acer, = sharp, pointed, piercing;
acus, = a needle or pin; as being pointed;
-ius, = means ‘characteristic of’, hence indicates connection or resemblance.
acacia, = the acacia-tree, the Egyptian pod-thorn, Mimosa nylotica, described by Pliny.
(ld, BL)

acme, = the highest point of anything, the bloom, flower, prime of man’s age;
aden, adena, = an acorn, a gland.
(referring to the glands on the anthers)

(LS, Ox, Le)

acros, = at the end, either outermost, or at the top;
acros, = at the tip, end, summit;
lophos, = crest, tuft of hair; a cock’s comb.
(The author Pfitzer contrived this name to describe a Eulophia-like plant, which flowers from the summit of the stem, not basally, as in the genus Eulophia)

(LS, BL, Co)

acros, = at the end, either outermost, or at the top;
acros, = at the tip, end, summit;
anthos, = a flower, the bloom of a flower.
(flower solitary on a flower stalk)
(LS, BL, Le)

aden, adena, = an acorn, a gland;
aner, andrus, = man, of a man.
aner, andros, = male, stamen.
(gland-bearing anthers)
(Ox, LS, BL, Le)

aden, adena, = an acorn, a gland;
kline, = that on which one lies, couch, bed.
klino, = slope, slant, incline.
(glandular disc at base of flower)
(Ox, LS, Le)

aden, adena, = an acorn, a gland;
gramma, = written character, a drawing.
gramme, = line, stroke of a pen.
(ridged or striped by raised lines)
(Ox, LS, K3)

a-, an-, = denotes privative, negative;
a-, = without, not, -less, un-;
diantos, = wettable.
adiantos, = unwetted, ‘maidens hair’.
(during rain leaves shed water and remain dry)
(Ox, Le, LS)

adros, = thick, stout;
mischos, = a stalk.
(LS, Eg)

aethes, = unusual, strange;
phyllon, = a leaf.
(LS)

agape, = brotherly love, charity;
-anthus, = a flower, the bloom of a flower.
(LS)

agathos, = good in their kind;
osme, = a smell, scent, odour, whether good or bad.
(fragrant oils in the glands of leaves)
(LS, Le)

agros, = a field, land.
agrostis, = a grass that mules feed on.
(LS)

airo, = to rise or lift up, to carry; to lift and take away; put an end to; later to kill.
aira, = a Greek name for a different grass, Lolium temulentum, known as poison darnell.
(LS, Le, K3)

aei-, = ever, always, for ever;
zoos, = alive, living.
(ability to survive under difficult conditions)
(LS, Le)

For Albertus Magnus (c.1200-1280),** sometimes called Albert Graf von Bollstädt, also called Teutonicus, Coloniensis Albert, Albert the Great, St. Albert, the German Albert, and Albert of Lauingen. He was born Albert de Groot, and later the surname Magnus ("the Great"), which was the Latin equivalent of his family name, was applied to him by Roger Bacon and other contemporaries. He was a famous German cleric, philosopher and theologian who wrote De vegetabilus, a botanical work in seven volumes.
(Ch)

albus, = white, properly dead white, not shining;
-icans, = indicates process of becoming or resemblance sometimes so close as to be almost identical.
(some albuca flowers are partly white)
(ld, BL, Le)

alke, = bodily strength, force, prowess, power, might;
ope, ops, = ability, means, help, support, aid.
(LS, BL)

alector, = a cockerel, Alectron.**
electron, = amber.
(allusion vague)
(LS, Ox, Le)

aloē, = from Hebrew used in the Septuagint to translate akhālīm, akhālōth; descriptive of the succulent herbs , shrubs or trees, with erect spikes of flowers, and bitter juice.
(the dried bitter juice of aloe leaves, derived from earlier Semitic word alloeh)
(Ox, Le)

algeo, = to be cold, to feel cold;
alsus, alsius, = chilly, cold, cool;
philos, = loving.
(ld, LS)

a-, an-, = denotes privative, negative;
a-, = without, not, -less, un-;
mar-, mor-,= die;
maraino, = to die away, waste away, languish.
marainein, = to wither, decay.
anthos, = a flower, the bloom of a flower.
(everlasting)
(refers to lasting quality of the flowers)
(Ox, ld, LS, Le)

amo, amare, amans, = to love;
-illus, = diminutive.
Amaryllis, = adopted by Linnaeus; name of a country-girl in Theocritus, Ovid and Virgil; name of a shepherdess.
(ld, BL, Ox)

a-, = from (denoting source);
mella, = mead.
(Name given by Vergil to a similar blue daisy (the purple Italian star-wort, Aster amellus) that grew on the banks of the river Mella, in Upper Italy, near Brescia, now Mella)
(Ws, BL, Le, ld)

ammos, = sand;
philos, = loving.
(ammophilous, applying to plants or insects which inhabit sandy places)
(Ox, LS)

amphi-, = on both sides, around;
thallos, = a young shoot or branch, twig.
amphithales, = blooming on both sides: hence flourishing, rich.
(flowering all around the stem)
(LS, Le)

For Wilhelm Amsinck (1752 – 1831),** German businessman, senator and first Bügemeister of Hamburg and President of the Senate, patron of botany and the Botanical Garden in Hamburg.
(Ch)

ana-, = up to, towards, up, in the sense of strengthening;
(upwards, back, again, with general sense of strengthening, increasing)
colos, = docked, curtailed, stunted.
(alluding to the short pedicel)
(LS, BL, Cl)

anagelao, = to laugh aloud.
(Perhaps from anagelao, the Greek name for the 'pimpernel'; thought to have removed sadness)
(LS, Le)

anax, = lord, king, applied to all the gods, especially to Apollo;
anaxuo, = to scrape off;
anaxein, = to polish;
-itas = indicates a concept or quality.
(shiny upper surface of the leaves)
(LS, Le, BL)

Now COLCHICUM.
aner, andrus, = man, of a man.
cymba, = a boat, skiff; (the boat of Charon which transported the dead);
-ium, = ‘characteristic of’, hence indicates connection or resemblance.
(LS, ld, BL)

aner, andrus, = man, of a man.
aner, andros, = male stamen.
pogon, = the beard.
(tufts of hairs on the flowers)
(LS, BL, Le)

aneimon, = without clothing, unclad.
(LS)

anemos, = wind;
-one, = implying the feminine of a patronymic name - that of her father.
anemone, = the wind flower, literally 'daughter of the wind'. (see Anemone,** and Anemos**)
(either because anemones grow in windy places or open under the influence of wind, or because the petals blow away in the wind)
(LS, Ox, Le)

anisos, aniso-, = unequal, uneven
odon, ontos, odons, = a tooth;
-tis, = usually indicates the agent or means;
-odontus, = -toothed.
(unevenly toothed)
(LS, BL)

anisum, from annison, = under which the Greeks seem to have included the two plants, Anise and Dill. When these were discriminated anisum and anethum were utilised in Latin to distinguish them;
rhiza, = root.
(flavour of tuberous rootstock, used in food)
(Ox, Le)

Not explained by the author. Possibly a misspelling of Spanish ‘enredadera’ = creeping or climbing plant.
(Cl)

anthos, = a flower, the bloom of a flower;
-ceras, from keras, = a horn, hornlike projection.
(LS, BL)

anthos, = a flower, the bloom of a flower.
khortos, = grass, hay.
(LS)

anthos, = a flower, the bloom of a flower;
sperma, = that which is sown, seed.
(male flowers may carry a small ovary capable of carrying a seed)
(LS, Le)

anthos, = a flower, the bloom of a flower;
xanth-, xantho-, = yellow;
xanthos, = yellow of various shades, golden or pale yellow; also red-yellow, chestnut, auburn.
(LS, BL)

apateo, = to cheat, trick, outwit, beguile;
-ius, = means ‘characteristic of’, hence indicates connexion or resemblance.
(likeness to the genus Hymenogyne before the flower has opened)
(LS, BL, Le)

apis, = a bee.
apium, = parsley, esp. liked by bees; an umbilliferous plant of several species (mountain-parsley, celery etc.). the leaves of one species (water parsley, our celery, the Apium graveolens) were used by the ancients for garlands, on account of their strong fragrance.
(ld)

apoduo, = to strip off, undress.
(to strip, referring to the unprotected petals in bud)
(LS, Le)

Aponus was a hot spring near Padua.
geton, = neighbor.
A partial anagram of Potamogeton, which in turn comes from Patmos, a river, and geiton, a neighbor.
(Le, BL, M)

arctos, = a bear;
pous, = a foot.
(flat leaf resembles shape of a bear's paw)
(LS, Le)

arctos, = a bear;
theca, = a chest, coffin, sepulchre.
(densely woolly fruit)
(LS, Le)

arktos, = a bear;
ous, -otis, = an ear.
(allusion unclear, possibly the appearance of the involucral bracts).
(LS, Le)

argos, argema, = white, white spot.
(Originally from argemos, white spot. The plant was meant to cure cataracts)
(Ox, Le)

argyreos, (άρλύρεοσ), = silver, of silver;
argyr-, (άρλύρ-), = silver-;
lobos, = the lobe or lower part of the ear;
(capsule or pod);
-ium, = ‘characteristic of’, hence indicates connection or resemblance.
(LS, BL)

aristos, aristo-, = best of its kind.
aristeia, = the prize of the bravest.
-eus, = indicates material or colour or resemblance in quality.
(aristos, best, noblest or aristeia, excellence or prize to the best and bravest)
(LS, ld, BL, Le)

arista, = the awn or beard of grain;
-ida, = indicates a state or action in progress; ('-ish').
(bearded)
(ld, BL)

After Asklepios**.
(K3)

askos, = a leathern bag, a wineskin;
-idium, = diminutive;
sperma, = that which is sown, seed.

(LS)

a-, = intensive (very much);
spaleis = pass. part. of stello;
stello = get ready; to fit oneself out; to be dressed, decked.
aspalathos, = a scented shrub.
(What plant is referred to in the early quotations is not certainly known. Johnson gives as his first definition, ‘A plant called the rose of Jerusalem or our lady’s rose.’)
(LS, Ox)

a-, = intensive (very much);
sparagmos, sparasso, = a rending, tearing, mangling.
(referring to the sharp spines)
OR
spargan, = to be full to bursting, to teem, swell, be ripe.
(to swell or sprout)
(LS, Le)

aspis, = a shield;
-idion, = diminutive;
glossa, = the tongue.
(deeply lobed corolla resembling a forked tongue)
(LS, BL, Le)

a-, an-, = denotes privative, negative;
a-, = without, not, -less, un-;
splen, = the milt, spleen.
(Asplenium, = a totally confusing reference to the use of spleenwort to cure spleen and liver problems. The name originated with Pliny and Discorides)
(BL, Ws, Int)

a-, an-, = denotes privative, negative;
a-, = without, not, -less, un-;
stephanos, = that which encircles; a crown, wreath.
(a kind of diadem or coronet, represented in statuary as worn by the goddess Hera and other deities; also worn by military commanders)
-anus, = indicates position, connexion or possession by.
(absence of a crown)
(Ox, LS, BL)

a-, an-, = denotes privative, negative;
a-, = without, not, -less, un-;
thanatos, = death.
athanatos, = not subject to death, undying, immortal
(referring to the persistent dry involucral bracts)
(Ox, LS, Le)

a-, = intensive (very much);
thrix, = the hair both of man and beast; sheep’s wool.
(the plants are extremely hairy)
(possibly from Greek, anther, or awn alluding to the fine awn-like tips of the involucral bracts)
(LS, Le, FC)

a-, an-, = denotes privative, negative;
a-, = without, not, -less, un-;
thrix, tricos, = the hair both of man and beast; sheep’s wool.
anthos, = a flower, the bloom of a flower.
(hairless corolla lobes)
(Ox, LS, Le)

ater, atra, = coal-black, lustreless-black, sable, dark;
(especially, dull black)
plexus, = a twining, plaiting, braid.
atriplexum, = the orach, a kitchen vegetable.

(ld, BL)

aulax, = a furrow.
(the leaves of Aulax cancellata are conspicuously channelled)
(LS, K3)

a-, an-, = denotes privative, negative;
a-, = without, not, -less, un-;
vena, = a blood-vessel, vein.
avena, = oats.
(veinless, without perceptible lateral nerves or veins; opposite of ‘venosus’)
(Ox, ld, BL)