolia means "with rough or scabby leaves." Possible root words are the Latin agri, "a field," and the Greek agri or agro, "fierce or wild," from which the Latin meaning probably descends. Since folium and folius are Latin, and Greek and Latin were generally not mixed to form words, the Latin root would probably be the most likely. I have no idea how Stearn came up with the meaning which he gives, since no root appears to support that meaning. There seems to be a general feeling (and it has often been so stated) that there was an error either by the describing botanist or by a printer, and that the name should have been aquifolia, or "holly-leaved" since oak leaves sometimes do resemble those of the holly. Since the author of the taxon, Luis Née, has been dead for 200 years, it is difficult to say what was in his mind when he named it. I have not been able thus far to uncover any hard evidence that an error in fact did take place, but if anyone has such please forward it to me. There is however evidence of a link between agrifolia and aquifolia. In the 1700's the names Agrifolium and Aquifolium were apparently used interchangeably for a holly plant, possibly what eventually received the name Ilex aquifolia. The only other genus I can find which uses the specific epithet agrifolia is the Australian member of the Myrtaceae Grevillea agrifolia, which also does have very holly-like leaves. And David Hollombe sent me the following note: "The modern Italian word for holly is 'agrifoglio,' derived from 'aquifolium.' I think agrifolium is a medieval Latin intermediate between the two." The further suggestion that the name was originally intended to be acrifolia from the root for "sharp" seems less likely to me (ref. Quercus agrifolia var. agrifolia, Quercus agrifolia var. oxyadenia)
• Agrimo'nia: both the Jepson Manual and Munz's Flora of Southern California posit that this name is derived from the Greek argema, an eye-disease, because of its supposed medicinal value, but I can't find any reference to agrimony's having been used for eye conditions. Another possibility is that it is a misrendering of some other epithet, perhaps argemone, an old name used by Dioscorides and Pliny for the poppy, or argemonion, a name Dioscorides applied to the Anenome. These two derivations could actually relate to the same thing because argemone is supposedly a word given by the Greeks to plants which were healing to the eyes. Umberto Quattrocchi also suggests the less likely explanation that it could be from the Greek agros, "field or open land," and monos, "alone, lonely" (ref. genus Agrimonia)
• Agropy'ron: from the Greek agros, "a field, country," and pyron, "grain, wheat" (ref. genus Agropyron)
• Agrostem'ma/Agros'temma: from the Greek agros, "field," and stemma, "crown or garland" (ref. genus Agrostemma)
• Agros'tis: the Latin and Greek names for a type of grass, from Greek agron or agros, "field or pasture," undoubtedly a root word for "agriculture," referring to its habitat (ref. genus Agrostis)
• a'hartii/ahar'tii: named for Lowell William Ahart (1938- ), a collector of plants in Nevada and California, Sacramento Valley sheep rancher, and co-author with Vernon Oswald of Manual of the Vascular Plants of Butte County, California. He was the recipient of the 1997 Distinguished Service Award given by the Friends of the Biiological Sciences Herbarium at California State University, Chico. Two taxa new to science were found on his ranch (ref. Juncus leiospermus var. ahartii, Paronychia ahartii)
• Ailan'thus: from a Moluccan name ailanto meaning "sky tree" (ref. genus Ailanthus)
• airo'ides: like genus Aira (ref. Sporobolus airoides)
• aja'cis/a'jacis: after Ajax, the Greek hero who committed suicide during the siege of Troy. Supposedly a non-California species named Delphinium ajacis received the name because certain markings on the flower appeared like the Greek letters of Ajax's name (ref. Cosolida ajacis)
• ajugo'ides: like genus Ajuga, from the Greek a, "not, without," and the Latin jugum, "yoke," referring possibly to the undivided calyx (ref. Stachys ajugoides var. rigida)
• Air'a: Umberto Quattrocchi says "From the ancient Greek name applied to another plant, possibly Lolium temulentum; Latin aera for a weed among grain, darnel, tare or cockle" (ref. genus Aira)
• ala'ta: with appendaged wings or flanges, usually the stems or leaf petioles (ref. Horsfordia alata)
• al'ba/al'bus: white (ref. Eclipta alba, Morus alba, Populus alba, Reseda alba, Sinapsis alba [formerly Brassica hirta], Melilotus albus)
• al'bens: white (ref. Astragalus albens, Stachys albens)
• albes'cens: becoming white
• albi-, albo-: a prefix indicating the characteristic of being white-colored
• al'bicans: whitish (ref. Asclepias albicans, Oxalis albicans)
• albicau'lis: white-stemmed (ref. Mentzelia albicaulis)
• al'bida/al'bidum/al'bidus: white (ref. Carex albida, Chrysothamnus albidus)
• albiflor'um/albiflor'us: white-flowered (ref. Hieracium albiflorum)
• albifo'lius: white-leaved (ref. Astragalus lentiginosus var. albifolius)
• al'bifrons: white-fronded (ref. Lupinus albifrons var. albifrons, Lupinus albifrons var. douglasii)
• Albiz'ia: sometimes spelled Albizzia, and named after Filippo del Albizzi, 18th century Florentine nobleman who introduced the plant Albizia julibrissin into cultivation in 1749 (ref. genus Albizia)
• albomacula'ta: white-spotted
• albomargina'ta/albomarginatus: white-margined (ref. Chamaesyce albomarginata, Swertia [formerly Frasera] albomarginata, Penstemon albomarginatus)
• alboni'gra: black and white (ref. Carex albonigra)
• albopilo'sus: white-haired
• albopurpur'eum: from the root words for white and purple, in reference to the color of the flower (ref. Trifolium albopurpureum)
• al'bula: whitish
• al'bum/al'bus: white (ref. Populus alba, Chenopodium album, Sedum album, Alternanthera albus, Amaranthus albus, Calochortus albus, Symphoricarpos albus)
• Al'cea: from the Greek alkea or alkaia and the Latin alcea, "a kind of mallow" (ref. genus Alcea)
• Alchemil'la: takes its name from some plant valued for its use in alchemy (ref. genus Alchemilla)
• alefeld'ii/ale'feldii: after Friedrich Christoph Wilhelm Alefeld (1820-1872), sometimes listed as Friedrich Georg Christoph Alefeld, a German botanist, physician and horticulturist who studied particularly the Leguminosae and the Malvaceae (ref. Lathyrus vestitus var. alefeldii)
• alep'picum: of or from Aleppo, in northwestern Syria near the Mediterranean Sea (ref. Geum aleppicum)
• aleu'ticum: of or from the area of the Aleutian Islands off the Alaskan coast (ref. Adiantum aleuticum)
• alexan'derae/alexan'drae: after Annie Montague Alexander (1867-1950), intrepid explorer, amateur naturalist, skilled markswoman, philanthropist, farmer, and founder and patron of two natural history museums at the University of California, Berkeley, a pioneer who helped shape the world of science in California. Alexander's father founded a Hawaiian sugar empire, and his great wealth afforded his adventurous daughter the opportunity to pursue her many interests. [She was] a complex, intelligent, woman who--despite her frail appearance--was determined to achieve something with her life. Along with Louise Kellogg, her partner of forty years, Alexander collected thousands of animal, plant, and fossil specimens throughout western North America. Their collections serve as an invaluable record of the flora and fauna that were beginning to disappear as the West succumbed to spiraling population growth, urbanization, and agricultural development. Today at least seventeen taxa are named for Alexander, and several others honor Kellogg, who continued to make field trips after Alexander's death. Alexander's dealings with scientists and her encouragement--and funding--of women to do field research earned her much admiration, even from those with whom she clashed. Her legacy endures in the fields of zoology and paleontology and also in the lives of women who seek to follow their own star to the fullest degree possible. (Excerpted from a description of the book On Her Own Terms: Annie Montague Alexander and the Rise of Science in the American West by Barbara R. Stein, published 2001 by the University of California Press) (ref. Eriogonum ochrocephalum var. alexanderae, Swallenia alexandrae)
  
• al'gida/al'gidus: cold, originating in high mountains, from Latin algeo, "to be cold" (ref. Hulsea algida)
• Alha'gi: Arabic for "pilgrim" (ref. genus Alhagi)
• al'iceae: after Alice Eastwood (see eastwoodiae) (ref. Erigeron aliceae)
• Aliciel'la: named for Alice Eastwood (see eastwoodiae) (ref. genus Aliciella)
• a'lipes: ali is a Latin word word one of whose meanings is "a wing," and the ending pes refers to the stalk (see brevipes, planipes), so possibly something like "winged stalk" (?) (ref. Mirabilis alipes)
• aliquan'ta: from the Latin meaning "somewhat," of unknown application (ref. Gilia aliquanta ssp. aliquanta)
• -alis: Latin adjectival suffix meaning belonging to or pertaining to something (e.g. dorsalis, "dorsal" from dorsum, "back"; autumnalis, "pertaining to autumn, autumnal" from autumnus, "autumn"; occidentalis, "having to do with the West" from occidens, "west"), takes the form -aris after stems which end in 'l' as in stellaris, fascicularis and avicularis
• Alis'ma: a Greek name for a water plant (ref. genus Alisma)
• alismaefo'lium: with leaves like Alisma
• alismel'lus: I am uncertain of the meaning of this name except that it seems to be related to the same root word as in the name Alisma for a water plant. The Latin suffix -ellus means "small," so this probably means a small Alisma (var. Ranunculus alismifolius var. alismellus)
• alismifo'lius: see alismaefolium above (ref. Ranunculus alismifolius)
• Allenrol'fea: named in honor of Robert Allen Rolfe (1855-1921), an English botanist and the first taxonomist of orchids for the Royal Botanic Gardens at Kew. He established the oldest orchid called the Orchid Review in 1893 and began keeping careful records of the hybridizing of species of orchids. He began work in the gardens in 1879 and transferred to the Herbarium the following year, and it was Sir Joseph Hooker who advised him to make orchids his specialty (ref. genus Allenrolfea)
• Allio'nia: named for Carlo Ludovico Allioni (1728-1804), professor of botany at Turin, naturalist, physician, author, contemporary and friend of Linnaeus, and exponent of the natural classification of plants (ref. genus Allionia)
• Al'lium: Latin for "garlic" (ref. genus Allium)
• allochrous: of different color (purple petals, contrasted to whitish to pale yellow in A. douglasii)
  (ref. Astragalus allochrous)
• Allophyl'lum: from the Greek allos, "diverse," and phyllum, "leaves" (ref. genus Allophyllum)
• Allotro'pa: from the Greek allos, "different or other," and trope, "a turning" (ref. genus Allotropa)
• al'ma: nourishing, bountiful (ref. Carex alma)
• alnifo'lia: with leaves like genus Alnus (ref. Amelanchier alnifolia, Rhamnus alnifolia)
• Al'nus: the classical Latin name for this genus (ref. genus Alnus)
• A'loe: an ancient Greek name (ref. genus Aloe)
• alo'ides: aloe-like (ref. Dudleya saxosa ssp. aloides)
• alopecuro'ides: like genus Alopecurus (ref. Crypsis alopecuroides)
• alopecu'ros: see following entry (ref. Bromus alopecuros)
• Alopecu'rus: from the Greek alopekouros, meaning a grass like a fox's tail, in turn from alopex, "fox," and oura, "a tail," from the paniculate form of the spike (ref. genus Alopecurus)
• Aloy'sia: named in honor of Maria Louisa Teresa, 1751-1819, Princess of Parma and wife of King Carlos IV of Spain (ref. genus Aloysia [formerly Lippia])
• alpes'tre/alpestris: of the lower mountains, with the implication of coming from below the timberline, though not necessarily (ref. Heuchera alpestris, Lupinus alpestris)
• alpico'la: dwelling in high mountains, preferring the habitat of alpine regions (ref. Heuchera rubescens var. alpicola, Linum lewisii var. alpicola)
• alpig'ena/alpig'enum/alpig'enus: alpine (ref. Chaenactis alpigena, Eriogonum kennedyi var. alpigenum, Aster alpigenus var. andersonii)
• alpi'na/alpi'num/alpi'nus: of an alpine origin or habit (ref. Abronia alpina, Circaea alpina, Dodecatheon alpinum, Phleum alpinum, Potamogeton alpinus)
• alsino'ides: like genus Alsine, a Greek and Latin name given to some plant possibly a chickweed (ref. Mimulus alsinoides, Pentachaeta alsinoides)
• alter'nans: alternating (ref. Physocarpus alternans)
• Alternanther'a/Alternan'thera: from the Latin alternus, "alternate," and anthera, "anthers," referring to the alternating stamens and staminodia (ref. genus Alternanthera)
• alterniflor'a: alternate-flowered, with flowers on either side of a stem and not opposite to each other (ref. Spartina alterniflora)
• alternifo'lius: alternate-leaved
• Althae'a: from the Greek althaino, "to cure," from the use of some species as medicines (ref. genus Althaea)
• althaeifo'lia: with leaves like Althaea (ref. Proboscidea althaeifolia)
• althaeo'ides: like the hollyhock, genus Althaea, from the Greek althaia "a cure, something that heals" (ref. Convolvulus althaeoides)
• alti-: a prefix indicating the characteristic of being tall
• altico'la: dwelling in high places (ref. Camissonia sierrae ssp. alticola)
• altis'sima/altis'simum/altis'simus: very tall, tallest (ref. Ailanthus altissima, Solidago altissima, Sisymbrium altissimum, Ailanthus altissimus)
• al'tus: tall
• al'versonii/alverson'ii: after Andrew Halstead Alverson (1845-1916), born in New Haven, CT, and grew up near Kingston, WI, before moving back to New Haven about 1868, where he worked mostly as a bank clerk, although he was also for a time a wholesale and retail dealer and a minor inventor. In 1877, Alverson and two other men came to Calif. to locate a "colony" for settlers from New Haven, and selected a spot near present Redlands, but the project fell through due to the lack of a sufficient water supply. He returned in 1883 and settled at first at Lugonia. In July, 1887, he advertised "A. H. Alverson at the Lugonia Post Office Store has opened a first class stock of Jewelry, Clocks, Watches, Stationery, Musical goods, Confectionery, Fine toilet articles, Tobacco and cigars.." (In August, the same ad ran with his brother's initials.) He also became involved in prospecting and mining. At some point he began collecting and propagating cacti for sale. Edmund Jaeger wrote that he was told that Alverson collected carefully and did not over-collect (Information from David Hollombe). According to Edmund Jaeger, Alverson was a jeweler, minerologist and cacti and succulent dealer, who made several prospecting trips into the Eagle and Chuckawalla Mountains (ref. Escobaria vivipara var. alversonii)
• al'vordiana/alvordia'na: after William Alvord (1833-1904), born in Albany, NY, and a mayor of San Francisco 1871-1873 (ref. Quercus Xalvordiana)
  
• alysso'ides: like genus Alyssum (ref. Alyssum alyssoides, Camissonia boothii ssp. alyssoides)
• Alys'sum: from the Greek a, "not or without," and lyssa, "madness," it was said to cure rabies (ref. genus Alyssum)
• ama'bilis: beautiful (ref. Calochortus amabilis, Phacelia amabilis)
• Amaran'thus: from the Greek amarantos, "unfading," referring to the long-lasting flowers (ref. genus Amaranthus)
• amarel'la: bitter (ref. Gentianella [formerly Gentiana] amarella)
• amargo'sae: of or from the region of the Amargosa Mountains in Death Valley (ref. Penstemon fructiciformis var. amargosae)
• amar'um: bitter to the taste (ref. Ribes amarum)
• Amaryl'lis: from Stearn's Dictionary of Plant Names: "...named after a beautiful shepherdess Amaryllis in classical poetry and equally irresistible to the English pastoral poets of the 16th and 17th centuries (ref. genus Amaryllis)
• Amauriop'sis: resembling genus Amauria (ref. genus Amauriopsis)
• ambig'ua/ambig'uum/ambig'uus: doubtful, of uncertain identity (ref. Calandrinia ambigua, Phacelia crenulata var. ambigua, Sphaeralcea ambigua, Eriophyllum ambiguum, Linanthus ambiguus)
• ambustico'la: ??? (ref. Hesperevax acaulis var. ambusticola)
• amblyo'don: blunt-toothed
• Amblyopap'pus: from the Greek amblus, "blunt," and pappos, "pappus" (ref. genus Amblyopappus)
• Ambro'sia: Greek for "food of the gods" (ref. genus Ambrosia)
• ambrosio'ides: like the genus Ambrosia (ref. Ambrosia ambrosioides, Chenopodium ambrosioides)
• ambustico'la: from the Latin root ambust, "burned up, consumed, scorched," and the word ending -cola, "dwelling in or inhabiting," thus meaning "a dweller of burned areas" which applies to this taxon (ref. Hesperevax acaulis var. ambusticola)
• Amelan'chier: from an old French common name (ref. genus Amelanchier)
• america'na/american'um/american'us: American (ref. Agave americana, Jamesia americana, Kochia americana, Phytolacca americana, Veronica americana, Vicia americana, Solanum americanum, Lycopus americanus)
• amethys'tina/amethys'tinus: having a violet color (ref. Hackellia amethystina)
• amic'tum: from the Latin amictus, "wrapped up" (ref. Ribes roezlii var. amictum)
• Amman'nia: named for Paul Ammann (1634-1691), a German botanist and professor at Leipzig (ref. genus Ammannia)
• Am'mi: according to Umberto Quattrocchi, an ancient Latin name for an umbelliferous plant, possibly from the Greek ammos for "sand" (ref. genus Ammi)
• Ammobro'ma: from the Greek ammos, "sand," and broma, "food," the single Southern California representative of this former genus having been added by Jepson to the genus Pholisma, the common name of which is Sand-food, and once an important food for the local indians (ref. genus Ammobroma)
• Ammophi'la/ammophi'lum: sand-loving, growing in sandy places (ref. genus Ammophila, also Erysimum ammophilum)
• Ammoseli'num: from the Greek ammos, "sand," and Selinum, an Old World genus of the carrot family (ref. genus Ammoselinum)
• amnico'la: dwelling by a river (ref. Atriplex amnicola)
• amoe'na/amoe'num/amoe'nus: pleasant or lovely (ref. Clarkia affinis ssp. amoena, Trifolium amoenum, Calochortus amoenus)
• Amor'pha: from a Greek word amorphos signifying "deformed," an allusion to the single petal of the flower (ref. genus Amorpha)
• Ampelodes'mos: from the Latin and Greek ampelodesmos, an old name for the species Lygeum spartum which was used in Sicily for tying up vines (ref. genus Ampelodesmos)
• amphi-/ampho-: Greek prefix meaning "on both sides, around, both, double"
• amphib'ium: amphibious, suited for or adapted to growing on land or in the water (ref. Polygonum amphibium)
• amphibo'lus: I am assuming that this is an alternate spelling and derives from the Greek amphibolos, meaning "ambiguous or doubtful" (ref. Micropus amphibolus)
• Amphibro'mus: from the Greek amphi, " both, on both sides," and the Poaceae genus Bromus (ref. genus Amphibromus)
• Amphipap'pus: from the Greek amphi, "both kinds of or double," and pappos, "pappus," the pappus being double (ref. genus Amphipappus)
• Amphiscir'pus: from amphi, "both, around," and the grass genus Scirpus (ref. genus Amphiscirpus)
• amplec'tans: embracing, clasping with the base (ref. Allium amplectans, Berberis amplectans, Trifolium amplectans)
• amplexicau'le/amplexicau'lis: with the leaf base clasping the stem (ref. Heliotropium amplexicaule, Lamium amplexicaule, Arnica amplexicaulis, Caulanthus amplexicaulis)
• amplexifo'lius: with clasping leaves (ref. Streptopus amplexifolius)
• amplia'tus: enlarged
• amplifauca'lis: possibly from the Latin amplio, "to make large or ample," or amplus, "large," and fauces, "gullet, the back area of the mouth, the passage from the mouth to the pharynx" thus meaning something like "amply-throated or large-throated" (ref. Gilia tenuiflora ssp. amplifaucalis)
• amplifo'lia/amplifo'lius: from the Latin ampli or amplus, "large, spacious," and folia, "leaves" (ref. Carex amplifolia, Potamogeton amplifolius)
• amplis'sima: very large (ref. Calystegia macrostegia ssp. amplissima)
• ampulla'ceum: flask-like (ref. Eriogonum ampullaceum)
• Amsinc'kia: named for Wilhelm Amsinck (1752-1831), an early patron of a botanic garden in Hamburg (ref. genus Amsinckia)
• Amso'nia: after Dr. John Amson possibly of Gloucester Co. or thereabouts, an 18th century Virginia physician who had settled there from England, who also served as an alderman and then as Mayor of Williamsburg from 1750 to 1751. It is uncertain when he died but it was likely sometime between 1761 and 1765 (ref. genus Amsonia)
• amygdalin'um: with an almond odor