Native Plants
Q. Who is Mr. Smarty Plants?
A: There are those who suspect Wildflower Center volunteers are the culpable and capable culprits. Yet, others think staff members play some, albeit small, role. You can torture us with your plant questions, but we will never reveal the Green Guru's secret identity.
Did you know you can access the Native Plant Information Network with your web-enabled smartphone?
Ask Mr. Smarty Plants is a free service provided by the staff and volunteers at the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center.
rate this answer
Friday - September 02, 2011
From: Plainville, IL
Region: Midwest
Topic: General Botany
Title: Dictionary of botanical names
Answered by: Nan Hampton
QUESTION:
I am looking for an online resource that will tell me what the botanical names mean, for example, Cornus florida. Why is it named that? Surely somewhere there is information that explains the meaning of each. I have a list of botanical names I would like to look up. Thank you for your time and consideration.ANSWER:
Here are several sites with definitions of botanical names:
Dictionary of Botanical Epithets
Botanary on Dave's Garden webpage.
The Meaning of Latin Plant Names from the SeedSite.
This next link is a group of short biographies of people whose names appear in the botanical names of Eastern Sierra plants:
These last two links tells how the Latin names are formed:
Botanical Binomials — What Do Plant Names Mean?
What Scientific Names of Plants Mean
Finally, here are three excellent paper resources:
Gledhill, David. The Names of Plants. 4th edition. 2008. Cambridge University Press. Older editions often can be found at secondhand book stores.
Stearn, William. Botanical Latin. 4th edition. 2004. Timber Press.
Borror, Donald. Dictionary of Word Roots and Combining Forms. 1960. McGraw-Hill.
More General Botany Questions
Native subarctic plants
March 26, 2008 - I'm doing a project on subarctic things and I have to have subarctic plants in it. I need to know a few and about them. Can you help?
view the full question and answer
Thickness of liquid when growing plants
February 09, 2008 - Q: Does the thickness of liquid matter when growing plants?
view the full question and answer
Is a height of 5 to 8 feet forOenothera biennis (Common evening primrose) normal?
August 30, 2014 - I have identified a version of Evening Primrose Oenothera biennia L. In my yard, Livonia Michigan. These plants range in height from 5-8+ feet.
Is this typical? The references I find indicates 3-5 fe...
view the full question and answer
Do the male or female dogwoods have berries?
June 11, 2013 - Does the male or female dogwood have berries?
view the full question and answer
Smarty Plants on air purification
September 14, 2005 - What plant purifies the air?
view the full question and answer
Support the Wildflower Center by Donating Online or Becoming a Member today. |