Understanding PLANT NAMES

CHARLIE ALBONE EXPLAINS HOW FLORA IS NAMED AND IDENTIFIED

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I always thought learning Latin was a waste of time at school. Because, when would I ever really need it in real life? Strange how the world works – I now rely on my Latin skills daily to work out what plants will look like, where they’re from and how they’ll grow.

IDENTIFYING PLANTS

Botanical names are heavily based on the Latin language, and you can tell a lot about a plant by what it’s called. A plant’s botanical name is split in two, the genus it belongs to and the species it is of that genus. As an example, camellia japonica is a member of the Camellia genus and is a japonica type (in this case as the name suggests it’s from Japan).