All families

  • Click Family name to view all Genera in that family.
Family: A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z
EBENACEAE (G)
Ebony and Persimmon Family (Le)
ebenos, = the ebony tree, ebony.
(LS)
ELAPHOGLOSSACEAE (G)
Deertongue Ferns (Le)
elaphos, = deer;
glossa, = the tongue.

(LS)
ERICACEAE (G)
Heath Family (Wf)
ereike, ereice, = this name was used for heaths by Theophrastus (372-287 B.C.) and Pliny the Elder (A.D. 23-79); derived from ericein (Greek), pound – (referring to the supposed property of some species to break gall stones).
‘ereike’, = to break, because an infusion of certain heath plants was supposed to break up kidney stones. Name is assigned to Carl Linnaeus, who derived the modern system of naming plants known as binomial nomenclature. In his work ‘Species Plantarum’, published in 1753 he described 23 Erica species, of which 12 were from the Cape of Good Hope.
(M, SK)
ERIOSPERMACEAE (G)
Cottonseed Family (Le)
erion, = wool;
sperma, = that which is sown, seed.
(seed covered with white hairs)
(LS, Le)
EUPHORBIACEAE (G)
Spurge Family (Wf)
eu-, = well;
(good, well developed, normal, true)
phorbe, = pasture, food, fodder, forage; fuel.
The Linnaean hero, Euphorbus Musa, physician to King Juba, of Numidia (Mauritania) c. 47 B.C., was interested in these cactus-like plants supposedly for medicine – of which many are poisonous.
(Le, BL, M, k3)