Botanary - What is in a name?
Posted: October 5th, 2013, 12:32 pm
"What's in a name? That which we call a rose...so wrote Mr. Shakespeare. Human names have many things implicit in them, for example, names can hint us about the cast, creed, country of origin, and at times religion etc. In the same way, the Latin names in this flora database have meanings. The Latin/ Greek names of plants may be intriguing for some or meaningless sounds for others. These names describe leaf forms, usage, colours, name of the discoverer, origin of the plant, history, and fragrance etc. Interested readers can make use of an excellent resource called BOTANARY (botanical dictionary) by Daves Garden. Almost, every plant name is available in this dictionary with a meaning.
http://davesgarden.com/guides/botanary/
For instance, our Neem, is Azadirachta indica, simply means a free tree from India. A careful re-reading of the genus Azadirachta will read like Azad... "Dirachta"...or Darakht or a free tree. Perhaps the person who named it saw the Neem growing freely everywhere in India.
In the same way, the plant, Bellis perennis means a "handsome perennial" and indeed it is. Once you read this entry, you will have to agree!
Plumeria rubra = Name of a French monk and rubra tells us that the flowers must be red :-)
http://davesgarden.com/guides/botanary/
For instance, our Neem, is Azadirachta indica, simply means a free tree from India. A careful re-reading of the genus Azadirachta will read like Azad... "Dirachta"...or Darakht or a free tree. Perhaps the person who named it saw the Neem growing freely everywhere in India.
In the same way, the plant, Bellis perennis means a "handsome perennial" and indeed it is. Once you read this entry, you will have to agree!
Plumeria rubra = Name of a French monk and rubra tells us that the flowers must be red :-)