Tip of the Week: Plant Names Show Origins
Sometimes you can guess a plant’s origin by its species name. These lists will help you decode the Latin names of plants to determine to where the plant is native.
These lists will help you decode the Latin names of plants to determine to where the plant is native. The names listed here are the "specific epithet," or the second part of a two-part species name, as in Agave utahensis.
Countries of Europe
anglicus England
austriacus Austria
belgicus Belgium or the Netherlands
bulgaricus Bulgaria
cambricus Wales
croaticus Croatia
gallicus France
germanicus Germany
graecus Greece
hispanicus Spain
italicus Italy
lusitanicus Portugal
scoticus Scotland
suecicus Sweden
Names From Asia
camtschaticus, camtschatcensis, kamtschaticus Kamchatka, Siberia
chinensis, sinensis, sinicus China
coreanus,koreanus, koraiensis Korea
hupehensis Hubei province, China
indicus India (often used more general to mean the Far East)
kansuensis Gansu province, China
kouytchensis Guizhou province, China
mandschuricus, mandshuricus, manshuriensis Manchuria
mongolicus Mongolia
napaulensis, nepalensis Nepal
setchuenensis, szechuanicus Sichuan, China
sibericus, sibiricus Siberia
thibetanus, thibeticus, tibetanus, tibeticus Tibet
Some American Names
alabamensis Alabama
arizonicus Arizona
arkansanus Arkansas
californicus California
carolinianus North Carolina or South Carolina
coloradoensis Colorado
floridanus Florida
georgianus Georgia
idahoensis Idaho
illinoinensis Illinois
kentuckiensis Kentucky
ludovicianus Louisiana
marilandicus Maryland
michiganensis Michigan
missouriensis Missouri or the Missouri River
nevadensis Nevada or the Sierra Nevada (California or Spain)
novae-angliae New England
novi-belgii New York
ohiensis Ohio
oreganos, oregonus Oregon
pensylvanicus Pennsylvania
philadelphicus Philadelphia
tennesseensis Tennessee
texanus, texensis Texas
utahensis Utah
virginianus, virginicus Virginia
Names Derived From Less Obvious Locales
aegypticus, aegyptiacus Egypt
aethiopicus, aethiopis Ethiopia; also used to mean South Africa
afer, afra, afrum; africanus Africa
anatolicus Anatolia, Turkey
asturiensis Asturias, Spain
atticus Attica or Athens, Greece
baeticus Andalucia, Spain
berolinensis Berlin, Germany
bonariensis Buenos Aires, Argentina
bucarius, bucharicus Bokhara, Turkestan
byzantinus Instanbul (formerly Byzantium), Turkey
calabricus Calabria, Italy
canadensis Canada or the northeastern USA
canariensis Gran Canaria or the Canary Islands
cantabricus Cantabria in Spain
capensis the Cape (of Good Hope), meaning South Africa
caucasicus Caucasia, former Soviet Union
cornubiensis Cornwall, England
creticus Crete
cyprius Cyprus
damascenus Damascus, Syria
etruscus Tuscany, Italy
fennicus Finland
florentinus Florence, Italy
fluminensis Rio de Janeiro
formosanus Taiwan (Formosa)
georgicus Georgia (Caucasus)
groenlandicus Greenland
ibericus the Iberian peninsula
illyricus Illyria (the Adriatic coast of Croatia and Dalmatia)
japonicus, niponicus, nipponicus Japan
libani, libanotis, libanoticus Lebanon
lusitanicus Portugal
lutetianus Paris, France
magellanicus the southern tip of South American, around the Straits of Magellan
monacensis Munich, Germany
monspeliensis, monspessulanus Montpellier, France
narbonensis Narbonne, France
norvegicus Norway
novae-zelandiae New Zealand
numiducus Algeria
oxonianus, osoniensis Oxford, England
pedemontanus Piedmont, Italy
pekinensis Beijing, China
ponticus Pontus, Asia Minor
ruthenicus Ruthenia, a region of Russia (and used more generally to mean Russian)
sabatius Savona, on the Ligurian coast of northwest Italy
sarniensis Guernsey, Channel Islands
siculus Sicily
sinensis, sinicus China
sitchensis Sitka, Alaska
syriacus Syria
valentinus Valencia, Spain
tarentinus Taranto, italy
tauricus the Crimea
yedoensis, yesoensis, yezoensis Tokyo
E-mail your tip to edit@hortmag.com or post it in the Co-Horts Forum. It could be featured in a future e-newsletter and here on Hortmag.com.
