Acacia |
Gk. for a prickly Egyptian
shrub |
acculeata |
pointed, referring to the
leaves |
acetosus |
having an acid taste |
adscendens |
rising upwards, ref. to the
tendency of the flowering branchlets to stand erect |
aestivus,
aestivalis |
of summer |
agrestis |
of fields or cultivated land |
alatus |
winged |
albus |
white |
alpestris,
alpinus |
of the Alps or high mountains |
altissimus |
very tall |
altus |
tall, high |
amabilis |
pleasing, lovely |
angustatus |
narrow, slender |
Anopterus |
anomes= iregular; pteris=
a wing, the seed has unequal wings |
apetala |
without petals |
arborescens |
treelike |
archeri,
Archeria |
William Archer of Cheshunt
near Deloraine - illustrator of Flora Tasmanie (1860) |
arenarius |
of sandy places |
argenteus |
silvery |
Aristotelia |
thought to be in honour ofAristotle |
arundinaceus |
reedlike |
arvensis |
of fields, especially ploughed
fields |
Atherosperma |
Gk. atheros= the beard
of an ear of corn; sperm= a seed |
aureus |
golden yellow |
australis |
southern |
autumnalis |
of autumn |
axillaris |
indicates that the flowers
are in the axils of the leaves |
Banksia |
Sir Joseph Banks (1743-1820) |
Bedfordia |
Randolf Bedford |
Bellendena |
beautiful native |
Billardiera |
Jacques Julien Labillardiere
- Bruni D'Entrecasteaux |
Blandfordia |
possibly to honour son of
a Duke of Marlborough |
borealis |
northern |
Boronia |
Francesco Borone - Italian
plant collector |
Brachyscome |
Gk. brachys= short;
comas= hair; ref. to the short pappus hair aroung the florets |
caeruleus |
sky blue |
caesius |
blue grey |
Caladenia |
Gk. kalos= beautiful;
aden= a knob, ref. to the long slender flower parts end in dark
clubs |
calcaratus |
spurred |
Caleana |
G Caley - a NSW plant collector |
Callistemon |
Gk. kallistos= most
beautiful; stemon= a stamen |
campanulatus |
bell-like |
campestris |
of fields |
candidus |
shining white |
canescens |
hoary |
capreolatus |
having tendrils |
cardiocarpa |
cardis= heart;
carpa= fruit, the achene fruit is heart-shaped |
carinatus |
keeled |
carneus |
flesh coloured |
carnosus |
fleshy, succulent |
Cassinia |
Count Alexandre Henri-Gabriel
Cassini (1748-1832), a French botanist,who specialized in the Compositae |
castaneus |
chestnut coloured |
caudata |
tailed |
caudatus |
tailed |
cerasiferus |
having cherry-like fruits |
ceriferus |
producing wax |
cerinthoides |
like Cerinthe, the
honeywort or wax plant in the family Boraginaceae |
cernuus |
nodding, drooping |
cinereus |
ash grey |
cirrhosus,
cirrhatus |
having tendrils |
clavatus |
club shaped |
Clematis |
Gk. small vine |
coccineus |
scarlet |
collinus |
of hills |
communis |
common |
comosus,
comatus |
tufted |
concolor |
uniform in colour |
Coprosma |
Gk. kopros= dung;
osme= smell |
corniculatus,
cornutus |
having a hornlike appendage |
costatus,
costatalis |
ribbed |
crassus |
thick, fleshy |
crispus,
crispatus |
finely waved |
cruentus |
blood red |
cyaneus |
dark blue |
Cyathodes |
cup-like, ref. to the flower |
dealbata |
off-white or silver |
demersus |
growing underwater |
demissus |
lowly, humble |
Dendrobium |
Gk. dendro= tree;
bios= life, ref. to epiphytic habit |
derwentiana |
belonging to the Derwent
River |
diemensis |
from Van Diemens Land |
Dillwynia |
LW Dillwyn (1778-1855) -
English botanist |
Diplarrhena |
????? |
discolor |
not uniform in colour |
dracophylla |
leaves resembling those of
the Dragon Tree |
Drimys |
Gk. drimus - acid |
dulcis |
sweet |
dumosus |
bushy |
echinatus |
spiny |
edulis |
used for food |
effusus |
spread out thinly |
elatus |
tall |
elodes |
of marshes |
ensatus |
swordlike |
Epacris |
Gk. epi= upon; akros= the
top, ref. to ??? |
Eriostemon |
hairy stamens |
esculentus |
edible |
Eucalyptus |
Gk. eu= well; kalyptos=
covered, ref. to the operculum |
Eucryphia |
Gk. eu= well; kryphia=
covering, the calyx forms a cap |
ferrugineus |
rust coloured |
fistulosus |
hollow and tubular |
flabellatus |
fanlike |
flavus |
pale yellow |
flexuosus |
bending alternately in opposite
directions |
floribunda |
many-flowered |
floribundus |
flowering profusely |
fluitans |
floating |
fluviatilis |
of rivers |
foetidus |
foul smelling |
fontinalis,
fontanus |
of springs |
Forstera |
JR Forster and JGA Forster
- Cook's 2nd voyage |
forsteri |
JR Forster and JGA Forster
- Cook's 2nd voyage |
franklinii |
Sir John Franklin - naval
Governor of VDL |
fulgens,
fulgidus |
bright, shining |
fulvus |
yellow brown |
furcatus |
forked |
gelidus |
of cold regions |
Gentianella |
little gentian - from Gentius,
King of Illyria who found the healing properties in the Yellow Gentian
of Europe |
gentianoides |
leaves like those of a small
gentian |
glandulosus |
small swellings or glands
on the serrations of the leaf |
globulus |
a small globe |
glutinosus |
sticky |
Goodenia |
Samuel Goodenough (1743-1827)
- Bishop, V.P. of Roy. Soc. |
gracilis |
slender |
graveolens |
strong smelling |
griseus |
pearl grey |
gunnii |
Ronald Campbell Gunn of Launceston |
hederaceus |
ivy-like |
Helichrysum |
Gk. helios= sun; khrysos=
gold |
hepaticus |
liver coloured |
Hibbertia |
George Hibbert - London merchant |
hibernus,
hiemalis |
of winter |
hirsutus |
hairy |
hookeri |
Joseph Dalton Hooker, visited
Hobart 1840, Surgeon -General |
hookeriana |
Joseph Dalton Hooker, visited
Hobart 1840, Surgeon -General |
horridus |
very bristly |
hortensis |
of a garden |
humulis |
dwarf |
hystrix |
bristly |
impressa |
dented, ref. to the impressions
at the base of the corrolla |
impudicus |
shameless, immodest |
incanus |
grey, hoary |
incarnatus |
flesh coloured |
indicus |
of India |
Indigophera |
Indigo - Indian blue dye;
fero= I carry |
infundibuliformis |
funnel shaped |
insignis |
outstanding |
integrifolius |
having entire leaves |
italicus |
of Italy |
johnstonii |
RM Johnston - |
junceus |
rushlike |
lacustris |
of lakes or ponds |
laevigatum |
smooth |
laevigatus |
smooth, polished |
lanatus,
lanosus |
woolly |
lanceolata |
leaves shaped like lance-heads |
lasianthos |
Gk.lasios= hairy;
anthos= a flower |
latifolius |
having broad leaves |
Leptospermum |
Gk. leptos= slender;
sperma= seed |
leucanthus |
having white flowers |
limosus |
of muddy places |
lineatus |
marked with parellel lines |
littoralis |
of the seashore |
lividus |
lead coloured |
Lomatia |
Gk. lomatos= an edge,
ref. to the winged seeds |
longiflora |
long flower |
lunatus |
half-moon shaped |
luridus |
dull yellow |
luteus |
deep yellow |
Lyperanthos |
Gk. lyperos= mournful;
anthos= flower |
maculatus |
spotted, blotched |
major |
the larger |
marginata |
ref. to the tightly rolled
leaf margins |
meredithae |
Louise Meredith - illustrator
and author of popular books on plants and animals |
meridionalis |
southern; flowers opening
around midday |
milliganii |
Dr Joseph Milligan - naturalist,
Sec. to the Governor |
mollis |
softly hairy |
monogyna |
incorrectly indicates that
the style is undivided - the plant has 3 free styles |
montana |
of the mountains |
montanus,
monticolus |
of the mountains |
moraea |
from resemblance to S. African
Butterfly Iris, named in honour of Robert Moore - English botanist (18th
C) |
moschatum |
with a musky scent, ref.
to ??????? |
moschatus |
musk smelling |
muralis |
of walls |
nanus |
dwarf |
natans |
floating on or under water |
nemoralis,
nemorosus |
of shade or woodlands |
nervosus |
having conspicuous veins |
niger |
black |
nigricans |
black |
nivalis,
niveus, nivea |
snow white, of the snow |
Nothofagus |
Gk. nothos= false;
fagus= beech |
nudus |
naked |
nutans |
nodding, hanging |
occidentalis |
western, American |
officinalis |
having medical use |
Olearia |
probably from Olea,
the olive, from the resemblance of the leaves in some species |
oleraceus |
vegetable crop |
orientalis |
eastern, Asian |
ovata |
egg-shaped, ref. to the leaves |
paludosus,
palustris |
of bogs, marshes, or swamps |
pannosus |
densely hairy |
parvifolia |
small leaves |
parvus |
small |
patens |
spreading |
peduncularis |
long flower stalk |
petraeus |
growing among rocks |
pilosa |
covered with distinct hairs |
Pimelea |
Gk. pimele= fat, ref.
to the cotyledons |
plenus,
pleniformis |
full, double |
Pomaderris |
Gk. poma = a lid;
derris = skin, referring to the fact that the fruit opens by a thin
lid |
praecox |
developing early |
prasinus |
bright green |
pratensis |
of meadows |
Prionotes |
Gk. prion= a saw,
ref. to the leaf margins |
procumbens |
prostrate or procumbent habit |
Prostanthera |
Gk. prostheke= appendage;
anthera= anther, ref. to the projection on the anther |
pulcher |
beautiful |
punicea |
Gk. puniceus= scarlet,
from Punica, the pomegranate, which bears dark scarlet flowers |
purpurascens |
purplish of turing purple |
pusillus |
very small; weak |
quadrifida |
split into four |
ramosus |
branched |
ramulosa |
ramulus= a small
branch |
reniformis |
kidney shaped |
repens,
reptans |
creeping, prostrate |
Richea |
CAG Riche - botanist with
D'Entrecasteaux |
riparius |
growing by rivers or streams |
rivularis,
rivalis |
growing by streams or brooks |
rodwayi |
Leonard Rodway - The Tasmanian
Flora (1903) |
roseus |
pink |
rostratus |
beaked |
ruber |
red |
ruderalis |
growing in rubbish |
rupestris |
growing on rocks |
salicina |
willow-like, referring to
the leaves |
sativus |
cultivated |
saxatilis |
growing among rocks |
scaber |
rough |
scandens |
climbing |
scoparia |
from its resemblance to a
small broom plant, Sarothamnus scoparius |
scorpioides |
like a scorpion |
sempervirens |
evergreen |
sericeus |
silky |
serotinus |
late |
setaceus,
setasus |
bristly |
sinensis |
of China |
somniferus |
sleep inducing |
speciosus |
good looking |
spectabilis |
showy |
spiceri |
Rev. WW Spicer - A Handbook
of the Plants of Tasmania (1878). |
squamatus |
scaly |
squarrosus |
having overlapping leaves
with outward- projecting tips |
Stackhousia |
John Stackhouse (1742-1819)
- botanist, Cornwell, England |
stellulata |
little star |
striolatum |
with fine lines |
Styphelia |
Gk. styphelos= hard,
rough, ref. to the leaves |
sylvaticus,
sylvestris |
of woods |
Telopea |
Gk. tele= distant;
opas= colour |
tenellus |
delicate |
tenuis |
slender |
terrestris |
of dry ground |
Tetratheca |
tetra = four, theca = box
- alluding to the anthers |
tinctoria |
useful for dyeing |
tinctorius |
used for dyeing |
truncata |
ending abruptly as if cut
off, ref. to the leaves |
umbrosus |
of shade |
uncinatus |
hooked |
usitassimus,
utilis |
useful |
velutinus |
velvety |
ventricosus |
inflated, especially unevenly
so |
vernalis,
vernus |
of spring |
Veronica |
to honour St Veronica, a
nun who died in Milan in 1497 |
verrucosus |
covered with warts |
versicolor |
variously coloured |
vescus |
small; edible |
virens,
viridus |
green |
viridiflorus |
green flowering |
vulgaris |
common |