Puzzle Corner: Answers to What's in a Name Part 2


How did you get on with part 2 of my Latin quiz? Here are the answers with some examples from my garden, as are the items marked *, also pictured above.

Latin Name Meaning Example
nemorosus growing in woods Anemone nemorosa
officinalis used in medicine Salvia officinalis*
pleniflorus double flowers Kerria japonica 'Pleniflora'*
quamash from the native American for sweet Camassia quamash
rigescens rather stiff Diascia rigescens
sativus sown, planted, cultivated Crocus sativus
Tulipa from the Turkish for turban Tulipa tarda
uva-crispa curly grape Ribes uva-crispa*
vulgare common Foeniculum vulgare*
wherryi named after an American scientist
(Edgar Wherry 1885-1982)**		 Tiarella wherryi
xanthocarpus with yellow fruit Sorbus aucuparia var. xanthocarpa
yedoensis from Tokyo Prunus X yedoensis
zonalis with a distinct band of a different colour Pelargonium zonale

** = an apt choice in this International Year of Soils as he was a soil scientist and botanist.

I'm crossing my fingers these names and examples don't change. With the advent of DNA analysis to sit alongside the taxonimists' usual tools of a dissection kit, microscope and observational work, many of our garden-worthy plants have been reclassified and renamed lately.

For example, it's taken me years to remember the new name for the Dicentra spectabilis in my garden is Lamprocapnos spectabilis. It doesn't help that many of the other Dicentra have stayed where they are and many of the plant sellers have stuck with the name Dicentra too.

I finally found a way of fixing the name in my brain whilst devising this quiz. Lamprocapnos = a picture in my head of 'our Spanish professional lamp wearing a cap' i.e. nos = Spanish for our, professional = pro and the lamp and cap are self explanatory. Don't ask me how, but it works!

Comments

  1. Rose30 January 2015 at 14:17

    This was fun, VP, but I'm afraid my high school Latin from many, many years ago didn't help me much in getting the right answers on my own:) I hope the botanists don't change too many more names, because I'll never get them straight. Asters are always going to be asters to me.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. VP6 March 2015 at 08:40

      Sorry Rose, I thought I'd replied to you... I struggle with those name changes too :-(

      Delete
  2. Hetty31 January 2015 at 07:14

    Thans for shearing VP! It will help me a lot picknick the right plant for the right spot. Groetjes Hetty

    ReplyDelete

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