CURIOSITIES — A SNAPSHOT What do those cryptic scientific names mean? This is a small sampling of a handful of the most common that we see in the Reserve. If you find this information useful, look into the more extensive list that we are working on. This short list is ordered by the “main” common name— whatever word that we most often invoke. For example, Shaw's is ordered by agave. But confusion arises quickly. How should we order Black Sage? In the more extensive list, plants are ordered by their scientific names. Shaw's Agave, Coastal Agave Agave shawii var. shawii Agave, from the Greek agauós, noble, illustrious; here referring to the tall flower stalk. In Greek mythology, Agave was the daughter of Cadmus and Harmonia, and the mother of Pentheus. shawii, in honor of Henry Shaw (1800–1899), English born industrialist, philanthropist, and founder of the Missouri Botanical Garden. Black Sage Salvia mellifera Salvia, from the Latin salvus, well, unharmed, sound; salveo means “I am well.” Salvia is also commonly taken to mean to heal or to be healthy, a reference to the medicinal uses of many species in this genus. mellif-, from the Latin, mel, honey -fera, from the Latin fero or ferre, to bear, to carry mellifera, honey-bearing, meaning the flowers are rich in nectar. Bladderpod Peritoma arborea (syn. Isomeris arborea) Peri-, from the Greek peri, around -toma, from the Greek tome or tomos, to cut or to section Peritoma, cut around, a reference to the calyx base being circumscissile arborea, from the Latin arboreus, tree, or tree-like -meris, from the Greek meris, a part Isomeris, equal parts, referring to the equally divided seed pod Buckwheat, Flat-Top Buckwheat Eriogonum fasciculatum var. fasciculatum Erio-, from the Greek erion, hairy or woolly -gonum, from the Greek gonu, knee Eriogonum, hairy or woolly joints (of some species of the genus) fasciculatum, from the Latin fasciculus, little bundle Coast Barrel Cactus, Barrel Cactus Ferocactus viridescens Fero-, from the Latin ferus, fierce Ferocactus, a cactus with fierce, heavy spines virid-, from the Latin viridis, fresh, green viridescens, greening, becoming green

1 Coastal Cholla Cylindropuntia prolifera (syn. Opuntia prolifera) Cylindro-, from the Greek cylindro, cylinder -opuntia, referring to the genus Opuntia (see below for Opuntia) Cylindropuntia, an Opuntia that is cylindrical in shape prolifera, from the Latin proles, offspring, meaning bearing or producing offshoots Coast Prickly Pear (Cactus) Opuntia littoralis Opuntia, referring to Opus, an Ancient Greek city during the days of Pliny littoralis, from the Latin litoralis, of the seashore; litus is shore, seashore Wart-Stem Ceanothus, California Lilac, White Lilac Ceanothus verrucosus Ceanothus, from the Greek keanothus, some spiny plant verruco-, from the Latin verruca, wart verrucosus, warty, wart-like California Sagebrush, Coastal Sagebrush Artemisia californica Artemisia, after Artemis, the Ancient Greek goddess of forests and hills californica, of or from California Chamise, Greasewood Adenostoma fasciculatum Adeno-, from the Greek aden or adenos, gland -stoma, from the Greek stoma, mouth; figuratively an opening Adenostoma, gland openings (of the calyx) fasciculatum, from the Latin fasciculus, little bundle Coyote Brush, Broom Baccharis pilularis ssp. consanguinea Baccharis, the etymology is uncertain; could be from the Latin baccar, bacchar, or baccaris, also in Greek Bakkaris, name for a plant having a fragrant root; the name could also be from Bacchus, the Roman god of wine and fertility. pilu-, from the Latin pilus, hair pilularis, having small hairy globules or balls consanguinea, from the Latin consanguinea, blood relative; here, blood colored Coastal Deerweed Acmispon glaber var. glaber (syn. Lotus scoparius ssp. scoparius) Acmispon, a name chosen by C.S. Rafinesque-Schmaltz, presumably from the Greek akme for a (high) point, top, or edge glaber, from the Latin glaber, smooth, hairless, glabrous Lotus, from Latin for flower of forgetfulness; in Latin, lotus or lota also means elegant or fashionable. scopar-, from the Latin scopare, broom, brush scoparius, like a broom, broom-like

2 Lady Fingers, Mission Dudleya, Fingertips Dudleya edulis Dudleya, named after William Russel Dudley (1849–1911), a botanist who became the head of the Botany Department at Stanford University from 1892 to 1911. edulis, edible; from the Latin edere, eat Lance-Leaf Dudleya, Lanceleaf Liveforever Dudleya lanceolata lanceolata, lance-shaped, referring to the leaves Laurel Sumac, California Sumac Malosma laurina (syn. Rhus laurina) Mal-, from the Latin Malus, apple tree (here, does not mean bad or evil) -osma, odor, smell Malosma, having the smell of apple laurina, from the Latin Laurus, bay tree; laurina means like the Laurel. Lemonadeberry, Lemonade Sumac Rhus integrifolia Rhus is the Greek name for Sumac. integri-, from the Latin integritas, completeness; integer or integra (feminine), complete, whole integrifolia, with complete leaves, but really means leaves with a smooth edge (margin). The plant is a Sumac with leaves having a smooth edge. (But some leaves are spiny.) Mission Xylo-, from the Greek xulon, timber and by implication, wood -coccus, from the Greek kokkos, grain or a kernel of seed, the stone of the fruit Xylococcus, woody seed bi-, from the Latin bi or bis, two or twice bicolor, two color, referring to the two sides of the leaves Coast Monkey Flower, Red Bush Monkey Flower Diplacus puniceus (syn. Mimulus aurantiacus var. puniceus, Mimulus puniceus) Diplacus, from the Greek diploos, double, two-fold; dis is double or twice. puniceus, from the Latin puniceus, scarlet, crimson Mimulus, from the Greek mimos, or Latin mimus, mime, actor in mimes aurantiacus, also aurantius, Latin for orange-colored, the species found more inland So now there is no more mimicking; this plant has dark red doublet flowers. Nuttall's Scrub Oak Quercus dumosa Nutt. Quercus, the Latin word for oak; possibly derived from Old Celtic quer, fine, and cuez, tree. dumosa, from the Latin dumus, thorny bush So Quercus dumosa does mean scrub oak. Coast Spice Bush, Bush-Rue, Berryrue Cneoridium dumosum Cneor-, from the Greek kneoron, referring to the spurge olive, which is also a citrus .

3 Cneoridium, a plant that resembles spurge olive. dumosum, from the Latin dumus, thorny bush. Toyon, Christmas Berry, California Holly Heteromeles arbutifolia Hetero-, from the Greek hetero, different -meles, from the Greek malus, apple Heteromeles, possibly referring to the variation of fruits among different species arbuti-, from the Latin , the strawberry tree arbutifolia, having leaves like the strawberry tree The leaves of strawberry indeed are long, elliptical, with a serrated margin. Wild Cucumber, Cucamonga Manroot, Chilicothe Marah macrocarpus Marah, meaning bitter from Hebrew; a reference in the Bible to the bitter waters of Marah. -carpus, from the Greek karpos, fruit macrocarpus, large fruit A bitter big fruit! But the entire plant is bitter. San Diego Wreath-Plant Stephanomeria diegensis Stephano-, from the Greek stephane, wreath or crown -meria, from the Greek meros, division, as separated from a larger group diegensis, of or from San Diego Felt-Leaf Yerba Santa, Thick-Leaf Yerba Santa Eriodictyon crassifolium var. crassifolium Erio-, from the Greek erion, hairy or woolly -dictyon, from the Greek diktuon, a net or seine for fishing Eriodictyon, woolly net, referring mainly to the appearance of the underside of the leaves crassi-, from the Latin crassus, fat, stout crassifolium, thick leaf Chaparral Yucca, Our Lord's Candle Hesperoyucca whipplei (syn. Yucca whipplei) Hespero-, from the Latin hespero or hespera, meaning western. Hesperoyucca, western yucca (See below for Yucca) whipplei, named after Lt. Amiel Weeks Whipple by Charles Parry during the U.S.-Mexican Boundary Survey. Later Whipple was the topographical surveyor in charge of the 1853-4 Pacific Railroad Survey. Mohave Yucca, Spanish Dagger Yucca schidigera Yucca, a variant of yuca, from the Spanish for cassava in the Caribbean; presumably because Carl Linnaeus and others confused it with that plant. schidi-, from the Latin schidia or Ancient Greek scheggia, splinter -gera, has multiple usages, but roughly can mean “making.” Together, schidigera can mean fiber making.

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