MI-MY

                   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 awkward.
                  In the case of some names, I have listed them twice, reflecting either some disagreement or conflict
                  in the rules of pronunciation, some uncertainty on my part as to the correct pronunciation, or simply
                  that sometimes there is no single correct pronunciation. In other instances, the way I record it is just
                  that which sounds right to my ear.

• mi'cans: from the Latin mico, "to shine," meaning "twinkling or glittering" (ref. Astragalus lentiginosus var. micans)
• michael'ii: after George [Wilfred? Washington?] Michael (1851-1921). David Hollombe sent me the following information: "G. W. Michael was born in Illinois and crossed the plains to California with his parents and cousins in 1862 ( Ada Millington, "Journal kept while crossing the Plains," edited by C. G. Clark, published in Southern California Quarterly, vol. 59) . About 1872 the family settled at Moro Bay, where 'Wilfred' ranched and may also have worked as a printer, and his father (George Washington Michael) ran a mill. In addition to plants, he also collected shells, and advertised in Orcutt's West American Scientist "Californian shells and echinoderms to exchange for marine shells from any part of the world. Also a large number of eastern U. S. land, freshwater and marine, and foreign land and marine. Lists furnished on application. Correspondence with west coast collectors specially desired. G. W. MICHAEL, JR. Morro, San Luis Obispo Co., Cal." About 1895 he moved to San Francisco and took a job as a post office clerk. One of his sons, Charles Wilson Michael, became assistant postmaster at Yosemite and a well-know amateur ornithologist and Charles' wife, Enid Reeve Michael was the park's first woman ranger-naturalist." I am confused about the listing of his name as George 'Wilfred' Michael, when in his own advertisement, it says G.W. Michael, Jr. and his father's name was George Washington Michael. Therefore, I suspect that his name was actually George Washington Michael, and that Wilfred was a nickname or some other name that he had or used (ref. Piperia michaelii)
• michauxia'na: after either French botanist Andre Michaux (1746-1802) or his son Francois Andre Michaux (1770-1855), also a botanist known chiefly for his work on North American trees, or both (ref. Artemisia michauxiana)
• micraden'ia: from mikros, "small," and aden, "a gland" (ref. Lessingia micradenia)
• micran'tha/micran'thum/micran'thus: small-flowered (ref. Camissoniopsis micrantha, Cryptantha micrantha, Eucrypta micrantha, Mentzelia micrantha, Hesperolinon micranthum, Piptatherum micranthum, Polemonium micranthum, Trichostema micranthum, Lotus micranthus, Tripterocalyx [formerly Abronia] micranthus)
• micran'thos: small-flowered (ref. Centaurea stoebe ssp. micranthos)
  
• micro-: small
• microbot'rys: from micro, "small," and botrys, "a bunch of grapes" (ref. Sambucus racemosa var. microbotrys)
• microcar'pa/microcar'pus: having small fruits or seed pods (ref. Camelina microcarpa, Caucalis microcarpa, Yabea microcarpa, Scirpus microcarpus, Lupinus microcarpus)
• microceph'ala/microceph'alum: forming small heads (ref. Acourtia [formerly Perezia] microcephala, Gutierrezia microcephala, Gnaphalium canescens ssp. microcephalum, Trifolium microcephalum)
• microda'sys: from the Greek mikros, "small," and dasys, "hairy, shaggy" (ref. Opuntia microdasys)
• mi'crodon: probably means "small-toothed" and refers to the small serrations on the leaf margins (ref. Trifolium microdon)
• microglos'sa: small-tongued, from mikros, "small," and glossa, "a tongue," in reference to the very small ray flowers (ref. Lasthenia microglossa)
• micromer'a/micromer'es: having a small number of parts (ref. Chamaesyce micromera, Cryptantha micromeres)
• Micromonol'epis: from the Greek mikros, "small, little," and the genus Monolepis (ref. genus Micromonolepis)
• microphyl'la/microphyl'lum/microphyl'lus: small-leaved (ref. Brickellia microphylla, Bursera microphylla, Caesalpinia (formerly Hoffmannseggia microphylla [now put by Jepson in Caesalpinia virgata]), Parkinsonia microphylla, Holodiscus discolor var. microphyllus, Philadelphus microphyllus)
• micropo'ides: like genus Micropus (ref. Stylocline micropoides)
• microp'tera: small-winged (ref. Carex microptera)
• Micro'pus: from the Greek micros, "small," and pous, "foot" (ref. genus Micropus)
• Micros'eris: from the Greek micros, "small," and seris, "a lettuce-like plant" (ref. genus Microseris)
• microsper'ma: small-seeded (ref. Muhlenbergia microsperma)
• microsta'chya: small-eared or -spiked (ref. Hoita [formerly Psoralea] microstachya)
• microsta'chys: from the Greek words for "small" and "ear of corn, or spike" (ref. Cryptantha microstachys, Vulpia microstachys)
• Micro'steris: former genus now included by Jepson in Phlox, from Greek mikros, "small," and aster, "star" (ref. genus Microsteris)
• microthe'cum: having a structure resembling a small cap, case or box (ref. Eriogonum microthecum)
• miguelen'se/miguelen'sis: of or relating to the environs of San Miguel Island off coastal California (ref. Galium californicum ssp. miguelense, Astragalus miguelensis)
• mikanio'ides: resembling the climbing hempweed Mikania (ref. Senecio mikanioides)
• mil'drediae/mildred'iae: named for Mildred Gertrude Heller (1904-2000), daughter of Amos Arthur Heller (see helleri) and wife of Frank Ide Pritchett. From an obituary: "Born June 27, 1904, in Los Gatos, she moved to the area in 1928. She worked as a teacher for the Vacaville Unified School District for 20 years. She was a member of the Rebekah's, Daughters of the American Republic and the Delta Kappa Gamma Society International. 'She was a rock hound and a good Republican,' said her daughter, Margaret Coyer." (ref. Clarkia mildrediae)
• milesia'nus: after Mary Mabel Miles (1858-1941), wife of James H. Boney, a schoolteacher and amateur collector. She was born in Auburn or Lincoln, CA. Her father farmed there and later in Fresno County and near San Luis Obispo, where Mabel appears to have begun teaching. She later taught in Orange County before marrying a farmer. They lived in Chatsworth until her husband's death (ref. Astragalus didymocarpus var. milesianus)
• milia'cea/milia'ceum: pertaining to millet, or millet-like (ref. Fimbristylis miliacea, Panicum miliaceum, Piptatherum miliaceum)
• milleflor'um: many-flowered (ref. Thelypodium milleflorum)
• millefolia'ta: same as next entry (ref. Gilia millefoliata)
• millefo'lia/millefo'lium/millefo'lius: with many leaves, or leaf segments, literally "a thousand leaves" (ref. Achillea millefolium, Chamaebatiaria millefolium)
• mil'leri: after American zoologist Gerrit Smith Miller, Jr. (1869-1956). The following is taken from a website of the Archives of the Smithsonian Institution: "...born in Peterboro, New York, [he] grew up on a large estate in central New York. In this relatively isolated setting and through the influence of his great uncle, an ornithologist, Miller developed an early interest in natural history. Following his graduation from Harvard in 1894, Miller joined the Biological Survey in the Department of Agriculture and worked under Clinton Hart Merriam. In 1898 he joined the United States National Museum as Assistant Curator of Mammals and in 1909 became Curator of that Division. He continued in that position until 1940 when he retired and remained as an Associate in biology at the Smithsonian Institution until his death. Miller's major contributions to mammalogy were his series of checklists of North American mammals, 1901, 1912, and 1924; The Families and Genera of Bats, 1907; and the Catalogue of the Mammals of Western Europe in the Collection of the British Museum, 1912. He also was an early critic of the claimed discovery of the Piltdown Man in England. He published several papers on the controversy and corresponded with many of the principal investigators. Another of his fields of interest was primate behavioral patterns and their possible influence on the beginnings of human social development. (ref. Mammillaria milleri)
• miloba'keri: see bakeri (ref. Cryptantha milobakeri)
• mimosifo'lia: with leaves like genus Mimosa (ref. Jacaranda mimosifolia)
• mimulo'ides: having the appearance of genus Mimulus (ref. Clinopodium mimuloides)
• Mi'mulus: may come either from the Greek mimo, "an ape," because of a resemblance on the markings of the seeds to the face of a monkey, or from the Latin mimus, "an actor or mimic," because the flower is like the mouthpiece of one of the grinning masks worn by classical actors (ref. genus Mimulus)
• minganen'se: named for the islands of the Mingan Archipelago in the Gulf of St. Lawrence in eastern Quebec because the plant that bears this name (Botrychium minganense or Mingan moonwort) does extend to eastern N. America (ref. Botrychium minganense)
• minia'ta: saturn-red, flame scarlet (ref. Castilleja miniata)
• min'ima/min'imus: of diminutive size (ref. Anagallis minima, Hemizonella minima, Lemna minima, Medicago minima, Myosurus minimus)
• minis'cula: very small (ref. Atriplex miniscula)
• mi'nor: smaller, lesser (see major) (ref. Briza minor, Castilleja minor ssp. spiralis, Gilia minor, Lagophylla minor, Lasthenia minor, Lemna minor, Phacelia minor, Phalaris minor, Pyrola minor, Sanguisorba minor, Ulmus minor)
• min'thorniae/minthorn'iae: after Maud Aileen Minthorn (1883-1966), sister of Theodore Wilson Minthorn (ref. Astragalus minthorniae var. villosus)
• min'thornii/minthorn'ii: named for Theodore Wilson Minthorn (1886-1967), who collected in the Santa Susanna Mountains 1905-1923 (ref. Hemizonia minthornii)
• Minuar'tia: named in honor of Joán (Juan) Minuart (1693-1768), a Spanish apothecary and botanist at Barcelona and Madrid (ref. genus Minuartia)
• mi'nus: smaller (ref. Eriogonum umbellulatum var. minus, Sisyrinchium minus)
• minus'cula: from the Latin minusculus, "very small, trifling" (ref. Atriplex minuscula)
• minu'ta/minu'tum:  very small, minute (ref. Tagetes minuta, Epilobium minutum)
• minutiflor'a/minutiflorus: minute-flowered (Eschscholzia minutiflora, Festuca minutiflora, Phacelia crenulata var. minutiflora, Cercocarpus minutiflorus)
• minutifo'lia/minutifo'lius: small-leaved (ref. Psorothamnus arborescens var. minutifolius, Rosa minutifolia)
• minutis'sima: very small or minute (ref. Muhlenbergia minutissima)
• mirab'ile/Mirab'ilis: Latin for "miraculous or wonderful" (ref. Allium mirabile, genus
  Mirabilis)
• Miscan'thus: from the Greek mischos, "stalk," and anthos, "flower," referring to the spikelets (ref. genus Miscanthus)
• mi'ser/mi'sera: wretched (ref. Euphorbia misera)
• miserri'ma: very wretched (ref. Eragrostis pectinacea var. miserrima)
• missourien'se/missourien'sis: of or from Missouri (ref. Chenopodium missouriense, Iris missouriensis)
• missur'ica: of or belonging to Missouri (ref. Synthyris missurica)
• Mitel'la: diminutive of the Greek mitra, "a bishop's cap," in reference to the fruits (ref. genus Mitella)
• mi'tis: not spiny
• mitracar'pa: from the Greek words for cap and seed (ref. Navarettia mitracarpa)
• mix'tum: mixed
• modes'ta/modes'tus: modest (ref. Clarkia modesta, Whipplea modesta)
• Modio'la: from the Latin modiolus, "the nave of a wheel," because of the shape of the fruit (ref. genus Modiola)
• modocen'se/modocen'sis: presumably after Modoc County (ref. Galium glabrescens ssp. modocense, Crepis modocensis, Gilia modocensis)
• Moehring'ia: after German physician and ornithologist Paul Heinrich Gerhard Moehring (1710-1791) (ref. genus Moehringia)
• Moench'ia: after German botanist, chemist and pharmacist Conrad Moench (1744-1805), professor of botany at Marburg University in Austria from 1786 until his death. He wrote 'Methodus Plantas horti botanici et agri Marburgensis' in 1794, an arranged account of plants in the fields and gardens of Marburg. In 1802 he named the plant Gillenia trifoliata in a supplement to a local flora of the city of Marburg, Austria. He also named the plant genus Echinaceae in the late nineteenth century. (From Wikipedia) (ref. genus Moenchia)
• Moha'vea: after the name of the river where the first species was collected by John Fremont (ref. genus Mohavea)
• mohaven'se/mohaven'sis: of the Mojave (Desert or River?) (ref. Cirsium mohavense, Eriastrum densifolium ssp. mohavense, Eriogonum mohavense, Eriophyllum mohavense, Lomatium mohavense, Astragalus mohavensis, Echinocereus mohavensis, Ericameria nauseosa var. mohavensis, Hemizonia mohavensis, Mentzelia mohavensis, Mimulus mohavensis, Nitrophila mohavensis, Opuntia mohavensis, Phacelia mohavensis, Salvia mohavensis, Senecio mohavensis)
• moles'ta/moles'tum: the only thing I could find about this so far is that molestus is the Latin root meaning "disturbed." David Hollombe sent me the following: "molesta= troublesome, annoying, unmanageable (taxonomically?, or agriculturally?)" (ref. Carex molesta, Eriogonum molestum)
• mol'le: a Peruvian vernacular name (ref. Geranium molle, Schinus molle)
• mollifor'mis: having a soft, silky or velvety form, named for its close resemblance to Bromus mollis (ref. Bromus hordeaceus ssp. molliformis)
• mol'lis: smooth, or with soft velvety hair (ref. Achyrachaena mollis, Arnica mollis, Castilleja mollis, Dalea mollis, Holcus mollis, Leymus mollis, Symphoricarpos mollis, Wyethia mollis)
• mollis'sima: very soft (ref. Dalea mollissima)
• Mollu'go: an old name for the genus Galium and transferred to this genus in the family Aizoaceae possibly because of the similarly whorled leaves, and now placed by Jepson in its own family, the Molluginaceae or carpet-weed family (ref. genus Mollugo)
• Moluccel'la: Umberto Quattrocchi says: "Presumably from an Arabic word meaning "king" or a diminutive of Molucca." The Jepson Manual says mistakenly named for the Molucca Islands of Indonesia (ref. genus Moluccella)
• monan'drum: one-stamened (ref. Calyptridium monandrum)
• Monanthochlo'e: from the Greek monos, "one," and anthos, "flower," meaning the grass with one flower (ref. genus Monanthochloe)
• monan'thos: single-flowered
• monan'thum: one-flowered (ref. Trifolium monanthum var. grantianum, Trifolium monanthum var. monanthum)
• monarchen'se: referring to monarchs, and in this case named for the type location, Monarch Wilderness Area in Fresno County (ref. Eriogonum ovaliforlium var. monarchense)
• Monar'da: after Nicholas Bautista Monardes (1493-1588), a Spanish physician and botanist (ref. genus Monarda)
• Monardel'la: a diminutive of Monarda, having the general appearance of dwarfs of that genus (ref. genus Monardella)
• monck'tonii/monckton'ii: after British geologist and botanist Horace Wollaston Monckton (1857-1931) (ref. Centaurea X moncktonii)
• monel'li: after French horticulturist Jean Monelle. He was responsible for introducing a number of plants into the country, including the pimpernel with the large blue flowers named after him by Linnaeus (ref. Anagallis monelli)
• Mone'ses: from the Greek monos, "single, one," and esis, "a sending forth, delight," thus meaning "a single delight" in reference to the solitary flowers (ref. genus Moneses)
• monnier'i: named for French botanist Louis Guillaume Le Monnier (sometimes written as Lemonnier) (1717-1799). He had been a student of Bernard de Jussieu and was a close acquaintance of de Jussieu’s nephew, Antoine-Laurent. He was also a colleague of the botanist Andre Michaux. In 1758 he became professor of botany at the Jardin des Plantes (on the death of Antoine de Jussieu) and doctor to Louis XVI. In 1786 he was succeeded as professor of botany by René Louiche Desfontaines. He was appointed by King Louis XV head of the botanical garden of the Trianon at Versailles and introduced many plants to French horticulture. His work in physics included the Leyden jar experiment, by which he established that water is one of the best electrical conductors and that the surface area, not the mass, of a conducting body determines its electrical charge. His research on electricity produced by storms confirmed the theories of Benjamin Franklin. His publications include Leçons de physique expérimentale, sur l'équilibre des liqueurs et sur la nature et les propriétés de l'air (1742) and Observations d'histoire naturelle faites dans les provinces méridionales de France, pendant l'année 1739 (1744). His brother was the astronomer Pierre Charles Lemonnier(ref. Bacopa monnieri)
• mono-: in compound words signifying "one or single"
• monoceph'alus: with one head
• Monochor'ia: from the Greek monos, "alone, lonely," and choris, "separate, apart" or chorizo, "to separate," referring to the one stamen that is larger than the others (ref. genus Monochoria)
• monoen'sis: probably meaning of or from Mono (County?) (ref. Penstemon monoensis)
• monogy'na: with one pistil (ref. Crataegus monogyna)
• monogy'ra: in or with one circle, as in this species which has an inflorescence composed on one central whorl (ref. Hymenoclea monogyra)
• Monol'epis: from the Greek monos, "one," and lepis, "scale," because of the single sepal (ref. genus Monolepis)
• Monolop'ia: from the Greek monos, "one," and lopos, "covering," thus meaning something like "single husk" and describing the uniseriate involucres (ref. genus Monolopia)
• monophyl'la/monophyl'los: single-leaved (ref. Pinus monophylla, Malaxis monophyllos)
• Monop'tilon: from the Greek monos, "one," and ptilon, "feather," referring to the pappus of the original species which is a single bristle-like structure (ref. genus Monoptilon)
• monosper'mum: one-seeded (ref. Calyptridium monospermum)
• Monotro'pa: from the Greek monos, "single," and tropos, "a turn" or trope, "a turning," thus meaning "turned or directed to one side," alluding to the one-sided inflorescence (ref. genus Monotropa)
• monspelien'sis: Stearn's Dictionary of Plant Names says: "Of Montpellier in southern France, Latinized as Mons Pessulanus" (ref. Polypogon monspeliensis)
• monspessula'na: of or from Montpelier, France (ref. Genista monspessulana)
• monta'na/monta'num: of the mountains (ref. Mentzelia montana, Muhlenbergia montana, Pickeringia montana var. montana, Pickeringia montana var. tomentosa, Thamnosma montana, Delphinium patens ssp. montanum, Lepidium montanum)
• montaraen'sis: of or from the area of Montara Mountain in San Mateo County south of San Francisco (ref. Arctostaphylos montaraensis)
• montereyen'sis: of or from the Monterey, California, area (ref. Arctostaphylos montereyensis)
• monteviden'sis: of or from Montevideo, Uruguay (ref. Eleocharis montevidensis, Lantana montevidensis)
• Mon'tia: named for Giuseppe Monti (1682-1760), a professor of botany at Bologna, Italy (ref. genus Montia)
• Montias'trum: see Montia above, also from astron, "star" (ref. genus Montiastrum)
• montico'la: living in the mountains (ref. Allium monticola, Pinus Monticola)
• montig'ena/montig'enum: mountain-born (ref. Castilleja montigena, Ribes montigenum)
• montio'ides: the most likely derivation of this name is the genus Montia, and thus "resembling Montia" (ref. Mimulus montioides)
• mo'quinii/moquin'ii: after French botanist and doctor Christian Horace Benedict Alfred Moquin-Tandon (1804-1863). "Moquin-Tandon was professor of zoology at Marseilles from 1829 until 1833, when he was appointed professor of botany and director of the botanical gardens at Toulouse. In 1850 he was sent by the French government to Corsica to study the island's flora. In 1853 he moved to Paris, later becoming director of the Jardin des Plantes and the Académie des Sciences. His books included L'Histoire Naturelle des Iles Canaries (1835-44), co-authored with Philip Barker Webb and Sabin Berthelot." He also authored Histoire Naturelle des Mollusques Terrestres et Fluviatiles de France Contenant (Paris, 1855) and Le Monde de la Mer (Paris, 1865) (ref. Suaeda moquinii)
• Morae'a: originally named as Morea by Phillip Miller for the British amateur botanist and natural historian Robert More (1703-1780), traveller, Fellow of the Royal Society of London, and friend of Linnaeus, but then altered by Linnaeus to Moraea apparently to honor his father-in-law Dr. Johan Moraeus (ref. genus Moraea)
• more'fieldii/morefield'ii: after James David Morefield (1961- ), President, webmaster and rare plant chair of the Nevada Native Plant Society. The following is from the 2005 Jepson workshops program web page: "Jim Morefield began studying botany as a student at Deep Springs College and spent many field seasons during the 1980s exploring and revising the flora of the White Mountains. After finishing a degree in Botany and Geology in Flagstaff, Arizona, he completed a Ph.D. at Rancho Santa Ana Botanic Garden, where he studied Stylocline and related genera of composites. He contributed the Jepson Manual treatments for these genera plus Chaenactis. Currently, Jim works as the botanist for the Nevada Natural Heritage Program."(ref. Potentilla morefieldii)
• Morel'la : possibly a diminutive of Morus, the mulberry (ref. genus Morella)
• mor'risonii/morrison'ii: after American botanist John Lawrence Morrison (1911-2001). He was educated at the University of Nebraska and got his graduate degrees from the University of California. He was an instructor in botany at the State University of New York College of Forestry in Syracuse 1946-1947, assistant professor 1947-1949, associate professor 1949-1959, and full professor beginning in 1959. His specialties were the taxonomy of Streptanthus and the Brassicaceae, and the ecology of Thuya occidentalis (ref. Streptanthus morrisonii)
• morroen'sis: of or from the area of Morro Bay, California (ref. Arctostaphylos morroensis)
• Morton'ia: named after Dr. Samuel George Morton (1799-1851), an American naturalist. The following is quoted from Wikipedia: "...born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, 26 January, 1799, died there, 15 May, 1851. He was educated in the strictest school of orthodox Friends, and originally destined for commercial pursuits, but studied medicine under Dr. Joseph Parrish, of Philadelphia, and was graduated at the medical department of the University of Pennsylvania in 1820, and at that of the University of Edinburgh in 1823. On his return to Philadelphia the next year he began the practice of his profession, became an active member of the Academy of Natural Sciences, was recording secretary of that body in 1825, and president in 1850. During the early part of his professional career geology was his favorite pursuit, and the results of his studies were embodied in an 'Analysis of Tabular Spar from Bucks County, Pa.' (Philadelphia, 1827), and a 'Synopsis of the Organic Remains of the Cretaceous Group of the United States' (1834). He was professor of anatomy in Pennsylvania college in 1839-1843, and for several years a clinical teacher at the city Alms-house hospital, he began a collection of skulls in 1830, and thus relates its origin: 'Having had occasion in the summer of 1830 to deliver an introductory lecture to a course of anatomy, I chose for my subject 'The Different Forms of the Skull as exhibited in the Five Races of Man.' I could neither buy nor borrow a cranium for each of these races, and I finished my discourse without showing either the Mongolian or the Malay. Impressed with this deficiency in a most important branch of science, I at once resolved to make a collection for myself.' His efforts resulted in the largest museum of comparative craniology in existence, containing about 1,500 specimens, 900 of which were human, and which were obtained from widely separated regions. It now belongs to the Philadelphia academy of natural sciences. Dr. Morton finally adopted the theory of a diverse origin of the human race, on which subject he maintained a once celebrated controversy with Reverend John Bachman, of Charleston, South Carolina The result of his investigations, as bearing' on the American aborigines, is embodied in "Crania Americana, or a Comparative View of the Skulls of Various Aboriginal Nations of North and South America," to which is prefixed an essay on the "Varieties of the Human Species" (Philadelphia, 1839). His "Crania Egyptica, or Observations on Egyptian Ethnography, derived from the History of the Monuments," with numerous plates and illustrations (4 vols., 1844), was principally based on a collection of ninety-eight heads that were obtained by George R. Gliddon from the tombs and catacombs of Egypt. He also published "Observations on the Ethnology and Archaeology of the American Aborigines" in "Silliman's Journal" (1846); an essay on " Hybridity in Plants and Animals considered in reference to the Question of the Unity of the Human Species," in the same (1847); and an "Illustrated System of Human Anatomy, Special, General, and Microscopic" (Philadelphia, 1849). (From a website of the American Philosophical Society): "Morton's work met with a receptive audience in much of the United States. Its massive empirical base was praised by the scientific elite, and his theories on human relations was endorsed avidly by pro-slavery advocates. His most zealous supporters were Gliddon and the Alabama physician, Josiah Nott, who developed his own, highly elaborated polygenic theory as an apologetic for slavery, however support for Morton's conclusions did not align easily with such sentiments. The apparent conflict of Morton's work with the theory of unitary origins presented in Genesis proved unpalatable to many religiously-inclined scientists, including those who defended slavery on other grounds. Prominent among his detractors was the South Carolinian, John Bachman, a Lutheran minister and natural historian, who was no opponent of slavery. Bachman argued that the interfertility of Africans and Caucasians proved the Doctrine of the Unity of the Human Race (Charleston, S.C.: 1850), to quote the title of his book, to which Morton responded by beginning an investigation into hybridity among species of animals. Morton's work on hybridity, however, never appeared. An attack of pleurisy in 1848 left him greatly weakened and three years later, he succumbed." He married Rebecca Grellet Pearsall in 1827 and had eight children (ref. genus Mortonia)
• mortonia'na: after newspaperman, farmer and President Grover Cleveland's Secretary of Agriculture Julius Sterling Morton (1832-1902). The following is quoted from Wikipedia: "Mortin was born in Adams, Jefferson County, New York. He was raised in Detroit and attended the University of Michigan. After receiving his diploma in 1854, he moved with his bride to Nebraska, which was not yet organized as a territory, and staked a claim in Nebraska City. Respected as an agriculturalist, he sought to instruct people in the modern techniques of farming and forestry. Among his most significant achievements was the founding of Arbor Day. He became well known in Nebraska for his political, agricultural, and literary activities and from there was appointed as Secretary of Agriculture by President Cleveland. He is credited with helping change that department into a coordinated service to farmers, and he supported Cleveland in setting up national forest reservations. In 1897 Morton planned and began to edit the multivolume Illustrated History of Nebraska. He also published a weekly periodical, The Conservationist. He died on April 27, 1902, in Lake Forest, Illinois, where he was seeking health treatment. His home in Nebraska City is now a state park, the Arbor Lodge State Historical Park and Arboretum. In 1937, the state of Nebraska donated a bronze statue of Morton to the U.S. Capitol's National Statuary Hall Collection. Morton is a member of the Nebraska Hall of Fame." ( ref. Eucalyptus X mortoniana)
• Mor'us: classical name for Morus nigra, the mulberry (ref. genus Morus)
• moscha'ta/moscha'tum/moscha'tus: having a musky scent (ref. Hydrocotyle moschata, Erodium moschatum, Mimulus moschatus)
• mos'quinii/mosquin'ii: after Canadian botanist Theodore Mosquin (1932- ) of the Department of Botany, University of California. David Hollombe sent me a brief bio in French from a Canadian website which I was able to have translated as follows: "Theodore Mosquin (B.Sc. 1956, University of Manitoba; Ph.D. 1961, U.C.L.A.) was born at Brokenhead in Manitoba in 1932. The studies which he made in Los Angeles related to the cytogenetics and evolution of the genus Clarkia. He entered the Botanical Institute of Research in 1963 where he studied the cytology and biology of reproduction of the genera Linum and Epilobium. In 1968-1969, he took a sabbatical leave and became part-time lecturer associated with the University of California in Berkeley. His keen interest in natural history led to the post of editor of Canadian Field-Naturalist from 1968 to 1972 and he became president of the Ottawa Field-Naturalists' Club in 1970. In March, 1972, he took a second sabbatical leave to take up the duties of first Executive Director of the new Canadian Federation of Nature. In April 1973, he decided to remain with the Federation and gave his resignation to the Ministry." He was also a Director of the Canadian Wildflower Society, a Chairmain of the Canadian Audubon Society, and a President of the Canadian Parks and Wilderness Society. He was co-author in 1989 of On the Brink; Endangered Species in Canada and in 1995 of Canada's Biodiversity: The Variety of Life, It's Status, Economic Benefits, Conservation Costs and Unmet Needs (ref. Clarkia mosquinii)
• mucrona'ta/mucrona'tus: mucronate, with a short, abrupt tip (ref. Pellaea mucronata, Tuctoria mucronata, Scirpus mucronatus)
• Mucrone'a/Mucro'nea: from the Latin mucronis for "sharp-pointed" in reference to the awns of the bracts and involucres (ref. genus Mucronea)
• Muehlenbeck'ia: after Heinrich Gustav Muehlenbeck (1798-1845), Alsatian physician who studied the flora of Alsace (ref. genus Muehlenbeckia)
• Muhlenberg'ia: after Gotthilf Heinrich Ernst Muhlenberg (1753-1815), son of Henry Melchior Muhlenberg, a German Lutheran minister who came to the United States in 1742. Gotthilf was born in Trappe, Pennsylvania, educated with his brothers in Halle, Germany, and returned to America in 1770, at which time he was also ordained a Lutheran minister and worked for several years as his father's assistant. He labored as a pastor for several congregations throughout his life, but devoted his leisure hours to the study of the natural sciences, botany in particular. He was a pioneer botanist of the highest rank and was honored by having a number of plants and even a genus named after him. His flora of the Lancaster, Pennsylvania, area included some 450 genera and 1000 species, and his first formal publication, Catalogus plantarum Americae septentrionalis, was released in 1813. He corresponded with many of the leading botanists of the day, and was visited, among others, by Alexander von Humboldt. He sent many specimens to Carl Ludwig Willdenow who published many of his discoveries in his Species plantarum. He was a member of a number of scientific societies in several countries, and his works are considered standards in the field. His manuscript on grasses was published two years after his death. He was the first President of Franklin College, serving in that capacity from 1787 to 1815, and both his son and grandson became Lutheran ministers, the latter, Frederick Augustus, becoming the first President of Muhlenberg College (ref. genus Muhlenbergia)
• Muil'la: a western plant that looks like an onion (genus Allium), that was humorously given the same name spelled backwards (ref. genus Muilla)
• muiria'na: see following entry (ref. Calamagrostis muiriana)
• mu'irii: named for the great Scottish-born American naturalist John Muir (1838-1914) (ref. Ivesia muirii, Raillardiopsis muirii)
• Mulge'dium: from the Latin mulgeo, "to milk" (ref. genus Mulgedium)
• multi-: a prefix indicating many
• multica'va: with many hollows, from the Latin cavea, "a cave or excavated place" (ref. Crassula multicava)
• multicos'ta: many-ribbed
• multicau'le/multicau'lis: many-stemmed (ref. Crocidium multicaule, Eriophyllum multicaule, Carex multicaulis, Dudleya multicaulis)
• mul'ticeps: with many heads
• mul'ticolor: with many colors
• multicosta'ta: with many ribs (ref. Carex multicostata)
• multi'fida/multi'fidum: divided many times (ref. Sidalcea multifida, Chenopodium multifidum)
• multiflor'a/multiflor'um: many-flowered (ref. Brickellia longifolia var. multiflora, Heliomeris multiflora var. nevadensis, Mentzelia multiflora ssp. longiloba, Mirabilis multiflora, Orobanche multiflora, Schkuhria multiflora, Viguiera multiflora, Antirrhinum multiflorum, Galium multiflorum, Lolium multiflorum)
• multiglandulo'sa: with many glands (ref. Calycadenia multiglandulosa, Senna multiglandulosa)
• multiju'ga: many yoked together, generally referring to leaves with many pairs of leaflets (ref. Potentilla multijuga)
• multiloba'ta/multiloba'tus: many-lobed (ref. Packera multilobata)
• multinerva'tus: many-nerved (ref. Cymopterus multinervatus)
• multiner'via: many-nerved (ref. Silene multinervia)
• mul'tiplex: much folded, hence doubled
• multiradia'ta: from the Latin meaning "many-rayed" (ref. Baileya multiradiata, Solidago multiradiata)
• multiscapo'ideum: with many scapes (ref. Erythronium multiscapoideum)
• multise'tus: with many bristles (ref. Elymus multisetus)
• muncien'sis: after Muncy, Nevada, a mining town in White Pine County (ref. Arabis pulchra var. munciensis)
• mun'dula: trim, neat (ref. Hackelia mundula, Portulaca mundula)
• muni'ta/muni'tum: armed, fortified (ref. Argemone munita, Polystichum munitum)
• Munro'a: after William Munro (1818-1880) who "made his career in the British army, entering in 1834 and advancing to the rank of General in 1878. He served in India, the Crimea and the West Indies. In his spare time he studied botany, collecting plants in India in the 1840's and in Barbados, 1870-1875. He become an authority on grasses and was planning to contribute a monograph on bamboo to DeCandolle's Prodromus at the time of his death." (from a Harvard University Library website) (ref. genus Munroa)
• munroa'na: for Mr. Donald Munro (c.1789-1853, Curator of Gardens at the Horticultural Society of London from which he retired in 1850, Fellow of the Linnean Society, gardener-in-chief for British botanist John Lindley. (ref. Sphaeralcea munroana)
• munz'ii: after Philip Alexander Munz (1892-1974), botanist at Rancho Santa Ana Botanical Garden, professor of botany at Pomona College and dean of the College for three years, and author of A Flora of Southern California, California Mountain Wildflowers, California Desert Wildflowers, California Spring Wildflowers and Shore Wildflowers of California, Oregon and Washington (ref. Calochortus kennedyi var. munzii, Calochortus palmeri var. munzii, Camissonia munzii, Galium munzii, Layia munzii, Salvia munzii)
• Munzotham'nus: "Munz's shrub," see munzii above (ref. genus Munzothamnus)
• mura'le/mura'lis: growing on walls (ref. Chenopodium murale, Galium murale, Cymbalaria muralis, Diplotaxis muralis)
• murica'ta/murica'tus: muricate, as in a surface roughened by means of hard points or sharp projections (ref. Centaurea muricata, Cryptantha muricata, Echinochloa muricata, Pinus muricata, Ranunculus muricatus)
• muri'na/muri'num: of mice, mouse-gray, like a mouse (ref. Dudleya abramsii ssp. murina, Hordeum murinum ssp. glaucum)
• murrayan'a: after Andrew Murray (1812-1878), Scottish botanist and conifer expert. From my ever-reliable source David Hollombe: "Born in Edinburgh, educated for the law, became a writer to the signet [apparently a judicial officer who prepares warrants, writs, etc., originally a clerk in the office of the secretary of state, a signet being a seal used to attest to the validity of documents], joined the firm of Murray & Rhind, and for some time practiced in Edinburgh. His earliest scientific papers were entomological, and did not appear until he was forty. On the death of the Rev. John Fleming, professor of natural science in New College, Edinburgh, in 1857, Murray took up his work for one session. On the foundation of the Oregon Exploration Society he became its secretary... aroused his interest in western North America and in the Coniferae. 1858-59, president of the Botanical Society of Edinburgh; 1860 came to London and became assistant secretary to the Royal Horticultural Society; in 1877 was appointed its scientific director. Visited Utah and California in 1873. Works included "The Pines and Firs of Japan" [published in 1863 and illustrated by more than 200 woodcuts] but major works on conifers never completed. His younger brother, William (born 1819), was in California at least from 1854-1860 and discovered the McNab cypress." This last is in question because another source records John Jeffrey (1826-1854) as the discoverer of the McNab cypress. In any case, William apparently did botanize in the same area as Jeffrey and carried on with some of his unfinished work, the latter having died at the early age of 28. Further information from David reveals that William Murray was married in England in 1855 and had a daughter who was born in San Francisco in 1856. His wife died in San Francisco in 1873, and William apparently was in and out of California right up to his death in San Francisco in 1896 (ref. Pinus contorta ssp. murrayana)
• Muscar'i: Umberto Quattrocchi's World Dictionary of Plant Names says: "A Turkish name recorded by Clusius in 1583; Latin muscus, "moss, musk;" and Stearn's Dictionary of Plant Names says: "Turkish name recorded by Clusius in 1583, the bulbs of Muscari muscarimi (M. moschatum) being received from Constantinople under the names Muscari, Muschorimi or Muscurimi, meaning musk of the Romans (i.e. Greeks), or Muschio greco (Greek musk), referring to the sweet aromatic scent of the flowers, hence from Persian mushk, Sanskrit mushka, testicle. The source of musk is a scent gland or 'pod' of the male musk-deer (Moschus moschifer)." The following is quoted from the Encyclopaedia Romana: "Humanist and botanist, Carolus Clusius, the Latinized version of Charles de l'Ecluse (1526-1609), was most responsible for introducing the tulip (and the potato) to the Netherlands, transforming gardens there and throughout northern Europe. In 1573, he had been invited by the Holy Roman Emperor Maximilian II to establish a botanical garden in the capital at Vienna... At the time, botany was not a discipline in its own right but was considered a branch of medicine, the plants, themselves, of interest only for their medicinal properties. Clusius was one of the first to recognize them for their own sake, classifying plants according to their color and shape. Indeed, Clusius had become a physician to better study botany, traveling all over Europe in search of new specimens." (ref. genus Muscari)
• musco'ides: fly-like (ref. Phlox muscoides)
• musteli'na: from the Latin mustela, "a weasel," either weasel-colored, tawny or weasel-odored (ref. Phacelia mustelina)
• mutab'ilis: varied, changing in form or color (ref. Ipomoea mutabilis [now indica], Phacelia mutabilis)
• mut'icus: blunt, without a point (ref. Tridens muticus)
• mut'ilum: divided as though torn, said of some leaves (ref. Hypericum mutilum)
• my'ersii: after John Wescott Myers (1911-2008), son of Chief Justice Louis W. Myers of the California State Supreme Court, a graduate of Stanford (1933) and Harvard Law School (1936), officer in the field artillery, did legal work for O'Melveny and Myers some of whose clients in Hollywood were Columbia Broadcasting Systems, Paramount Pictures, Bing Crosby, Andy Devine and Edgar Bergen, a test pilot for Lockheed and Northrop Aviation during World War II and then a close friend of Charles Lindbergh, sold Cessna aircraft and built aircraft hangers. He continued flying at least into his 90's. This taxon was discovered on his 18,000-acre Flying M cattle ranch in the San Joaquin Valley near Merced. The namers of the taxon, P.S. Allen and A.G. Day, said, "This is in recognition of his persistence in protecting the area from overgrazing and other potential environmental disturbances, and for courtesies extended to interested botanists of several California research and conservation organizations." He donated 5000 acres to the Nature Conservancy and also donated land for the new UC Merced campus along with its first $1,000,000 contribution. He was also a philanthropist to the Thacher School in Ojai (which he attended), Pomona College, St. John's Health Center in Santa Monica, and the National Air and Space Museum of which he was a board member (ref. Navarretia myersii)
• Myopor'um: from the Greek myein, "to close," and poros, "a pore," and referring to the translucent dots on the leaves (ref. genus Myoporum)
• Myoso'tis: from the Greek myos, "mouse," and ous or otos, "ear," from the shape of the leaves (ref. genus Myosotis)
• myosoto'ides: like genus Myosotis (ref. Plagiobothrys myosotoides)
• myosuro'ides: like genus Myosurus (ref. Alopecurus myosuroides)
• Myosu'rus: from the Greek mus or myos, "mouse," and oura, "tail," for the mousetail-like appearance of the receptacle in fruit (ref. genus Myosurus)
• My'rica: derived from the Greek name myrike for tamarisk, and a plant whose fruit has a greasy covering that provides the aromatic tallow from which bayberry candles are made (ref. genus Myrica)
• myricifo'lia: with leaves like those of genus Myrica (ref. Bernardia myricifolia)
• myriocar'pus: many-fruited (ref. Cucumis myriocarpus)
• myriocla'da: from the Greek myrios, "many," and klados, "a branch," thus "many-branched (ref. Stephanomeria myrioclada)
• Myriophyl'lum: from the Greek myrios, "numberless," and phyllon, "leaf," alluding to the many divisions of the submerged leaves of these aquatic plants (ref. genus Myriophyllum)
• myrsini'tes: possibly from the genus Myrsine and the suffix -ites, meaning "belonging to or having to do with," because the leaves are toothed distally and the flowers are small and inconspicuous. However, David Hollombe suggests that it might instead refer to the genus Myrtus because the leaves are opposite and the leaves are solitary in the axils and have two bracteoles. Nuttall tried to rename it 'Oreophila myrtifolia,' but Pursh who originally named it wasn't clear on which meaning it had (ref. Paxistima myrsinites)
• myrtifo'lia: myrtle-leaved (ref. Arctostaphylos myrtifolia)    
• myur'os: long and tapering, like a mouse's tail (ref. Vulpia myuros var. hirsuta)