Botanical Latin, decoded
Those intimidating second words in a plant's name are usually plain description hiding in Latin: glauca just means blue-grey, repens means it creeps, officinalis means it was once sold as a medicine. Learn a handful and half of every plant label suddenly makes sense. Here are 95 of the most common ones, with what they mean, roughly how to say them, and a plant that wears each.
white
as in white forms of many plants
of the Alps or high mountains
alpine plants
of the Americas
Agave americana
narrow-leaved
Lavandula angustifolia
annual, living one year
Helianthus annuus, sunflower
silvery
silver-leaved plants
aromatic
aromatic herbs
golden
golden-leaved cultivars
southern
Cordyline australis
with a bulb
bulbous species
blue
Passiflora caerulea, blue passionflower
of fields and plains
Acer campestre
of Canada / north-eastern N. America
Cercis canadensis
compact, dense
compact selections of larger plants
twisted
Corylus avellana Contorta, corkscrew hazel
heart-shaped leaves
Tilia cordata; heart-leaf plants
delicious
Monstera deliciosa
two different colours (often leaf top vs underside)
Tradescantia discolor
edible
Passiflora edulis
elegant
Zinnia elegans
upright
upright forms
edible, good to eat
Colocasia esculenta, taro
narrow and columnar, branches upright
columnar trees
free-flowering, many flowers
Rosa floribunda
bad-smelling
Helleborus foetidus, stinking hellebore
fragrant (very fragrant)
Osmanthus fragrans
very large, giant
Sequoiadendron giganteum
smooth, hairless
smooth-leaved species
blue-grey, with a waxy bloom
Picea glauca, white spruce
large-flowered
Magnolia grandiflora
large-leaved
big-leaf species
with variously shaped leaves
Fatshedera, Araucaria heterophylla
hairy
hairy-leaved species
of gardens, cultivated
garden forms
a hybrid, a cross (the x marks a cross)
written as Genus x name
imperial, majestic
Fritillaria imperialis
of India
Azalea indica
of Japan
Camellia japonica
lance-shaped, narrow and pointed
Plantago lanceolata
broad-leaved
Kalmia latifolia
yellow
yellow-flowered species
large-leaved
Hydrangea macrophylla
spotted
spotted-leaf species
larger, greater
Vinca major
of the seaside
Lobularia maritima
largest
the largest of its group
small-leaved
small-leaved species
smaller, lesser
Vinca minor
soft
Alchemilla mollis, lady's mantle
of the mountains
Clematis montana
many-flowered
Rosa multiflora
dwarf, small
dwarf conifers and shrubs
black
Sambucus nigra, black elder
noble, notable
Laurus nobilis, bay laurel
western, of the West
Platanus occidentalis
fragrant, scented
Viola odorata, sweet violet
medicinal, sold in the apothecary's shop
Salvia officinalis, Rosmarinus officinalis
eastern, of the East
Helleborus orientalis
hand-shaped, palmate leaves
Acer palmatum, Japanese maple
of marshes and boggy ground
Caltha palustris, marsh marigold
small-flowered
small-flowered species
small-leaved
Ulmus parvifolia, Chinese elm
weeping, hanging
Betula pendula, weeping birch
perennial, year after year
Bellis perennis, daisy
painted, brightly marked
Calathea picta
feather-like, divided leaves
pinnate-leaved plants
trailing, lying flat
ground-covering junipers
flat to the ground, prostrate
prostrate rosemary
softly downy
downy species
purple
Echinacea purpurea, purple coneflower
with rooting stems
Campsis radicans
royal / queen
Osmunda regalis, royal fern
creeping along the ground
Ficus repens, creeping fig
rose-pink
pink-flowered forms
round-leaved
round-leaf species
red
Acer rubrum, the red maple
cultivated, sown
Allium sativum, garlic
climbing
climbing species
evergreen, always green
Buxus sempervirens, common box
saw-toothed edges
Zelkova serrata
of China
Camellia sinensis, the tea plant
showy, good-looking
Chaenomeles speciosa
spectacular, showy
Lamprocapnos spectabilis, bleeding heart
spiny, thorny
Prunus spinosa, blackthorn
of woods and forests
Fagus sylvatica, common beech
densely woolly, felted
Cerastium tomentosum, snow-in-summer
three-coloured
Stromanthe Triostar
three leaflets
Poncirus trifoliata
with tubers
Solanum tuberosum, potato
single-flowered
one flower per stem
variegated, two-toned
variegated cultivars
variously coloured, changing colour
many-hued flowers
of Virginia / eastern USA
Hamamelis virginiana
green
green-flowered or green-stemmed plants
common, ordinary
Thymus vulgaris, common thyme
No match. Try a shorter word, or the plain-English meaning instead.
A rough guide to saying botanical Latin: there is no single "correct" way, and even botanists differ, so do not be shy about it. Sound out every letter, put the stress where it feels natural, and remember the point is to be understood. Ready to meet the plants themselves? Browse the full plant profiles or settle a debate in plant myths, fact-checked.
Free to cite: link back to this page. Meanings are the standard botanical senses; pronunciations are a friendly approximation, not a rule.