It wasn't so long ago that people started to try to list all the plants growing in Britain. In fact Britain was where the lists of plants were first made and early botanists would go on expeditions to try to find new plants. One of the early botanists was a man called William Turner found a plant in 1548 which "groweth in ye corn" and called it Corn Chervil.
We now call it Shepherd's Needle after the long pointed seeds but it has other name such as: Beggar's needle, Clock needle, Crake Needle, Crow Needle, Crow Peck's, Deil's darning-needle, Elshins, Hedgehogs, Lady's comb, Needle Points, Long Beaks and many others.
Local people called the wild flowers different names in different parts of the country which was a bit confusing. The very common plants and those used as medicines had many names. Bird's-foot Trefoil for instance has been given 72 different English names.
Somebody needed to find a way of naming plants so everyone would understand each other in any part of the world not just in Britain. The systematic naming of plants was started by a Swedish man called Carl Linnaeus who invented a way of classifying plants according to how the flower parts were arranged.
In those days scientists would write their reports in Latin so naturally Carl Linnaeus chose a naming system which was based on Latin. The Latin names he gave to plants had two parts. The first part was called the Genus. For instance Speedwells were called Veronica for the first name and after that followed another name to make it different from any other Speedwell. That second or species name might describe where it was found or its shape or something like that:
Veronica agrestis for instance is Green Field Speedwell
Veronica hederifolia is Ivy-leaved Speedwell (hederifolia means leaves like Ivy)
So all proper speedwell flowers begin with Veronica and have a second name which is unique. This double naming method is known as the binomial system and we use it today. We can name any plant with this system including a plant which has only just been discovered.
Here are some of the Latin species names which describe where a plant grows (its habitat):
| Latin | English meaning |
|---|---|
| agrostis or agrestis | in fields |
| aquatica | in watery places |
| arvensis/arvense | in arable fields |
| campestris/campestre | in grazed/mowed fields |
| littoralis/littorale | in a place often covered by the sea |
| maritimus/maritima | by the sea (broadly speaking) |
| muralis/murale | on walls |
| palustris/paludosa | in marshy places |
| riparia/rivularis | in rivers/streams |
| ruderalis | in waste places |
| rupestris/rupicola | on rocks |
| stagnalis | in pools/ponds |
| sylvestris | in woods |
| uliginosus/uliginosa | also means in marshy places |
Other Latin species names give us some idea of the shape of the plant or describe the plant in some way:
| Latin | English meaning |
|---|---|
| acutus/acuta | sharp-pointed |
| annuus/annua | annual, living one year |
| auriculatus/auriculata | eared |
| biennis | biennial, living two years |
| caespitosus | tufted |
| campanulus/campanulata | bell-shaped |
| capillaris | hair-shaped |
| compressus/compressa | flattened lengthwise |
| cordatus/cordata | heart-shaped |
| crispus/crispa | curled |
| cristatus/cristata | crested |
| dentatus/dentata | toothlike |
| diffusus | spreading widely |
| lanatus/lanata | woolly |
| lanceolatus/lanceolata | narrowly elliptical |
| nanus/pumilus/pygmaeus | dwarf |
| natans | floating underwater |
| nutans | nodding |
| obtusus/obtusa | blunt |
| officinalis | used in medicine |
| ovalis | oval |
| perennis | perennial, living many years |
| pilosus/pubescens/villosus/hispidus | Some kind of hairiness |
| plicata | folded lengthwise |
| punctatus/punctata | dotted |
| pyramidalis/conicus/conica | cone-shaped |
| ramosus/ramosa | branched |
| sagittatus/sagittata | arrow-shaped |
| serratus/serrata | sawlike |
| spinosus/spinosa | spiny |
| spiralis | spiral-shaped |
| stellatus/stellata | star-shaped |
| trigonous | three-cornered |
But it isn't always so systematic. Some species names (second Latin name) are just translations in Latin of the old English name. So the water plant Frog-bit is called Hydrocharis morsus-ranae and morsus-ranae means "bite of the frog".
When we write officially about plants we always use the Latin names but this isn't as straightforward as it sounds. Although Carl Linnaeus started the naming system, professional scientists have other methods of finding out which genus (first name) a plant belongs to. If they find that a plant has been classified incorrectly they change the name.
For instance the good old English bluebell has been changed from Endymion non-scriptus, to Hyacinthoides non-scriptus and is now called Hyacinthoides non scripta. Sometimes scientists even change a name then a few years later change it back again! This means that we need a book or reference to check names. In the Wild Flower Society we tends to use a complete list of plants by Dandy or "The New Flora of the British Isles" by Professor Clive Stace.
So does anybody use English names? Yes they do. Particularly when on field trips you'll hear people saying things like:
"What's Latin for Cow Parsley?"
A few people have never tried to learn the Latin names but they always find it difficult if the same English name applies to a number of different plants. For instance the little Eyebright was thought to be just one plant but now we know that there are many different "Eyebrights".
Euphrasia confusa is called Eyebright in English.
Euphrasia macrantha is also called Eyebright so how would you know which was which? In fact there are over thirty different plants in the Euphrasia genus which are all called "Eyebright" in English. So it is best to try to learn the Latin names of plants.
No-one really knows because Latin was spoken regularly hundreds of years ago by the Romans. Since then it has been used in Church services and some official ceremonies but there isn't too much agreement about pronunciation. On a WFS meeting you'll hear the same name being spoken many different ways.
Some Latin plant names are almost unpronounceable when you first try to say them. False Sedge is called Kobresia simpliciuscula and I've never heard that one pronounced without stuttering.
There is also a little plant called Mind-your-own-business in English and in Latin is Soleirolia soleirolii. Try saying the Latin name. The trouble is the English name isn't too much help either.
Imagine being asked what the name of this plant is. You'll either have to try the unpronounceable Latin name or say "Mind-your-own-business" or do what I do and say "I don't know, ask the leader".
Quite honestly anyone who says that they found the Latin names easy to learn when they started to look for wild flowers is a bit of a fibber. They aren't easy to pronounce or remember but because they are the names used by people in so many different countries, they are worth getting to know. This is where our diaries help. You might know the name of a flower like Daisy, Dandelion or Nettle but you can only fill in your diary if you look up the correct Latin name. The dairy is in alphabetical order of Latin name. Gradually you get used to it and you learn more and more Latin names with each season.