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Glossary

Species names Genus names After people After places Botanical terms General terms

Common Genus names

  • Abies - fir
  • Acer - maple, Latin for sharp
  • Callistemon - from Greek callis, beauty and stemon, stamen, referring to the flowers of the plant.
  • Castanea - chestnut
  • Cedrus - cedar
  • Cercis - shuttle (pods resembling this on the Judas Tree)
  • Cornus - dogwood. (Originally dagwood, as it was used for spikes - 'dags')
  • Crataegus - hawthorn. 'Strong'.
  • Crinodendron - from Greek krinon -lily, and dendron - tree. e.g. crinodendron hookerianum
  • Cryptomeria - hidden parts
  • Cupressus - cypress
  • Fraxinus - ash
  • Hedlundia - genus of hybrids involving Aria and Sorbus. e.g. hedlundia pseudofennica. Named after Swedish botanist Johan Teodor Hedlund (1861–1953)
  • Juglans - walnut. From Latin Jove - Jupiter, and glans - acorn.
  • Juniperus - juniper
  • Kalmia - kalmia or mountain laurel, named after Pehr Kalm, Swedish botanist (1716-1779)
  • Liquidambar - fluid fragrant sap (Latin and Arabic). Sweetgum.
  • Liriodendron - tulip tree (lily tree)
  • Lonicera - after German botanist Adam Lonicer (or Lonitzer) (1528 – 1586) e.g. lonicera xylosteum
  • Metasequoia - dawn redwood. 'Changed relative'
  • Nothofagus - southern beech (ie from the southern hemisphere)
  • Picea - spruce, from the Latin word for pitch, pix
  • Pieris - after a town in Greece, Pieria, the home of the Muses
  • Pinus - pine
  • Pittosporum - From Greek pitta - pitch, spora - seed, referring to the resionous fluid surrounding the seed.
  • Platanus - Plane tree
  • Pravissima - very crooked (Latin)
  • Prunus -plums, cherries, peaches, nectarines, apricots, and almonds.
  • Quercus - oak
  • Salix - willow
  • Sequoia - redwood
  • Sorbus - whitebeam, rowan, service tree
  • Taxus - yew
  • Tetracentron - Greek - four projections e.g. tetracentron sinense(four spurs on the fruit)
  • Trochodendron - wheel tree (Greek trocho - wheel, dendron - tree)
  • Viburnum - wayfaring tree
  • Wisteria - named in 1818 by English botanist Thomas Nuttall to honor Dr. Caspar Wistar (1761–1818), an American anatomist and physician from Philadelphia.