(Listed alphabetically by genus)

More complete biographical details available at my site, California Plant Names: Latin and Greek Meanings and Derivations.

Ferns and Fern allies

Marsilea || Luigi Ferdinando Marsigli, 1658-1730, Italian soldier, botanist, geographer and naturalist
Salvinia || Antonio Maria Salvini, 1633-1729, Italian academic and professor of the Greek language at Florence who helped his friend     the Italian botanist Pier' Antonio Micheli with his botanical studies
Woodsia || Joseph Woods, 1776-1864, British architect and botanical author
Woodwardia || Thomas Jenkinson Woodward, 1745-1820, British phycologist and botanist

Gymnosperms

Sequoia || Sequoyah, 1776?-1843, Cherokee chief and creator of the Cherokee alphabet, son of a British merchant and a Cherokee     woman
Torreya || John Torrey, 1796-1873, one of the giants of American botany, professor of chemistry, State Botanist of New York,     supervisor of the New York Mint, and co-author with Asa Gray of Flora of North America

Nymphaeales

Brasenia || Christoph Brasen, 1738-1774, Danish surgeon and plant collector, leader of the 1771 missionary expedition that     established the Moravian mission of Nain on the coast of Labrador

Dicots

Achillea || Achilles of ancient mythology
Achlys || Achlys, in mythology either the Goddess of hidden places or obscurity, or the eternal Night, and the first created being     which existed even before Chaos
Acourtia || Mrs. Mary Elizabeth Catherine Gibbes A'Court, 1792-1878, English amateur botanist
Adolphia || Adolphe Theodore Brongniart, 1801-1876, French student of the Rhamnaceae, pioneer in the study of plant morphology,     physiology, and paleobotany, author of an important work on fossil plants
Adonis || Adonis of Greek mythology, god of plants, from whose blood the plant allegedly grew
Albizia || Filippo del Albizzi, 18th century Florentine nobleman
Allenrolfea || Robert Allen Rolfe, 1855-1921, English botanist, and the first taxonomist of orchids for the Royal Botanic Gardens at     Kew
Aliciella || Alice Eastwood, 1859-1953, western American botanist, botanical curator for the California Academy of Sciences
Allionia || Carlo Ludovico Allioni, 1725/1728-1804, Italian professor of botany at Turin, naturalist, physician, author and friend of     Linnaeus
Aloysia || Maria Louisa Teresa, 1751-1819, Princess of Parma and wife of King Carlos IV of Spain
Ammannia || Paul Ammann, 1634-1691, German botanist and professor at Leipzig
Amsinckia || Wilhelm Amsinck, 1752-1831, German botanist and patron of Hamburg Botanic Garden
Amsonia || Dr. John Amson, 18th century American physician, planter, alderman and Mayor of Williamsburg, Va.   
Anelsonia || Aven Nelson, 1859-1952, Rocky Mountain botanist
Araujia || António de Araújo de Azevedo, 1752-1817, Portuguese botanical collector and government official
Artemisia || Artemis, goddess of the hunt and noted herbalist
Asclepias || Asklepios, Greek god of healing
Aubrieta || Claude Aubriet, 1651-1743, French painter of flowers and animals
Avicennia || Avicenna (Abu Ali Al-Husayn Ibn 'Abd Allah Ibn Sina), 980-1037, Persian scientist and philosopher, considered one of     the greatest of the medieval Islamic physicians
Ayenia || Louis de Noailles, 1713-1793, Duc d'Ayen (1713-1766) and 4th duc de Noailles (1766-1793), Marshall of France, escaped     the guillotine by dying in August, 1793, before the Terror reached its height
Baccharis || Bacchus, god of wine
Bahia || Juan Francisco de Bahí y Fonseca, 1775-1841, Barcelona botany professor, author and physician
Baileya || Jacob Whitman Bailey, 1811-1857, American microscopist and professor of chemistry, minerology and geology at West     Point
Barbarea || Saint Barbara, martyred in the 3rd century A.D 
Bassia || Ferdinando Bassi, 1710-1774, Italian botanist and Prefect of the Bologna Botanical Garden
Bauhinia || Caspar (Gaspard) Bauhin, 1560-1624, botanist and physician, professor of anatomy and botany at Basel University, and     Johann (Jean) Bauhin, 1541-1613, co-author of the great work Historia Plantarum universalis
Bebbia || Michael Schuck Bebb, 1833-1895, American botanist, distinguished specialist on willowsBellardia || Carlo Antonio     Lodovico Bellardi, 1741-1826, professor of botany at Turin, Italy
Bensoniella || Gilbert Thereon Benson, 1896-1928, California botanist and librarian of the Dudley Herbarium at Stanford University
Bergerocactus Alwin Berger, 1871-1931, German botanist and succulent specialist
Bergia || Peter Jonas Bergius, 1730-1790, Swedish botanist and student of Linnaeus
Bernardia || Bernard de Jussieu, 1699-1776, French taxonomist
Boechera || Tyge Wittrock Boecher, 1909-1983, Danish authority on Arctic vegetation and the flora of Greenland
Boerhavia || Hermann Boerhaave, 1668-1738, Dutch botanist and chemist with degrees in philosophy and medicine, considered the     leading medical teacher of the early 18th century
Boehmeria || Georg(e) Rudolf Boehmer, 1723-1803, professor of botany and anatomy at the University of Wittenberg
Bolandra || Henry Nicholson Bolander, 1831-1897, collector of plants in Yosemite National Park and California State Botanist in     1864
Boschniakia || Alexander Karlovich Boschniak, 1786-1831, Russian botanist
Bowlesia || William Bowles, 1705-1780, Irish naturalist, traveller and writer on Spanish natural history
Boykinia || Dr. Samuel Boykin, 1786-1848, eminent field botanist born in South Carolina who did the majority of his collecting in     Georgia
Brandegea || Townsend Stith Brandegee, 1843-1925, CA botanist and engineer
Brickellia || A Dr. John Brickell, 1749-1809, Irish-born naturalist and physician of Georgia
Buddleja || Rev. Adam Buddle, 1660(1662?)-1715, English botanist
Bursera || Joachim Burser, 1583-1649, German botanist, medical doctor and professor of medicine, author of the 25-volume Hortus     Siccus which was used by Linnaeus in the preparation of his Species Plantarum
Caesalpinea || Andrea Cesalpino, 1519-1603, Italian botanist and physician
Calandrinia || Jean Louis Calandrini, 1703-1758, professor of mathematics and philosophy, and a botanical author in Switzerland
Calibrachoa || Antonio de la Cal y Bracho, 1766-1833, Mexican botanist and pharmacologist
Camissonia || Ludolf Karl Adelbert von Chamisso, 1781-1838, French-born German botanist, plant collector, traveller and explorer
Canbya || William Marriott Canby, 1831-1904, Delaware businessman, philanthropist and avid botanist
Carloquistia || Sherwin Carlquist, 1930- , American botanist specializing in plant anatomy and island biology, professor at Pomona     College and Claremont Graduate School, author of 7 books
Carlowrightia || Charles (Carlos) Wright, 1811-1885, American teacher, surveyor, botanical collector and member of the Mexican     Boundary Survey
Carnegiea || Andrew Carnegie, 1835-1919, American industrialist and philanthropist
Carpenteria || William Marbury Carpenter, 1811-1848, Louisiana physician and botanist
Cassiope || Cassiope, in Greek mythology the mother of Andromeda, hence the use of the name for a genus related to the genus     Andromeda
Castela || René Richard Louis Castel, 1759-1832, French botanist, poet and editor, opera librettist
Castilleja || Domingo Castillejo, 1744-1793, Spanish botanist and instructor of botany at Cadiz, Spain
Circaea || Circe, enchantress of Greek mythology
Clarkia || Captain William Clark, 1770-1838, of the Lewis and Clark expedition
Claytonia || John Clayton, 1694-1773, colonial American botanist and plant collector
Coincya || Auguste Henri Cornut de la Fontaine de Coincy, 1837-1903, French botanist, specialist in the flora of Spain
Collinsia || Zaccheus Collins, 1764-1831, a minerologist and botanist, vice-president of the Philadelphia Academy of Natural     Sciences
Condalia || Antonio Condal, 18th century Spanish physician and botanist
Conringia || Hermann Conring, 1606-1681, German academician, scholar, physician and professor at the University of Helmstedt
Constancea || Lincoln Constance, 1909-2001, patriarch of botany and Director of the Herbarium at Berkeley, President of the     California Academy of Sciences, authority on the Umbelliferae
Cusickiella || William Conklin Cusick, 1842-1922, teacher, rancher and plant collector in Oregon
Dalea || Samuel Dale, 1659-1739, English physician, botanist and gardener
Darlingtonia || William Darlington, 1782-1863, American botanist, physician, author, banker and member of Congress
Darmera || Karl Darmer, 1843-1918, German horticulturist in Berlin
Dedeckera || Mary Caroline Foster DeDecker, 1909-2000, lifelong California botanist and collector, and specialist on the flora of the     Northern Mojave Desert
Delairea || Eugene Delaire, 1810-1856, head gardener at the botanical gardens in Orleans
Descurainia || François Descourain, 1658-1740, French pharmacist and botanist
Dittrichia || Manfred Dittrich, 1934- , German botanist, specialist in Asteraceae at the Herbarium of the Geneva, Switzerland,     Conservatory and Botanical Garden
Downingia || Andrew Jackson Downing, 1815-1852, American horticulturist and landscape gardener
Draperia || John William Draper, 1811-1882, American historian and scientist, professor of chemistry at New York University
Duchesnea || Antoine Nicolas Duchesne, 1747-1827, French botanist and horticulturist
Dudleya || William Russel Dudley, 1849-1911, first professor of botany and head of the Botany Department at Stanford University
Dugaldia || Dugald Stewart, 1753-1828, Scottish professor of mathematics and moral philosophy
Eastwoodia || Alice Eastwood, 1859-1953, western American botanist, botanical curator for the California Academy of Sciences     
Eatonella || Daniel Cady Eaton, 1834-1895, one of the first professors of botany in the United States and Curator of the Yale     Herbarium for 31 years, produced Ferns of North America
Ehrendorferia || Friedrich Ehrendorfer, 1927- , Austrian botanist and professor in the Department of Higher Plant Systematics and     Evolution at the University of Vienna
Encelia || Christoph Entzelt, 1517-1583, an early Lutheran clergyman, wrote about minerology, metallurgy and the medicinal uses of     plants
Eschscholzia || Dr. Johann Friedrich Gustav von Eschscholtz, 1793-1831, Estonian surgeon and botanist
Escobaria || Numa Pompilio Escobar Zerman, 1874-1949, and Romulo Escobar Zerman, 1882-1946, Mexican plant collectors
Euphorbia || Euphorbus, Greek physician of Juba II, King of Mauretania, 1st century
Fagonia || Guy-Crescent Fagon, 1638-1718, French chemist, professor of botany, Director of the Paris Jardin du Roi, and chief     physician to Louis XIV
Fallopia || Gabriele Fallopio (Falloppio), c.1523-1562, Italian anatomist
Fallugia || Abbot Virgilio Fallugi of Vallombrosa, c.1627-1707, Italian botanist
Fendlerella || August Fendler, 1813-1883, German plant collector in North and Central America
Floerkea || Heinrich Gustav Floerke, 1764-1835, German lichenologist, professor of botany and author
Forestiera || André Robert Forestier, a doctor of medicine and physician of the town hospice, and a native of Paris, died Oct. 6, 1812     in Saint-Quentin at the age of 76
Fouquieria || Pierre Éloi Fouquier, 1776-1850, French physician, professor of medicine and naturalist
Frankenia || Johan Frankenius, 1590-1661, sometimes written as Franke or Franckenius or Franck, professor of anatomy, medicine     and botany at Uppsala, Sweden
Fremontodendron || John Charles Frémont, 1813-1890, Army officer, cartographer, surveyor, explorer, plant collector and presidential     candidate
Fuchsia || Leonard Fuchs, 1501-1566, German physician and herbalist, and the first modern maker of Latin-form plant names
Gaillardia || Gaillard de Charentonneau, 18th century French magistrate and amateur botanist
Galinsoga || Mariano Martinez de Galinsoga, 1766-1797, Spanish court physician and Director of the Madrid Botanical Garden
Galvezia || José Gálvez, 1720-1787, considered Spain's greatest colonial administrator for his work in Mexico
Garrya || Nicholas Garry, 1782-1856, of the Hudson's Bay Company, assisted David Douglas in his explorations of the Pacific     Northwest
Gaultheria || Jean François Gaulthier, 1708-1756, French-Canadian botanist, physician
Gayophytum || Claude Gay, 1800-1873, French botanist, naturalist and author of Flora of Chile
Gazania || Theodorus of Gaza, 1398-1478, Greek-born Italian scholar and translator of the works of Theophrastus
Gentiana || Gentius, King of ancient Illyria, who found the roots of the herb yellow gentian to have a healing effect on his malaria-
    stricken troops, 2nd century B.C.
Gilmania || Marshall French Gilman, 1871-1944, Death Valley naturalist
Gleditsia || Johann Gottlieb Gleditsch, 1714-1786, German botanist
Glehnia || Peter von Glehn, 1835-1876, Russian botanist and plant explorer in Baltic Russia
Goodmania || George Jones Goodman, 1904-1999, Oklahoma botanist
Grayia || Asa Gray, 1810-1888, eminent American botanist, Harvard University
Grevillea || Charles Francis Greville, 1749-1809, English horticulturist, one of the founders of what is now the Royal Horticultural     Society
Grindelia || David Hieronymus Grindel, 1776-1836, German pharmacologist, physician and professor of botany at Riga, Estonia  
Grusonia || Hermann August Jacques Gruson, 1821-1895, German privy councillor who had a particular interest in the Cactaceae  
Guilleminea || Jean Baptiste Antoine Guillemin, 1796-1842, French botanist and author
Guillenia || Father Clemente Guillen de Castro, 1677-1748, Mexican Jesuit missionary
Guizotia || Francois Pierre Guillaume Guizot, 1787-1874, French statesman and historian
Gunnera || Johan Ernst Gunnerus, 1718-1773, Norwegian botanist and bishop
Guttierezia || Pedro Gutierrez, 19th century Spanish nobleman and botanist at the Madrid Botanical Garden
Hackelia || Josef Hackel, 1783-1869, Czech botanist
Harmonia || Harvey Monroe Hall, 1874-1932, professor of botany and herbarium curator at the University of California, authority on     the Asteraceae of Southern California, and a pioneer in experimental taxonomy
Hazardia || Barclay Hazard, 1852-1938, amateur California botanist from Santa Barbara
Hebe || Hebe, in mythology the Goddess of Youth, daughter of Zeus and Hera, sister of Ares and wife of Hercules after he became a     god
Helenium || Helen of Troy
Heracleum || Hercules, presumably from large stature of some ssp.
Herissantia || Louis Antoine Prosper Hérissant, 1745-1769, French physician, naturalist and poet
Heuchera || Johann Heinrich von Heucher, 1677-1747, professor of medicine and botanist at Wittenberg, Germany
Hirschfeldia || Christian Caius Lorenz Hirschfeld, 1742-1792, German horticulturist
Hoffmannseggia || Johann Centurius, Count Von Hoffmansegg, 1766-1849, German botanist, entomologist and ornithologist
Hollisteria || (Col.) William Welles Hollister, 1818-1886, California rancher and entrepreneur
Holmgrenanthe || Arthur Herman Holmgren, 1912-1992, prof. At Utah State University in Logan, expert on grasses, co-author of the     Intermountain Flora, Noel Herman Holmgren, 1937- , plant collector, and Patricia Kern Holmgren, 1940- , Herbarium Director at     the New York Botanical Garden
Horkelia || Johann Horkel, 1769-1846, German plant physiologist and physician
Horsfordia || Frederick Hinsdale Horsford, 1855-1923, New England botanist and collector
Howellia || Thomas Jefferson Howell, 1842-1912, a collector of the flora of Oregon and Washington
Hulsea || Gilbert White Hulse, 1807-1883, U.S. Army surgeon, botanist
Hutchinsia || Ellen Hutchins, 1785-1815, Irish botanist, authority on cryptogams and seashore plants, talented botanical artist who     died young
Ivesia || Eli Ives, 1779-1861, Yale University pharmacologist and professor of botany and medicine
Jamesia || Edwin P. James, 1797-1861, American naturalist and botanical  explorer in the Rocky Mountains
Jaumea || Jean Henri Jaume Saint-Hilaire, 1772-1845, eminent French botanist and prolific author on botanical subjects     
Jensia || Jens Christian Clausen, 1891-1969, Danish botanist, ecologist and geneticist who continued the work of Harvey Monroe     Hall, professor of biology at Stanford
Jepsonia || Willis Linn Jepson, 1867-1946, major California botanist and the first person to receive a doctorate in botany from the     University of California
Johanneshowellia || John Thomas Howell, 1903-1994, California botanist, assistant to Alice Eastwood and her successor as Curator     of Botany of the California Academy of Sciences
Justicia || James Justice, 1698-1763, Scottish botanist and horticulturist
Kallstroemia || Anders Kallström, 1733-1812, an obscure contemporary of Giovanni Antonio Scopoli, the author of the genus
Kalmia ||Pehr (Peter) Kalm, 1716-1779, Swedish botanist, student of Linnaeus, and traveller in eastern N. Am.
Keckiella || David Daniels Keck, 1903-1995, American botanist known for his work on experimental taxonomy
Kelloggia || Dr. Albert Kellogg, 1813-1887, American physician, pioneer California botanist and one of 7 founders of the California     Academy of Sciences
Kickxia || Jean Kickx (Sr.), 1775-1831, Belgian professor of botany, pharmacy and minerology at a medical school in Brussels, and/or     his son Jean Kickx (Jr.), 1803-1864, professor of botany and malacology
Kochia || Wilhelm Daniel Josef Koch, 1771-1849, German physician and botanist
Koeberlinea || Christoph Ludwig Koeberlin, 1794-1862, German clergyman and botanist
Koelreuteria || Joseph Gottlieb Kölreuter, 1733-1806, German botanist, physician, professor of natural history, Director of the     Botanical Garden at Karlsruhe
Krameria || Johann Georg Heinrich Kramer, 1684-1744, Austrian Army physician and botanist, or his son William Heinrich Kramer     (?-1765), physician, naturalist and entomologist who was one of the first to adopt the binomial nomenclature of Carl von Linné, or     for both
Krascheninnikovia || Stepan Petrovich Krascheninnikov, 1713-1755, Russian botanist and Professor of Natural History
Kumlienia || Thure Ludwig Theodor Kumlien, 1819-1880, Swedish naturalist and ornithologist, mentor of E.L. Greene
Kyhosia || Donald William Kyhos, 1929- , of the Department of Botany at Berkeley and Professor Emeritus at UC Davis    
Laennecia || French physician René Théophile Hyacinthe Laennec, 1781-1826, professor of clinical medicine and inventor in 1816 of     the stethoscope, considered the father of the study of pulmonary diseases
Langloisia || Reverand Father Auguste Barthélémy Langlois, 1832-1990, Louisiana priest and botanist
Larrea | Bishop Juan Antonio Hernández Perez de Larrea, 1731-1803, Spanish clergyman at Valladolid and patron of the sciences
Lastarriaea || José Victorino Lastarria Santander, 1817-1888, Chilean teacher, lawyer and founder of the Liberal Party in Chile
Lasthenia || Lasthenia, 4th century B.C. Athenian girl who dressed as a boy in order to attend Plato's classes
Lavatera || Johann Heinrich Lavater, 1611-1691, and his brother Johann Jacob?, 1594-1636, Swiss physicians and naturalists
Layia || George Tradescant Lay, 1800?-1845, English plant collector, naturalist on Beechey's 1825-1828 voyage of exploration,     botanical explorer in California
Legenere || Anagram of E.L. Greene, 1843-1915, American botanist
Lembertia || John Baptist Lemberte, 1840-1896, California plant and butterfly collector, lived as a hermit in Tuolomne Meadows,     apparently murdered in Yosemite
Lepechinia || Ivan Ivanovich Lepechin, 1737-1802, a Russian botanist and traveller
Lesquerella || Charles Leo Lesquereaux, 1805-1889, Swiss-born American botanist who assisted Louis Agassiz, authority on     carboniferous plants, bryology and paleobotany
Lessingia || Christian Friedrich Lessing, 1809-1862, German specialist in Asteraceae, Carl Friedrich Lessing, 1808-1880, painter, and     their uncle Gotthold Ephraim Lessing, 1729-1781, writer
Leucothoe || Leucothoe, in mythology a princess of Babylon, daughter of King Orchamus and one of the many loves of the god     Apollo
Lewisia || Captain Meriwether Lewis, 1774-1809, of the Lewis and Clark expedition
Lindernia || Franz Balthazar von Lindern, 1682-1755, German botanist
Linnaea || Carolus Linnaeus, 1707-1778, the great Swedish taxonomist
Lobelia || Matthias de l'Obel, 1538-1616, Flemish botanist, pharmacologist and physician
Loeflingia || Pehr (Peter) Löfling (Loefling), 1729-1756, Swedish botanist and explorer
Loeseliastrum || Johannes Loeselius, 1607-1655, German botanist and physician, professor of medicine in Königsberg
Lonicera || Adam Lonitzer, 1528-1586, German herbalist, physician and botanist
Lorandersonia || Loran Crittenden Anderson, 1936- , fervent American enthusiast of Asteraceae
Ludwigia || Christian Gottlieb Ludwig, 1709-1773, German botanist, plant collector and a professor of medicine in Leipzig
Luetkea || Count Fedor Petrovitch Lütke, 1797-1882, Russian naval officer and explorer, President of the Russian Academy of     Sciences
Lyonothamnus || William Scrugham Lyon, 1851-1916, early resident of Los Angeles and California's first State Forester, successful     attorney, farmer and plant collector
Maclura || William Maclure, 1763-1840, Scottish-born American geologist, traveller and merchant
Malcolmia || William Malcolm, d. 1798, London nurseryman, and his son (or nephew) William Malcolm, 1768/1769-1835
Malperia || Anagram formed from name of collector of type material, Edward Palmer, 1829/1830?-1911
Marina || Marina, 1505-1530, interpreter for Mexican conqueror Cortez
Matthiola || Pietro (Pier) Andrea Gregorio Mattioli, 1500?-1577, Italian physician, naturalist
Maurandya || Dr. Catalina Pancratia Maurandy, late 18th-century botany professor at Cartagena, Spain
Mentha || Mentha, in mythology an unfortunate Greek nymph who got herself turned into a mint plant
Mentzelia || Christian Mentzel or Christianus Mentzelius, 1622-1701, German botanist, philologist, botanical author, personal     physician to the Elector of Brandenburg, and father of the first King of Prussia.
Menziesia || Archibald Menzies, 1754-1842, Scottish botanist and surgeon, naturalist on Vancouver expedition
Mercurialis || Mercury, the Roman messenger god, called Hermes by the Greeks
Mertensia || Franz Karl Mertens, 1764-1831, German botanist and plant collector
Minuartia || Joán (Juan) Minuart, 1693-1768, Spanish botanist and pharmacist
Moehringia || Paul Heinrich Gerhard Moehring, 1710-1791, German physician and ornithologist
Moenchia || Conrad Moench, 1744-1805, German botanist, chemist and pharmacist
Monarda || Nicholas Bautista Monardes, 1493-1588, a Spanish physician and botanist
Montia || Giuseppe Monti, 1682-1760, professor of botany at Bologna, Italy
Mortonia || Samuel George Morton, 1799-1851, American botanist and physician
Muehlenbeckia || Heinrich Gustav Muehlenbeck, 1798-1845, Alsatian physician who studied the flora of Alsace
Munzothamnus || Philip Alexander Munz, 1892-1974, California botanist at Rancho Santa Ana Botanical Garden, professor of botany     at Pomona College, and author of A Flora of Southern California
Navarretia || Francisco Fernandez de Navarrete, ?-1742, 18th century Spanish philospher, anatomist, naturalist and physician
Neviusia || Reverend Reuben Denton Nevius, 1827-1913, preacher, teacher and avid botanist
Nicandra || Nicander, poet of Colophon, Asia Minor, who wrote on the subject of plants around 100 B.C.
Nicolletia || Joseph Nicholas Nicollet, 1786-1843, French geologist, astronomer and explorer
Nicotiana || Jean Nicot, 1530-1600, French ambassador to Portugal and the person supposedly responsible for introducing tobacco     into France
Noccaea || Domenico Nocca, 1758-1841, Italian clergyman and professor of botany at the University of Pavia
Oemleria || Augustus Gottlieb Oemler, 1773-1852, German naturalist at Savannah, Georgia
Olneya || Stephen Thayer Olney, 1812-1878, American botanist of Rhode Island, particularly interested in alga and the genus Carex
Packera || John G. Packer, 1929- , Canadian botanist, specialist on the flora of Alberta and on Arctic and alpine flora, professor at the     University of Alberta
Paeonia || Paeon, the physician of the gods in Homer's Iliad who used the plant to heal the wound that Hercules inflicted on Pluto
Palafoxia || José Rebolledo de Palafox y Melci, 1776?-1847, Spanish general and government official, Viceroy of New Spain,     Archbishop of Mexico, or Juan de Palafox y Mendoza (1600-1659), bishop and founder of the University of Mexico
Parentucellia || Tomaso Parentucelli, 1397-1455, early Renaissance librarian to Cosimo de' Medici in Florence, rose to become     Bishop of Bologna, then Pope Nicholas V, called the Humanist Pope, best known for establishing the Vatican library and gardens
Parishiella || Samuel Bonsall Parish, 1838-1928, and William Fletcher Parish, 1840-1918, American botanical collectors
Parkinsonia || John Parkinson, 1567-1650, apothecary of London, author and king's herbalist to James I
Peteria || Robert Peter, 1805-1894, Kentucky botanist and chemist, professor of chemistry and pharmacy, published numerous articles     on the geology of Kentucky and Arkansas
Philadelphus || Ptolemy Philadelphus, 309-247 B.C., Greek King of Egypt
Phyllodoce || Phyllodoce, a mythological sea nymph mentioned by the Roman writer Virgil
Pickeringia || Charles Pickering, 1805-1878, American naturalist, botanist, zoologist, anthropologist, traveller and physician
Pluchea || Noël-Antoine Pluche, 1688-1761, French naturalist, professor, author of Spectacle of Nature and other works
Porterella || Thomas Conrad Porter, 1822-1901, American botanist, plant collector, professor, author and pastor
Purshia || Frederick Traugott Pursh, 1774-1820, Saxon explorer, plant collector, horticulturist and author
Rafinesquia || Constantine Samuel Rafinesque-Schmaltz, 1783-1840, eccentric U.S. naturalist, plant collector, traveller and prolific     writer
Raillardella || Laurent Railliard, born in 1792 in Dax, France, a midshipman then ensign on the scientific circumnavigation voyage of     Louis de Freycinet 1817-1820
Robinia || Jean Robin, 1550-1629, and Vespasian Robin, 1579-1662, French royal gardeners who introduced plants to Europe
Romanzoffia || Count Nikolai Petrovich Romanzoff, 1754-1826, promoter of Russian expedition to CA in 1816
Romneya || Dr. Thomas Romney Robinson, 1792-1882, prominent Irish astronomer, best known as the inventor of the cup-
    anemometer for registering the velocity of the wind
Rudbeckia || Olaus Johannis Rudbeck, 1630-1702, and his son Olaus Olai Rudbeck, 1660-1740, professors of botany at Uppsala,     Sweden
Rupertia || Rupert Charles Barneby, 1911-2000, American botanist, plant explorer and prolific author
Salazaria || Don Jose Salazar Yllaregui, 1823-1892, Mexican astronomer on the US Mexico Boundary Survey
Sanvitalia || Federico Sanvitali, 1704-1761, Italian naturalist and a professor at Brescia
Sarracenia || Michel Sarrasin (Sarracenus), 1659-1734, physician, naturalist and plant collector in Quebec
Saussurea || Horace Bénédict de Saussure, 1740-1799, and Nicolas Théodore de Saussure, 1767-1845, Swiss naturalists
Schkuhria || Christian Schkuhr, 1741-1811, German botanist, trained gardener, author of the Handbook of Botany
Shepherdia || John Shepherd, 1764-1836, curator of the Liverpool Botanic Gardens
Sherardia || Dr. William Sherard, 1659-1728, patron of Dillenius and friend of John Ray, botanist and plant collector
Sibbaldia || Sir Robert Sibbald, 1641-1722, Scottish physician and naturalist
Silene || Silenus, mythological foster-father of Bacchus
Simmondsia || Thomas William Simmonds, 1767-1804, English botanist and physician who died exploring Trinidad
Smelowskia || Timofei Andreevich Smielowski, 1769-1815, Russian pharmacist and botanist
Soleirolia || Joseph François Soleirol, 1781-1863, who made vast collections of Corsican plants in the first half of the 19th century
Soliva || Dr. Salvador Soliva, 18th century Spanish botanist and physician to the Spanish court
Sollya || Richard Horsman Solly, 1778-1858, English botanist, plant physiologist and anatomist
Stanleya || Edward Smith Stanley, 1773-1849, English ornithologist
Stebbinsoseris || George Ledyard Stebbins, Jr., 1906-2000, American geneticist and plant biologist
Stillingia || Dr. Benjamin Stillingfleet, 1702-1771, British botanist
Suksdorfia || Wilhelm Nikolaus Suksdorf, 1850-1932, German-born Washington state botanist and plant collector
Swertia || Emanuel Sweert, 1552-1612, Dutch florist, botanist, artist and author
Tauschia || Ignaz Friedrich Tausch, 1793-1848, Czech botanist, director of the garden of the Duke of Canal de Malabaillas in Prague
Teesdalia || Robert Teesdale, 1740-1804, an English botanist and horticulturist
Teucrium || possibly for Teucer, a king of Troy
Tidestromia || Ivar (Frederick) Tidestrøm, 1864-1956, Swedish-born botanist of sw U.S., author of Flora of Utah and Nevada 
Tolmiea || William Fraser Tolmie, 1812-1886, Scottish physician with the Hudson Bay Company at Fort Vancouver and elsewhere,     first white man to reach summit of Mt. Rainier, father of future premier of British Columbia
Townsendia || David Townsend, 1787-1858, amateur botanist of Pennsylvania
Tracyina || Joseph Prince Tracy, 1879-1953, nw California botanist
Trautvetteria || Ernst Rudolf von Trautvetter, 1809-1889, Russian botanist who specialized in the flora of the Caucasus and central     Asia
Twisselmannia || Ernest Christian Twisselmann, 1917-1972, cattle rancher, authority on southern San Joaquin Valley flora, and author     of The Flora of Kern County
Vancouveria || Captain George Vancouver, 1757?-1798, British explorer, sailed with Captain Cook, circumnavigated the world and     mapped the west coast of North America
Velezia || Cristóbal Velez, c. 1710-1753, friend of botanist Pehr Loefling
Venegasia || Miguel Venegas, 1680-1764, Mexican writer, Jesuit scholar and missionary to CA
Veronica || named for Saint Veronica, the woman who gave Jesus a cloth to wipe his face while on the way to Calvary
Viguiera || Louis Guillaume Alexandre Viguier, 1790-1867, French physician and botanist
Whipplea || Lt. Amiel Weeks Whipple, c.1816-1863, topographical engineer/surveyor who commanded the Pacific Railroad Survey     in 1853
Whitneya || Josiah Dwight Whitney, 1819-1896, state geologist of California from 1860 to 1876, who made the first geologic study of     Yosemite Valley
Wigandia || Johann Wigand, 1523-1587, a Prussian writer on plants, professor of theology and Bishop of Pomerania
Wislizenia || Frederick Adolf Wislizenus, 1810-1889, Army surgeon, explorer, botanist and plant collector of German birth
Wyethia || Nathaniel Jarvis Wyeth, 1802-1856, U.S. explorer and plant collector
Yabea || Yoshitaka Yabe, 1876-1931, Japanese botanist
Zeltnera || Louis Zeltner, 1938- , and Nicole Zeltner, 1934- , Swiss botanists and biosystematists

Monocots

Beckmannia || Johann Beckmann, 1739-1811, German botanist, coiner of the word 'technology'
Bloomeria || Dr. Hiram Green Bloomer, 1819-1874, early San Francisco botanist and one of the founders of the California Academy     of Sciences
Bouteloua || Claudio Boutelou, 1774-1842, and brother Estéban Boutelou, 1776-1813, Spanish botanists and horticulturists. Claudio     was a professor of agriculture in Madrid and Esteban was possibly also
Brodiaea || James Brodie, 1744-1824, Scottish botanist who specialized in algae, ferns and mosses
Chloris || Chloris, in mythology the Greek goddess of flowers
Clintonia || De Witt Clinton, 1769-1828, naturalist and governor of New York
Commelina || Jan Commelijn, 1629-1692, physician and director of botany at the Hortus Medicus (Medical Garden) in Amsterdam,     and his nephew Caspar Commelijn, 1667-1731, botanist
Danthonia || Etienne Danthoine, 18th/19th century French botanist from Marseilles
Deschampsia || Louis Auguste Deschamps, 1766-1842, French botanist and surgeon
Desmazeria || Jean Baptiste Henri Joseph Desmazières, 1786-1862, independently wealthy French botanist from Lille, author and     expert on cryptogams
Ehrharta || Jacob Friedrich Ehrhart, 1742-1795, German botanist, plant collector and student of Linnaeus
Eichhornia || Johann Albrecht Friedrich Eichhorn, 1779-1856, Prussian Minister of Education and Public Welfare, court advisor and     politician
Freesia || Friedrich Heinrich Theodor Freese, 1795?-1876, German physician and botanist who studied South African plants
Gaudinia || Jean François Aimé Philippe Gaudin, 1766-1833, Swiss clergyman and professor of botany at Lausanne
Goodyera || John Goodyer, 1592-1664, English botanist who produced the first translation in English of the Materia Medica of     Dioscorides
Hainardia || Pierre Hainard, 1936- , geobotanist and phytogeographer at the University of Lausanne and Curator from 1965 to 1981 of     the Jardin Botanique at Geneva
Hastingsia || Serranus Clinton Hastings, 1814-1893, first Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of California
Imperata || Ferrante Imperato, 1550-1625, Neopolitan apothecary or pharmacist who had one of the earliest collections of natural     history specimens in Italy
Kniphofia || Johann Hieronymus Kniphof, 1704-1763, German botanist, professor of medicine and author of a work of botanical     illustrations
Kobresia || Joseph Paul von Kobres (Cobres), 1747-1823, Austrian botanist and plant collector, geologist, minerologist and banker
Koeleria || Georg Ludwig Koeler, 1765-1807, German physician, pharmacist, botany professor, author and student of the grasses
Kyllinga || Peder Lauridsen Kylling, 1640-1696, Danish botanist
Lamarckia || Jean Baptiste Antoine Pierre Monet de Lamarck, 1774-1829, French botanist at the Jardin des Plantes in Paris and     curator of invertebrates at the National Museum of Natural History
Landoltia || Elias Landolt, 1926- , of the Swiss Geobotanical Institute at Zurich, expert on the Lemnaceae
Leersia || Johann Daniel Leers, 1727-1774, German botanist and pharmacist
Libertia || Marie-Anne Libert, 1782-1865, Belgian botanist and lichenologist
Lilaea || Alire Raffeneau-Delile, 1778-1850, French botanist and physician, accompanied Napoleon to Egypt
Listera || Martin Lister, 1638/1639-1711, English naturalist, physician, conchologist and author
Moraea || Robert More, 1703-1780, British amateur botanist and natural historian, traveller, Fellow of the Royal Society of London,     and friend of Linnaeus, and/or Dr. Johan Moraeus, father-in-law of Linnaeus
Muhlenbergia || Gotthilf Heinrich Ernst Muhlenberg, 1753-1815, German Lutheran minister and pioneer botanist, first president of     Franklin College
Munroa || William Munro, 1818-1880, British career army officer, botanist and plant collector, authority on grasses
Narcissus || Narcissus, handsome son of the river god Cephissus and the nymph Liriope
Neostapfia || Otto Stapf, 1857-1933, Austrian-born English botanist, keeper of the Herbarium at the Royal Botanic Gardens at Kew
Nolina || Abbé Pierre Charles Nolin, 1717- ?, French arboriculturist, director of the royal nurseries, and agricultural writer
Orcuttia || Charles Russell Orcutt, 1864-1929, California botanist, the first botanical collector to survey Baja California, died in Haiti
Pinellia || Giovanni Vincenzo Pinelli, 1535-1601, Italian botanist, founder of the botanic garden in Naples, collector of manuscripts     and scientific instruments
Piperia || Charles Vancouver Piper, 1867-1926, agronomist with the US Department of Agriculture and an expert on Pacific     Northwest flora
Puccinellia || Benedetto Luigi Puccinelli, 1808-1850, Italian botanist and professor, director of the Botanical Gardens of Lucca
Romulea || Romulus, legendary founder of Rome
Rottboelii || Christen Friis Rottbøll, 1727-1797, Danish botanist, physician, traveller, physician, Director of the Copenhagen Botanic     Garden and pupil of Linnaeus
Ruppia || Heinrich Bernhard Ruppius, 1688-1719, German botanist and professor of anatomy
Scheuchzeria || Johann Jakob Scheuchzer, 1672-1733, Swiss naturalist, and his brother Johannes Scheuchzer, 1684-1733
Scribneria || Frank Lamson-Scribner, 1851-1938, American agrostologist, studied diseases of economic plants, was director of the     University of Tennessee Agricultural Experiment Station
Stuckenia || Wilhelm Adolf Stucken, 1860-1901, German botanist, collected plants in Australia
Swallenia || Jason Richard Swallen, 1903-1991, American agrostologist and taxonomist, chairman of the botany department at the     Smithsonian, author of New Grasses of Mexico, Central America and Surinam
Tofieldia || Thomas Tofield, 1730-1799, British botanist, plant collector and civil engineer
Torreyochloa || John Torrey, 1796-1873, one of the giants of American botany, professor of chemistry, State Botanist of New York,     supervisor of the New York Mint, co-author with Asa Gray of Flora of North America
Tradescantia ||John Tradescant, 1608-1662, gardener to King Charles I of England
Ventenata || Étienne Pierre Ventenat, 1757-1808, French botanist, librarian, clergyman and author
Vulpia || Johann Samuel Vulpius, 1760-1846, German chemist/physicist, pharmacist and amateur botanist
Washingtonia || George Washington, 1732-1799, 1st President of the U.S.
Watsonia || Sir William Watson, 1715-1787, English botanist and physician
Wolffia || Johann Friedric Wolff, 1778-1806, German botanist, physician and author
Zantedeschia || Dr. Giovanni Zantedeschi, 1773-1846, Italian physician and botanist from Verona, or (less likely) Francesco     Zantedeschi, 1798-1873, professor of physics at Padua
Zannichelia || Gian G. Zannichelli, 1662-1729, Venetian botanist, physician and pharmacist
Zoysia || Karl von Zoys, 1756-1800, Austrian botanist and plant collector