Welcome to the wonderful world of nomenclature, which is a system used by botanists to categorise plants. Plants have both a scientific name as well as a common name, but why is this the case?

Why use Latin to categorise plants?

You may wonder why in today's world we still use Latin to categorise plants and there are several reasons for this.

1 - Plants are categorised into groups based on species

What this means is that plants within the same group will have similar (but not identical)  characteristics to each other.

2 - There are often clues in the name about the characteristics of the plant

You may need to brush up on your Latin, but here are some common Latin words which can be helpful in identifying characteristics of a plant.

alba - white

aurea - gold

rubra - red

lutea - yellow

magnifica - large

pendula - weeping

angustifolia - narrow foliage

hirsuta - hairy

sempervirens - evergreen

3 - Every scientific name is unique

The common names of plants may be a great deal easier to learn and remember, but one of the problems of just referring to plants with their common name is the plant that you ask for, may not be the plant that you get.

A great example of this is the bluebell.

In England the bluebell usually refers to Hyacinthoides non-scripta which is a bellshaped deep purple flower that flowers in April - May.

In Scotland The Bluebell usually refers to Campanula rotundifolia which is a light blue that blooms July - September.

So how do I put this all together?

Genus | species | (Subspecies / Form / Variety) ‘Cultivar’

The latin name will be listed first, usually followed by the common name. Note how the first letter of the Genus is always capitalised and in italics. The common name will not be in italics. 

If applicable the following will be listed after the species:

Subspecies (subsp.) this just means that the species has a few small differences but has occurred naturally in part of the world. 

Form (f.) this just means that the plant has a few small differences found in the main species. 

Variety (var.) this just means that a new variation of the species has formed naturally in the wild from cross pollination of two plants.

Cultivar (' ')this is where cross pollination has occurred with human intervention.

Example

Rosa canina (Dog Rose)

Rosa = Genus

Canina = species

Dog Rose = Common Name

Rosa - Latin word for Rose

Canina - comes from the latin word canis which means dog

This really is a fascinating subject and I find that there is always something new to learn! 

So during your next trip to the local garden center or nursery, why not see if you can start to recognise a few Latin plant names and maybe even spot some clues in the name about the plant.

Happy gardening!