Download Origins of Plant names

Principles of Horticulture, edition 6
The Origins of Plant Names:
Words often used as species names, with Latin or Greek derivation,
describe features to separate them from others species, e.g.
latifolia, lat meaning broad and folia meaning leaves.
hirsuta, meaning hairy
trifolia, meaning three leaflets form the leaf
japonica, from Japan
elata, meaning tall
scandens, meaning climbing
Similarly, genus names may be descriptive, e.g.
Odontoglossum, odons meaning tooth and glossa, a tongue; this
describes the shape of the flower of this orchid.
Impatiens, meaning hasty, describing the explosion of seed
pods when touched.
Halimodendron, derived from halimus meaning coast and
dendron meaning a tree; so a ‘seaside shrub’.
Often, the genus, species, or variety names include the whole or part of
the name, e.g.
a) A person who first found or bred the plant, e.g.
Saintpaulia, names after Baron Walter von St. Paul, who
discovered it.
Abelia, named after Dr. Clarke Abel who discovered Abelia
chinensis in China.
darwinii, quite a common species name after Darwin.
‘King George’; there is a whole host of cultivar names after
famous people and family members of the breeder.
b) Collectors, e.g.
Sir Joseph Banks was a wealthy British naturalist from
Lincolnshire, who, as a result of his membership of Captain
Cook’s first voyage which included Australasia in the 1760’s,
brought to the west, eucalyptus, mimosa and the genus Banksii.
He had a large botanical collection and some eighty plant
species bear his name as a result of many journeys, including
North America and the British Isles. Banks was responsible for
organising the first Kew collections whilst supervising the
development of Kew Gardens. Some of the species named after
Banks include Grevillea banksii, Cordyline banksii, Astelia,
banksii, Columnea x banksii, Banksii integrifolia, Banksii
serrata.
Sir Harold Hillier was a 20th century horticulturist who
developed his father’s nursery to be the leading nursery it
remains today. He collected plants from around the world and
established his own collection in the Hillier arboretum now
donated for public view. Plants carrying his name include
Magnolia ‘Sir Harold Hillier’, Tilia ‘Harold Hillier’.
Roy Lancaster, is a former curator of the Hillier arboretum
and plant collector; he named Ulmus x hollandia ‘Jacqueline
Hillier’ after Harold Hillier’s daughter-in-law.
John Tradescant – father and son, were gardeners for the
royal palacies in the `16th and 17th centuries. They were great
seed collectors and established a museum and botanical garden
in London. The genus Tradescantia was named in their honour.
St. Mary at Lambeth churchyard is the site of their burial and
has since become The Garden Museum which houses a garden
and exhibitions and provides information about garden and
their design. See www.museumgardenhistory.org
David Bowman was a 19th century Scottish plant collector who
travelled to South America in search of orchids, along with a
number of other collectors of the time. Dieffenbachia bowmanii
is named after him.
George Forrest was a prolific and intrepid collector,
principally in China, resulting in many species now familiar in
gardens and having the epithet forrestii.
William Lobb and his younger brother Thomas Lobb were
two more 19th century collectors who contributed well know
species in the west, including Araucasia araucana (Monkey
Puzzle Tree) from Chile and Sequoiadendron giganteum
‘Wellingtonia’, the Giant Redwood, from North America.
Many more plant collectors and naturalists gave their names to plants, including many
from the following list of collectors:

Frederick William Burbidge

David Burke

Henry Chesterton

George Clifton

Robert Oliver Cunningham

Charles Curtis

Walter Davis

Robert Fortune

Josiah Gregg

Joseph Dalton Hooker

Guillermo Kalbreyer

Harry Keith

Peter MacOwan

Charles Maries

William Mesny

William Morrison

Augustus Frederick Oldfield

Richard Pearce

William Purdom

Victor Reiter

Lewis Roberts

Paul Sintenis

John Gould Veitch

Gustav Wallis

Ernest Henry (Chinese) Wilson
Further reading:
The Names of Plants, David Gledhill. Cambridge University Press, 2008.
Plant Names, Roger Spencer, Rob Cross, P.F.Lumley. Csiro Publishing, 2007.
Stearn’s Dictionary of Plant Names for Gardeners, William Thomas Stearn.
Timber Press, 2002.