L-R: Phacelia curvipes (Curved-stem phacelia), Triteleia lugens (Coast range triteleia), Krameria erecta (Littleleaf rhatany), Erigeron parishii (Parish's fleabane), Eriophyllum confertiflorum (Golden yarrow). |
SI-SY
In the following names, the stressed vowel is the one preceding the stress mark. It is not always easy to ascertain where such stress should be placed, especially in the case of epithets derived from personal names. I have tried to follow the principle of maintaining the stress of the original name as outlined in the Jepson Manual, and have abandoned it only when it was just too awkward. In the case of some names, I have listed them
twice, reflecting
either some disagreement or conflict in the rules of pronunciation, some uncertainty on my part as to the correct pronunciation, or that simply sometimes there is no single correct pronunciation. In other instances, the way I record it is just that which sounds right to my ear.
- Si'bara: an anagram of Arabis (ref. genus Sibara)
- Sibarop'sis: bearing a resemblance to genus Sibara (ref. genus
Sibaropsis)
- Sibbald'ia: named in honor of Sir Robert
Sibbald (1641-1722), "a Scottish physician and antiquary, who
was born in Edinburgh on the 15th of April 1641. Educated at Edinburgh,
Leiden and Paris, he took his doctor's degree at Angers in 1662, and
soon afterwards settled as a physician in Edinburgh. In 1667 with
Sir Andrew Balfour he started the botanical garden in Edinburgh, and
he took a leading part in establishing the Royal College of Physicians
of Edinburgh, of which he was elected president in 1684. In 1685 he
was appointed the first Professor of Medicine in the University. He
was also [granted knighthood and] appointed Geographer-Royal [and
Physician in Ordinary to His Majesty King Charles II] in 1682, and
his numerous and miscellaneous writings deal effectively with historical
and antiquarian as well as botanical and medical subjects. Amongst
Sibbald's historical and antiquarian works may be mentioned A History
Ancient and Modern of the Sheriffdoms of Fife and Kinross (Edinburgh,
1710, and Cupar, 1803), An Account of the Scottish Atlas (folio,
Edinburgh, 1683), Scotia Illustrata (Edinburgh, 1684) and Description
of the Isles of Orkney and Shetland (folio, Edinburgh, 1711 and
1845). The Remains of Sir Robert Sibbald, containing his autobiography,
memoirs of the Royal College of Physicians, portion of his literary
correspondence and account of his manuscripts, was published at Edinburgh
in 1833." (From the 1911
Encyclopedia online) "Sibbald's commission in 1682
was to produce not only a natural history of Scotland, but also a
geographical description that would combine historical data with the
results of contemporary survey. Sibbald's intentions, outlined in
his 1683 Account of the Scottish Atlas, or the Description of Scotland,
centered upon a two-volume work: Scotia Antiqua would embrace
the historical development of the Scottish nation, the customs of
the people and their antiquities, and Scotia Moderna would
describe the country's resources as a matter of contemporary chorography
or regional description, on a county-by-county basis. In the event,
this 'Atlas' was never completed. Only the natural history, Scotia
Illustrata, was ever published." (From the website of the
National Library
of Scotland) This work included a section devoted to the
indigenous plants of Scotland, including some rare species, one of
which was subsequently called Sibbaldia, by Linnaeus, in honor
of its discoverer. He died in August 1722 (ref. genus Sibbaldia)
- sibir'ica/sibir'icum: of or from Siberia (ref.
Claytonia sibirica, Apocynum sibiricum, Myriophyllum
sibiricum)
- sibthorpio'ides: resembling the genus Sibthorpia, which was
named for Humphrey Sibthorp (1713-1797), a professor of botany at
Oxford University where he only gave one lecture in thirty-seven years
(ref. Hydrocotyle sibthorpioides)
- Si'da: an ancient Greek name used by Theophrastus for the water lily
(ref. genus Sida)
- Sidal'cea: a combination of two related genera
in the Mallow family, Sida and Alcea, which were also
two Greek names for mallow (ref. genus Sidalcea)
- siderox'ylon: from the Greek sideros, "iron," and
xylon, "wood" (ref. Eucalyptus sideroxylon)
- Sidothe'ca: from the Latin sidus, "star," and theca,
"case," referring to the numerous star-like involucres (ref.
genus Sidotheca)
- sier'rae: sierra is Spanish for "mountain
range," so this is just a general name for "of the mountains".
(Thanks to Bob Allen and David Hollombe for their input.) (ref. Astragalus
lentiginosus var. sierrae, Erythranthe sierrae, Poa sierrae)
- sierren'sis: of the mountains in general or of the Sierras in particular
- sigmoid'eus: S-shaped, from the Greek letter sigma (ref. Nemacladus
sigmoideus)
- signa'tum: well-marked (ref. Eriastrum signatum)
- Sile'ne: probably from the Greek sialon,
"saliva," referring to the gummy exudation on the stems,
and/or named for Silenus, the intoxicated foster-father of Bacchus
(god of wine) who was covered with foam, much like the glandular secretions
of many species of this genus (ref. genus Silene)
- sili'qua: from the Latin siliqua, "a pod or husk"
(ref. Ceratonia siliqua)
- silvat'ica: of or from the woods
- silvico'la: inhabiting woods (ref. Arctostaphylos silvicola)
- Sil'ybum: from the Greek name for a thistle
that was used for food (ref. genus Silybum)
- sim'ilis: similar, alike (ref. Clarkia
similis, Cryptantha similis, Malacothrix similis)
- Simmonds'ia: after Thomas William Simmonds
(1767-1804), an English botanist and physician who died exploring
Trinidad (ref. genus Simmondsia)
- si'monsii: after Dr. Charles James Simons (1822-?), 'government apothecary' in India
, collected plants in Assam, Khasia and the Mikir Hills (ref. Cotoneaster
simonsii)
- sim'plex: simple, undivided, unbranched (ref. Agave deserti var. simplex, Botrychium simplex, Chenopodium simplex,
Gentianopsis simplex, Puccinellia simplex)
- simplicifo'lia/simplicifo'lius: from the Latin simplex for 'simple.' Stearn's Dictionary of Plant Names says "with
simple (entire) leaves," but as with the following referred species, although the leaves are simple (but deeply lobed) they are NOT entire. Maybe there are other taxa bearing this name which do have entire leaves (ref. Psorothamnus arborescens var. simplicifolius)
- simp'sonii: after James Hervey Simpson (1813-1883). The following
is quoted from the entry on Simpson in the website Virtual
American Biographies: "Simpson, James Hervey, soldier, born
in New Jersey, 9 March, 1813; died in St. Paul, Minnesota, 2 March,
1883. He was graduated at the United States Military Academy in 1832,
and assigned to the artillery. During the Florida war he was aide
to General Abraham Eustis. He was made 1st Lieutenant in the Corps
of Topographical Engineers on 7 July, 1838, engaged in surveying the
northern lakes and the western plains, was promoted Captain on 3 March,
1853, served as chief topographical engineer with the Army in Utah,
and in 1859 explored a new route from Salt Lake City to the Pacific
coast, the reports of which he was busy in preparing till the beginning
of the civil war. He served as chief topographical engineer of the
Department of the Shenandoah, was promoted Major on 6 August, 1861,
was made Colonel of the 4th New Jersey Volunteers on 12 August, 1861,
and took part in the Peninsular Campaign, being engaged at West Point
and at Oaines's Mills, where he was taken prisoner. After his exchange
in August, 1862, he resigned his volunteer commission in order to
act as chief topographical engineer, and afterward as chief engineer
of the Department of the Ohio, where he was employed in making and
repairing railroads and erecting temporary fortifications. He was
promoted Lieutenant-colonel of engineers on 1 June, 1863, had general
charge of fortifications in Kentucky from that time till the close
of the war, was brevetted Colonel and Brigadier-general in March,
1865, and was chief engineer of the Interior Department, haying charge
of the inspection of the Union Pacific railroad, till 1867. He afterward
superintended defensive works at Key West, Mobile, and other places,
surveys of rivers and harbors, the improvement of navigation in the
Mississippi and other western rivers, and the construction of bridges
at Little Rock, Arkansas, St. Louis, Missouri, Clinton, Iowa, and
other places. General Simpson was the author of Shortest Route
to California across the Great Basin of Utah (Philadelphia, 1869),
and Essay on Coronado's March in Search of the Seven Cities of
Cibola (1869)" (ref. Eriogonum microthecum var. simpsonii)
- sim'ulans: resembling (ref. Caulanthus
simulans, Convolvulus
simulans, Cryptantha
simulans)
- simula'ta: from the Latin simulo, "to make like,"
thus "made to resemble, resembling" (ref. Carex simulata)
- Sinap'sis: a Latin name, also spelled sinapi or sinape,
for the mustard plant, from the flavor of the seeds (ref. genus Sinapsis)
- sinen'sis: of or from China (ref. Miscanthus
sinensis, Wisteria
sinensis)
- sinis'tra: I've found two meanings for this specific epithet; (1)
"elder, senior," and (2) "left, on the left hand"
and I have no idea how either would be applied (ref. Gilia sinistra)
- sinua'ta/sinua'tum: having
sinuous or wavy margins (ref. Dimorphotheca sinuata, Gilia
sinuata, Notholaena sinuata, Rorippa sinuata,
Limonium
sinuatum)
- sinuo'sa: same as sinuata (ref. Oenothera sinuosa)
- siphocampylo'ides: like Siphocampylus,
from the Greek siphon, "tube," and kampylos,
"curve," with reference to the curved corolla (ref. Scutellaria
siphocampyloides)
- sisymbriifo'lium: with leaves like genus Sisymbrium (ref.
Solanum sisymbriifolium)
- siskiyouen'se/siskiyouen'sis: of or from Siskiyou County or the Siskiyou
Mountains (ref. Allium siskiyouense, Epilobium siskiyouense,
Astragalus whitneyi var. siskiyouensis)
- Sisym'brium: a Greek name for some plant
of the mustard family (ref. genus Sisymbrium)
- Sisyrinch'ium: an old Greek name probably
first applied to some other plant (ref. genus Sisyrinchium)
- sitchen'sis: of or from Sitka in southeast Alaska (ref. Romanzoffia
sitchensis, Sorbus sitchensis, Salix sitchensis)
- Si'um: derived from an old Greek name sion which was applied
to a marsh herb of the Apiaceae (ref. genus Sium)
- slwookoorum: the ending -orum usually is either a reference to the habitat of the species such as desertorum, pinetorum, dumetorum, scopulorum etc., or as a commemorative epithet honoring a group of two or more persons where both sexes are included. The latter is the case here and refers to the Yup'ik name Slwooko. The Yup'ik people are related to the Inuit, generally grouped under the term Eskimo, and are indigenous to western, southwestern and southcentral Alaska and the Russian Far East. Thanks to David Hollombe for providing the following: "The new species [Juncus slwookoorum] is named after the Slwooko family of Gambell, Saint Lawrence Island. Several members of this family contributed greatly to the success of my field work on the island. Boxer Bay, the type locality for J. Slwookoorum, is the ancestral hunting and trapping ground of the Slwookos." He adds that other researchers have specifically thanked Vernon Qaqsungiq Slwooko (1917-2005), and his wife Beda Avaluk J. (Tungiyan) Slwooko (1918-2009), for their hospitality and it's likely that they were the individuals referred to above as having contributed to field work on Saint Lawrence Island. The person referred to above as having done the field work and is the author of the species is botanist Steven Burr Young (1938- ) (ref. Juncus slwookoorum)
- smallian'um: after John Kunkel Small (1869-1938), botanist at the
New York Botanical Gardens who had described a plant collected by
the Hellers in Idaho in 1896 as Eriogonum croceum. In 1902
A. A. Heller found a similar plant in Lake County, CA, and labeled
his specimens as being the same. When he realized the new plants were
different he named them E. smallianum, with no further explanation,
but apparently after James K. Small (info from David Hollombe). Small
was the author of Flora of the Southeastern States (1903) and
Manual for the Southeastern Flora (1933). The following is
quoted from a website of the New
York Botanical Garden: "John Kunkel Small was a taxonomist
and botanical explorer, specializing in the southeastern United States,
especially Florida. He was the first Curator of Museums at The New
York Botanical Garden, a post in which he served from 1898 until 1906.
In 1906, as the Garden's staff expanded, Small was named Head Curator.
He held this position until 1934. As such, he played an active part
in building the institution and establish-
ing the herbarium collections and the protocols for their exhibition.
He personally collected over 60,000 herbarium specimens of flowering
plants, ferns, mosses, hepatics, and fungi for the Garden's collections.
In 1934 he was named Chief Research Associate and Curator.
Small was born on January 31, 1869 in Harrisburg,
Pennsylvania. He attended Franklin & Marshall College, graduating
with a degree in botany in 1892. His first explorations of the southeastern
flora - the mountains of western North Carolina - occurred during
those years. His account was accepted by the Torrey Botanical Club
and published in the Memoirs. This brought him to the attention of
N.L. Britton, who offered him a fellowship to pursue graduate studies
at Columbia. His dissertation Monograph of the North American Species
of Polygonum (1895) was the first volume of the Memoirs of
the Department of Botany of Columbia College. After graduation,
he stayed on as Curator of the Herbarium at Columbia, establishing
it as the first herbarium arranged according to the Engler and Prantl
sequence. When Columbia's herbarium was transferred to The New York
Botanical Garden in 1898, Small followed it as Curator.
Small was the first botanist to explore Florida
since A.W. Chapman and many of the areas he documented had never been
examined. His doctoral dissertation, published as Flora of the
Southeastern United States in 1903, and revised 1913 and 1933,
remains the best floristic reference for much of the south. His first
trip to Florida was in 1901 when Miami had some 2,000 residents. The
Florida hammock in which he was particularly interested had disappeared
to such an extent by 1929 that he published From Eden to Sahara:
Florida's Tragedy, sparking a movement for conservation of the
wetlands that eventually resulted in the formation of The Everglades
National Park. Small followed the taxonomic philosophy of Britton.
He contributed descriptions of several families for the first edition
of Britton and Brown's An Illustrated Flora of the northern United
States, Canada and the British possessions... 1896-1898. Today,
some scientists consider his species classifications too narrow, yet
other of his observations have been reconfirmed. Index Kewensis cites
Small as the author of 2,057 genera, species, and binomials.
Dr. Small discovered the Louisiana wild iris
after glimpsing a bed growing in a swamp as the train he was on passed
by. He returned using a hand-car, the railroad had put at his disposal.
He harvested the irises and with E.J. Alexander classified nearly
ninety distinct species, documented in Addisonia. Small distributed
6,500 packets of seeds and several thousand plants throughout the
world. Because the swamps in which they were growing were being drained,
Dr. Small is credited with saving the Louisiana wild iris from extinction.
Dr. Small lived at a time before foundation or governmental research
support. His excursions to Florida were under the patronage of Charles
Deering and later, Arthur C. James. These were lively events, conducted
by boat and car. Dr. Small often brought along his wife, Elizabeth,
and four children. On at least one occasion (1918) the Garden sent
along the artist Mary Eaton, who produced twenty-eight watercolors
of rare flowering plants. Because he would have been compelled to
pay for publication from his own pocket, only a small portion of Small's
work was ever published. Much of his material remains in the form
of bound typescripts. Of the work that has been published, there have
been reprints as recently as 1987. His bibliography consists of 450
items, mostly articles. In his later years, Small concentrated on
ferns, cacti and palms. Between 1927 and 1931, he worked with Thomas
A. Edison on his search for rubber-producing plants. This included
fieldwork in Florida and hybridization in the laboratories of The
New York Botanical Garden. John Kunkel Small died at his home on E.
207th Street in Manhattan on January 20, 1938." (ref. Eriogonum
umbellatum var. smallianum)
- Smelows'kia: after Timofei Andreevich Smielowski (Smelowsky) (1769-1815),
a Russian pharmacist and botanist at St. Petersburg, author of Hortus
petropolitanus (ref. genus Smelowskia)
- Smilaci'na: Stearn's Dictionary of Plant
Names says a diminutive of Smilax, a genus of greenhouse
plants which it resembles, literally "a little Smilax,"
and Umberto Quattrocchi adds, "from the Greek smilakinos,
"of the smilax" (ref. genus Smilacina)
- smith'ii: after James Edward Smith (1759-1828). The following is
quoted from Wikipedia: "Sir James Edward Smith was an English
botanist and founder of the Linnean Society. Smith was born in Norwich
in 1759, the son of a wealthy wool merchant. He displayed a precocious
interest in the natural world. During the early 1780's he enrolled
in the medical course at the University of Edinburgh where he studied
chemistry under Professor Joseph Black and natural history under Professor
John Walker. He then moved to London in 1783 to continue his studies.
Smith was a friend of Sir Joseph Banks who was offered the entire
collection of books, manuscripts and specimens of the Swedish natural
historian and botanist Carolus Linnaeus, following the death of his
son Carolus Linnaeus the Younger. Banks declined the purchase but
Smith bought the collection for the bargain price of £1,000.
The collection arrived in London in 1784 and in 1786 Smith was elected
Fellow of the Royal Society. Between 1786 and 1788 Smith travelled
the Grand Tour through the Netherlands, France, Italy and Switzerland
visiting botanists, picture galleries and herbaria. He founded the
Linnean Society of London in 1788 becoming its first President, a
post he held until his death. He returned to live in Norwich in 1796
bringing with him the entire Linnean Collection. His library and botanical
collections acquired European fame and were visited by numerous entomologists
and botanists throughout the Continent. Smith spent the remaining
thirty years of his life writing books and articles upon botany. His
books included Flora Britannica and The English Flora
(4 volumes, 18241828). He contributed 3,348 botanical articles
to Rees's Cyclopaedia between 1808 and 1819, following the death of
Rev. William Wood, who had started the work. In 1797 Smith published
The Natural History of the Rarer Lepidopterous Insects of Georgia,
the earliest book on American insects. It included the illustrations
and notes of John Abbot, with descriptions of new species by Smith
based on Abbot's drawings." (ref. Prosartes [formerly
Disporum] smithii)
- smith'ii: after Jared Gage Smith (1866-1957), an botanist and agrostologist
for the United States Department of Agriculture. He was an assistant
agriculturist with the Nebraska Agricultural Experimental Station
from 1888 to 1890, travelled in Europe, Australia and Mexico from
1890 to 1992, and became a botany assistant at the Missouri Botanical
Garden from 1892 remaining there until 1895. From 1895 to 1899 he
was assistant agrostologist with the USDA. Later he was special agent
in charge at the Hawaii Experimental Station, worked with the Kona
Tobacco Co., and was an assistant professor of agronomy at the College
of Hawaii. For some years he was a tobacco planter and authored many
publications (ref. Pascopyrum smithii)
- sobolif'era: having creeping rooting stems (ref. Cryptantha sobolifera)
- socia'lis: growing in colonies
- so'da: David Hollombe suggests that this may be from the same root
as Suaeda (ref. Salsola soda)
- solan'deri: after Daniel Carl Solander (1736-1782). The following
is quoted from a website called Plant
Explorers: "Daniel Solander was on of Linnaeus' greatest
students and one of Joseph Banks best friends. Solander was born at
Piteå in Sweden, son of a Lutheran rector. In 1750 he went to
Uppsala University to study law, but became so interested in the work
of Linnaeus that he redirected his focus to the study of botany and
natural science. Solander assisted Linnaeus with classifying and indexing
several major collections in Sweden, and published an abridged version
of Linnaeus' work on general botany. He also participated in botanizing
in Lapland and Norway. In 1759 Linnaeus asked Solander to travel to
England to promote his new system of classification, and by all accounts
Solander was a hit with English society. In 1763 he was given an appointment
at the British museum, where he rearranged the natural history collection.
The following year he was elected to the Royal Society. Solander developed
a long-lasting friendship with Joseph Banks, who asked him to join
his team of botanical explorers on the Endeavour in 1768. Between
the two botanists, they collected well over 1000 species of plants
new to science. When Banks pulled out of Cook's second expedition,
Solander's loyalty to Bank's prevented him from joining the crew of
the Resolution. Instead, he joined Banks on an expedition to
Iceland, the Faeroes and the Orkney Islands. Soon after his return,
Solander was promoted to the post of keeper at the British Museum,
where he continued to increase the collections while conducting tours
for visitors. He also acted as Banks's librarian at Kew, and was responsible
for naming many of the new plant specimens sent to the Royal Botanic
Gardens." (ref. Geranium solanderi)
- solanoa'na: uncertain but probably has some reference to genus Solanum
(ref. Asclepias solanoana)
- Sola'num: Latin for "quieting," in
reference to the narcotic properties of some species (ref. genus Solanum)
- Soldanel'la: an Italian diminutive
of soldo, "coin," thus "a small coin,"
referring to the round leaves of some of the plants of this genus,
a characteristic which also applies to the beach morning glory (ref.
genus Soldanella, also Calystegia
soldanella)
- Soleiro'lia: this is one about which there is some uncertainty. The common thinking is that the name honors "plant collector" Joseph Francois Soleirol (1781-1863) who
according to the JSTOR database collected between 1825 and 1829. Both Stearn's Dictionary of Plant Names, the Jepson Manual, and the CRC World Dictionary of Plant Names provide this information. However, David Hollombe's researches seem to indicate that Joseph Francois Soleirol was not on Corsica and that it was his younger brother Augustin Henri (1792-1860) who was stationed there and made vast collections of plants. J.F. Soleirol was a founding member and secretary of the horticultural society of Moselle and did collect near Metz with Jean Joseph Jacques Holandre and Dominique Henry Louis Fournel. At this point I'm not sure which of these derivations is correct (ref. genus Soleirolia)
- soleiro'lii: see Soleirolia above (ref. Soleirolia soleirolii)
- Solida'go: from the Latin solido, meaning
"to make whole or heal" and a reference to the supposed,
medicinal qualities of these plants (ref. genus Solidago)
- solier'i: after the Frenchman Antoine Joseph Jean Solier (1792-1851),
botanist, entomologist and soldier, also specialist in alga. Studied
at the Paris Ecole Polytechnique, in the Napoleonic army as lieutenant
with the engineers 1813-1815; captain in the French Army at Marseilles
1815-1823 and Montpelier 1823-1824, again in Marseilles 1824-1832;
in retirement ib. 1832-1851." Apparently
collected algae at Marseilles and plants in Algeria (ref. Crassula
solieri)
- Soli'va: named after Dr. Salvador Soliva (c. 1750-1793), a physician
to the Spanish court (ref. genus Soliva)
- Sol'lya: after Richard Horsman Solly (1778-1858), an English botanist,
plant physiologist and anatomist, and a Fellow of the Royal Society
(ref. genus Sollya)
- solstitia'lis: relating to midsummer (ref.
Centaurea
solstitialis)
- somnif'erum: sleep-producing, this is the opium poppy (ref. Papaver
somniferum)
- soncho'ides: like genus Sonchus (ref.
Malacothrix
sonchoides)
- Son'chus: the Greek name for sowthistle (ref.
genus Sonchus)
- son'nei: after Charles Frederick Sonne (1845-1913). The following
is from Willis Lynn Jepson's The Botanical Explorers of California
in Madrono Vol. 2: "The birth place of Charles F. Sonne
is said to have been on the island of Bon, a possession of Denmark.
The date of his birth was July 2, 1845. When a young man he emigrated
to the United States and worked in a grocery store in Boston, soon
thereafter going to Denver. From this place in the early days he drove
across the deserts a herd of cattle to Virginia City in Nevada. In
1876 he removed to Truckee where he was employed as a bookkeeper by
the Truckee Lumber Company. It was more especially during the period
of this employment that he collected with much zeal the native plants
of the region of the Truckee River watershed and made large numbers
of dried specimens. He numbered his specimens carefully and faithfully
recorded on the labels the validating facts of locality, date and
habitat. His specimens were well prepared and the mounted sheets are
remarkable for their clear and handsome lettering and general neatness.
Out of the results of his long-continued field work in this region
grew a list of the plants, which he had collected in Placer, Nevada
and Sierra counties in California and Washoe County in Nevada, especially
between the years 1878 and 1892. This manuscript is done in his usual
methodical and scholarly manner. It reflects, doubtless, the thoroughness
of the college education which he had received in Denmark in his youth.
Dedicating to him the Boraginaceous genus Sonnea, E. L. Greene
in 1889 said that he "gives promise of becoming as intelligent
a botanist as he has been a diligent collector and field observer
in that region of country to which these plants belong." (cf.
Pittonia 1:22). Lomatium sonnei was also named for him by Coulter
and Rose and Cicuta sonnei by Greene. About 1900 he went to
San Francisco to live and there died May 11, 1913. His body was taken
to Truckee for burial and now lies amongst the mountains where he
botanized for so many years." David Hollombe has uncovered his correct birthplace as Rønne on the island of Bornholm. (ref. Erigeron eatonii var.
sonnei)
- songar'ica: of or from Dzungaria in eastern-central Asia (ref. Bothrichloa
songarica)
- sonomen'sis: of Sonoma or the Sonoma Valley
(?) (ref. Ceanothus sonomensis, Salvia
sonomensis)
- sonor'ae: presumably because of the range meaning "of the Sonoran
Desert" (ref. Pholisma sonorae)
- sonoren'sis: so named because this taxon was first collected 1 mile north of Cumeral, a railroad station in northern Sonora, Mexico (ref. Stylocline sonorensis)
- sophi'a: Gledhill in The Names of Plants says that the epithet 'sophia' means knowledge, craft, wisdom, an allusion to its reputed medicinal properties in treating dysentery or flux. Linnaeus originally named this species Sisymbrium sophia in his Species Plantarum (1753). The genus was subsequently renamed Sophia by Michel Adanson in Familles des Plantes (1763). Philip Barker Webb reclassified it as Descurainia in 1892 and the taxon was published under that name by Karl Anton Eugen Prantl (ref. Descurainia sophia)
- Sor'bus: an ancient Latin name (ref. genus Sorbus)
- sord'idus: dull, dirty
- soredia'tus: possibly from the Latin soredium,
from the Greek soros, a diminutive of soridion meaning
"a heap," of uncertain application. But another source, A Popular California flora: or Manual of botany for beginners (1882) by Volney Rattan, states that sorediatus means "covered with granules." This is somewhat supported by William Jackson Hooker & G.A.W. Arnott's 1838 publication of this taxon which states: “The branches are copiously studded with resinous warts; in the more exposed parts of the stem, frequently forming large patches.” And further, the source Taxonomy and Ecology of Woody Plants in North American Forests (2003) by James Fralish and Scott Franklin, say that it means "neglected or dirty-looking." Howard McMinn's 1964 work An Illustrated Manual of California Shrubs states that sorediatus means "having soredia or something resembling them," and the term soredia is more commonly used in connection with ferns or lichens, and according to Wikipedia means "powdery propagules composed of fungal hyphae wrapped around cyanobacteria or green algae." (ref. Ceanothus
oliganthus var. sorediatus)
- Sor'ghum: a Latinized name derived from the Italian sorgo,
for "a tall cereal grass," possibly from the Medieval Latin
surgum or suricum, which may in turn have been a variant
of the Latin name syricum meaning "Syrian," perhaps
a clue to its origin. This is a one of the most important cereal grains
after wheat, rice, maize and barley (ref. genus Sorghum)
- soror'ia: sisterly, very closely related (ref. Arnica sororia,
Festuca sororia, Viola sororia)
- Sparax'is: from the Greek sparassein or sparaxo, "to
tear," relating to the bracts which are lacerated or cut into
segments (ref. genus Sparaxis)
- Spargan'ium: from the Greek and Latin name sparganion used
by Pliny and Dioscorides and derived from sparganon, "diaper,
ribbon, swaddling band," applied to this genus because the leaves
are ribbon-like (ref. genus Sparganium)
- sparsiflor'a/sparsiflor'um/sparsiflor'us:
sparsely-flowered (ref. Collinsia sparsiflora, Platanthera
[formerly Habenaria]
sparsiflora, Eriastrum
sparsiflorum, Thalictrum sparsiflorum, Lupinus
sparsiflorus)
- sparsifo'lia/sparsifo'lium:
sparsely-leaved (ref. Carsonia
sparsifolia, Adenostema
sparsifolium)
- Sparti'na: from the Greek spartine,
a cord (ref. genus Spartina)
- spartio'ides: like genus Spartium
(ref. Senecio
spartioides)
- Spar'tium: from the Greek word sparton
meaning "broom," alluding to the brooms which used to be
made of plants with the name of esparto grass (ref. genus Spartium)
- spatha'cea: means "with a spathe,"
referring to the large, colored bracts that enclose the flower cluster
(ref. Salvia
spathacea)
- spathula'ta.spathula'tum: shaped like a spatula (ref.
Ericameria
cuneata var. spathulata, Euphorbia
spathulata, Monolepis spathulata, Symphyotrichum spathulatum var. spathulatum)
- spathulifo'lium: with spatulate or spoon-shaped
leaves (ref. Sedum
spathulifolium)
- spatula'ta: spoon-shaped (ref. Nemophila
spatulata)
- specif'ica: ???(ref. Carex specifica)
- specifor'mis: the authors of this taxon, Alva Day Grant and Verne
Edwin Grant, described it as being most similar to G. c. var. speciosa,
and this may be the intended meaning of the name (ref. Gilia cana
ssp. speciformis)
- specio'sa/specio'sum/specio'sus:
showy (ref. Clarkia speciosa, Gambelia
speciosa, Oenothera
speciosa, Stipa
speciosa, Ribes
speciosum, Penstemon
speciosus)
- spectab'ile/spectab'ilis: spectacular (ref. Eriogonum spectabile, Amsinckia
spectabilis, Melica spectabilis, Penstemon
spectabilis var. spectabilis, Penstemon
spectabilis var. subviscosus, Solidago spectabilis)
- speculario'ides: like the genus Specularia, the Venus' looking
glass, from Latin speculum, "a mirror" (ref. Githopsis
specularioides)
- Sper'gula: from the Latin spargere or spargo, "to
scatter," from sowing seeds for early forage in Europe (ref.
genus Spergula)
- Spergular'ia: a Latin derivative of Spergula
(ref. genus Spergularia)
- spergulariifor'me: having the form of genus Spergularia (ref.
Polygonum douglasii ssp. spergulariiforme)
- sperguli'num: scattering (ref. Hesperolinon spergulinum)
- -sperma: a suffix which refers to seeds, e.g. platysperma, "flat-seeded,"
pterosperma, "having winged seeds," oligosperma, "few-seeded,"
disperma, "two-seeded," brachysperma, "short-seeded"
- Spermol'epis: from the Greek sperma, "seed," and
lepis, "scale," meaning "scale-seeded"
for the bristly or tubercled fruit (ref. genus Spermolepis)
- sphacela'ta: withered as if dead (ref. Setaria sphacelata)
- Sphaeral'cea: from the Greek sphaira,
"a globe," and alcea, a related genus, referring
to the spherical fruits, the common name of this genus being "globe-mallow"
(ref. genus Sphaeralcea)
- sphaer'icus: spherical (ref. Euchiton sphaericus, Lathyrus
sphaericus)
- sphaerocar'pa: from sphaira, "a globe," and karpos,
"fruit" (ref. Rorippa sphaerocarpa)
- sphaeroceph'alus: from the Greek meaning
"sphere- or round-headed" (ref. Acamptopappus
sphaerocephalus)
- Sphaeromer'ia: from the Greek sphaira, "a sphere,"
and meris, "a part, portion," thus meaning "spherical-divisioned"
(ref. genus Sphaeromeria)
- Sphaerophy'sa: from the Greek sphaira, "sphere or globe,"
and physa, "bladder," thus "sphere bladder"
for the shape of the fruits (ref. genus Sphaerophysa)
- Sphenoph'olis: from the Greek sphen, "wedge," and
pholis or pholidos, "scale, horny scale,"
referring to the shape of the upper glume (ref. genus Sphenopholis)
- Sphenoscia'dium: from the Greek sphen,
"wedge," and sciados, "umbrella," referring
to the umbel (ref. genus Sphenosciadium)
- spi'cant: tufted
- spica'ta/spica'tum: with flowers in spikes (ref.
Distichlis
spicata, Mentha
spicata, Pseudoroegneria spicata, Trisetum spicatum)
- spi'ca-ven'ti: spica is presumably from the Latin spica, "a
point or spike, or an ear of grain" and venti refers to
the wind, so maybe this means something like "a windblown spike"
(ref. Apera spica-venti)
- spicifor'mis: spike-shaped (ref. Artemisia spiciformis)
- spiculifo'lia: with spiky leaves
- Spina'cia: from the Latin spina, "a prickle or thorn,"
derived from some Arabic or Persian word (ref. genus Spinacia)
- spines'cens: spiny (ref. Artemisia spinescens,
Glossopetalon spinescens, Menodora
spinescens)
- spinif'era: spine-bearing (ref. Atriplex spinifera)
- spino'sa/spinos'um/spinos'us:
from Latin for "thorny" (ref. Chloracantha
spinosa, Chorizanthe spinosa,
Emex spinosa, Grayia
spinosa, Koeberlinia spinosa, Tetradymia
spinosa, Xanthium
spinosum, Alternanthera spinosus, Ceanothus
spinosus, Pleiacanthus
spinosus, Psorothamnus
spinosus)
- spinosep'alum: with spiny sepals (ref. Eryngium spinosepalum)
- spinulo'sa: from the Latin for "minutely
spiny" (ref. Stillingia
spinulosa)
- Spirae'a: from the Greek speiraira, "a plant used for
wreaths or garlands", from speira, "spiral or twisted"
(ref. genus Spiraea)
- spira'lis: spiral (ref. Castilleja
minor ssp. spiralis)
- Spiran'thes: from the Greek speira, "spiral," and
anthos, "flower," referring to the coiled or spiral
character of the inflorescence, and hence the common name "ladies
tresses" (ref. genus Spiranthes)
- Spirode'la: from the Greek speira, "a cord," and
delos, "evident," meaning "visible thread"
and referring to the roots (ref. genus Spirodela)
- spis'sa: thick, crowded, dense (ref. Carex
spissa)
- spitha'mea: possibly from the Latin spithama, "a span"
(ref. Rosa spithamea)
- splen'dens: splendid (ref. Calochortus
splendens, Fouquieria
splendens, Lathyrus splendens, Saltugilia
splendens ssp. grantii, Saltugilia
splendens ssp. splendens)
- Sporob'olus: from the Greek spora
or sporos, "seed or spore," and bolis or bolos,
"a casting," in the sense of throwing or dispersing seeds, also from boleo, "to throw"
(ref. genus Sporobolus)
- Spragu'ea: named after botanical artist Isaac Sprague (1811-1895) of Cambridge, Massachusetts,
 |
|
a collaborator of Asa Gray, and an assistant to John James Audubon on an expedition up the Missouri River in 1843, on which he discovered the uncommon bird which was named in his honor. He illustrated many of the species sent back from the West to Torrey and Gray. His original drawings are mostly at the Hunt Institute for Botanical Documentation at Carnegie Mellon University, the Boston Athenaeum, the Boston Museum of Fine Arts, and Harvard University. He also |
did landscapes and ornithological painting (ref. genus Spraguea)
- springvillen'sis: of or from Springville in Tulare County (ref. Clarkia
springvillensis)
- spur'ia/spur'ium/spur'ius: false or doubtful; a species so called sometimes
has other names (ref. Kickxia spuria, Galium spurium)
- squa'lens/squa'lum: see squalida below
- squa'lida: dirty (ref. Malacothrix squalida)
- squama'ta/squama'tum/squama'tus: scaly (ref.
Lepidospartum
squamatum, Coronopus squamatus)
- squamo'sus: full of scales
- squarro'sa/squarro'sus:
means either "scaly or rough" or "with the leaves spreading
at right angles (ref. Loeflingia squarrosa, Hazardia
[formerly
Haplopappus] squarrosa var. grindelioides, Munroa
squarrosa, Grindelia squarrosus)
- stachyd'eum: from stachus and deum of uncertain meaning.
The specific epithet has something to do with having a spiciform inflorescence.
The common name of this taxon is spiked or Rocky Mountain larkspur
(ref. Delphinium stachydeum)
- stachydifo'lia: named for its resemblance (especially leaves) to
Stachys germanica (ref. Gamochaeta stachydifolia)
- Sta'chys: from the Greek stachus for
"ear of grain" or "a spike," in reference to the
spike-like form of the flowers (ref. genera Stachys and Psilostachya,
also Psoralea macrostachya)
- staechadifo'lium: according to David Hollombe, an alternative spelling
for stoechadifolium (see below) (ref. Eriophyllum staechadifolium)
- stagna'lis: found in stagnant water (ref. Callitriche stagnalis)
- stamin'ea/stamin'eus: with prominent stamens (ref. Gilia capitata
ssp. staminea, Bromus stamineus)
- stanfordia'na: after Leland Stanford, Jr. (1868-1884), beloved son
of Leland Stanford, California governor and Senator, builder of the
transcontinental railroad, and founder of Stanford University. Leland,
Jr. died of typhoid fever in Florence just short of his 16th birthday,
and was the inspiration for his father to found a great university
(ref. Arctostaphylos stanfordiana)
- Stan'leya: named for Lord Edward Smith Stanley,
13th Earl of Derby (1773-1849), an ornithologist and once president
of the Linnaean Society (ref. genus Stanleya)
- stans: erect, upright (ref. Tecoma
stans)
- stansburya'na/stansburyi:
after Howard Stansbury (1806-1863), American civil and topographical
engineer who was placed in charge of the survey of proposed canals
to unite Lake Erie and Lake Michigan with the Wabash River, and made
a survey of the James River in order to improve the harbor at Richmond,
Virginia. The following is from the Utah
History Encyclopedia: "Born in New York City in 1806, Howard
Stansbury was trained as a civil engineer. He married Helen Moody
of Detroit on 1 September 1827. The couple had two children, a daughter
and a son, the latter going on to West Point and serving in the Civil
War. In October 1828 Stansbury secured a position with the United
States Topographical Bureau as a civil engineer, and for the next
ten years was employed as a surveyor and supervisor of various public
works in the Midwest and along the Atlantic Coast. On 7 July 1838
Stansbury was granted a commission as a first lieutenant in the newly
formed Army Corps of Topographical Engineers and was advanced to captain
in 1840. From 1838 to 1849 he directed projects for the corps in the
Great Lakes region, at Portsmouth, New Hampshire, and, during the
Mexican War, at some fortifications in the Dry Tortugas in the Gulf
of Mexico. The supreme assignment of his army career was to lead an
expedition in 1849 to the valley of the Great Salt Lake. His orders
directed him to survey and map the Great Salt Lake and its valley
as well as Utah Valley; to evaluate the various emigrant roads in
the area, including the Oregon Trail; and to examine and report on
the capability of the Mormon community at Salt Lake City to provide
food and supplies for overland travelers. During the year he and his
second in command, Lieutenant J.W. Gunnison, spent in Utah, Stansbury
completed his assignment and produced a remarkable Report, which also
went through several editions as a private publication. Stansbury's
Report along with Gunnison's book, The Mormons, provided the outside
world with an objective look at the Mormons of Utah as well as with
a scientific appraisal of the resources and fauna and flora of this
section of the Great Basin. Captain Stansbury spent the next years,
until the outbreak of the Civil War, improving harbors in the Great
Lakes and building roads in Minnesota Territory. When the war came,
he was appointed as mustering officer at Columbus, Ohio, and later
was placed in charge of recruiting for the state of Wisconsin. Stansbury
served only forty-five days in this post before he died on 13 April
1863 at the age of fifty-six of "disease of the heart."
His obituary noted that his early death came as a result of the "over-exertions
and hardships" endured during his Great Salt Lake expedition.
Stansbury was buried at St. Paul, Minnesota, in 1863." (ref.
Phlox
stansburyi, Purshia stansburyana)
- Staphyl'ea: from the Greek staphyle, "a cluster,"
from the flower arrangement (ref. genus Staphylea)
- statico'ides: means "like genus Statice"
(ref. Chorizanthe
staticoides)
- steb'binsii: see Stebbinsoseris below (ref. Calystegia stebbinsii,
Elymus stebbinsii, Harmonia stebbinsii, Lewisia stebbinsii,
Lomatium stebbinsii, Madia stebbinsii, Malacothrix
stebbinsii, Monardella stebbinsii, Phacelia stebbinsii,
Poa stebbinsii)
- Stebbinsos'eris: named after George
Ledyard Stebbins, Jr. (1906-2000), an American geneticist and according
to Peter Raven the "leading plant evolutionary biologist of the
century." His UC Davis obituary recalls that he was once so absorbed
in his own thoughts that he drove 120 miles without noticing a dead
rattlesnake on the hood of his car. Another story that illustrates
his devotion to his subject has to do with the time that after noticing
an interesting plant, he drove his car into a 4-foot ditch, and giving
no indication that a problem had occurred, got out and walked over
to examine it. Another student has related that the Professor once
turned to talk to people in the back seat of his car while crossing
the San Francisco Bay Bridge and veered into the oncoming lane, fortunately
without a disaster ensuing. His undergraduate and graduate work was
done at Harvard, after which he taught at Colgate University. During
the 1920's and 1930's, evolutionists had been split between the group
that saw change happening suddenly as a result of random mutations
and the group that believed change occurred more slowly as a result
of natural selection. Stebbins was largely responsible for what came
to be known as the "modern synthesis," combining elements
from both sides into an elegant theory that Stephen Jay Gould described
as "one of the half-dozen major scientific achievements in our
century." He became a professor of genetics at UC Davis in 1950,
after spending 15 years at Berkeley and shortly after publishing Variation
and Evolution in Plants, considered to be one of the classics
in the field of modern evolution, and he retired in 1973. He loved
teaching and mentoring students, and was highly regarded by both faculty
and students alike. He remained active after his retirement, and was
one of the authors of California's Wild Gardens, a guide to
California's native plants in their natural habitats, published by
the California Native Plant Society. During his career he served at
one time or another as President of the CNPS, the Society for the
Study of Evolution, the American Society of Naturalists, the Western
Society of Naturalists, the California Botanical Society, and the
Botanical Society of America (ref. genus Stebbinsoseris)
- Stellar'ia: from the Latin stella
for "star' because of the star-like shape of the flowers or some
other feature (ref. genus Stellaria)
- stellar'is: starry, star-like, with spreading leaves or petals arranged
in a star-shaped fashion (ref. Phacelia stellaris)
- stella'ta/stella'tum/stella'tus:
same as above entry (ref. Gilia
stellata, Galium
stellatum var. eremicum, Maianthemum
stellatum, Rhagadiolus stellatus)
- stellula'ta: with small star-like markings (ref. Chorizanthe stellulata)
- Stemo'dia: abbreviated from stemodiacra, meaning "a stamen
with two tips" (ref. genus Stemodia)
- stem'on: a stamen
- stenan'tha: narrow-flowered (ref. Castilleja stenantha)
- Stenan'thium: from the Greek stenos, "narrow," and
anthos, "flower," in reference to the narrow sepals
and petals (ref. genus Stenanthium)
- steno-: narrow
- stenocar'pum/stenocar'pus: narrow-fruited
(ref. Nama
stenocarpum, Caulanthus stenocarpus)
- stenol'epis: narrow-scaled (ref. Tetradymia
stenolepis)
- stenolo'ba: narrow-lobed (ref. Draba stenoloba)
- Stenomes'son: from the Greek stenos,
"narrow," and messos, "middle," from the
shape of the flower (ref. genus Stenomesson)
- stenopet'alum: with narrow petals (ref.
Sedum stenopetalum, Thelypodium
stenopetalum)
- stenophyl'lus: narrow-leaved (ref. Rumex stenophyllus, Stenotus
stenophyllus)
- Stenotaph'rum: from the Greek stenos, "narrow,"
and taphros, "a trench or ditch," referring to the
depressions or cavities in the axis of the inflorescence (ref. genus
Stenotaphrum)
- Steno'tus: from the Greek for "narrowness" from the leaf width (ref. genus
Stenotus)
- Stephanomer'ia: derived from the Greek
stephane, "wreath or crown," and meros, "division"
(ref. genus Stephanomeria)
- ste'phensii: after Frank Stephens (1849-1937) Following are a couple
of quotes from an article I found online called "Frank Stephens,
Pioneer" by Laurence Huey from May, 1938: "Frank Stephens,
who may well be termed one of the few truly pioneer naturalists of
the Southwest, was born in Livingston County, New York, April 2, 1849,
and he died in his eighty-ninth year at San Diego, California, October
5, 1937. [He] always loved the desert ... about 1910 he took up a
desert claim, in La Puerta Valley in eastern San Diego County. During
the next few years he used his spare time to make collections of the
various birds and mammals he found about the place. These specimens,
like most of those he had taken during his pioneer days, were sold
to help provide living expenses. William Brewster, C. Hart Merriam,
C.K. Worthen, Universirty of California and Donald R. Dickey were
some of the more notable purchasers. In 1910, however, he donated
his main collection of some 2000 birds and mammals to the San Diego
Society of Natural History, and upon the foundation of this gift has
been built all the the Society's subsequent activity in the field
of vertebrate research. Stephens' ranch at La Puerta was destined,
in the years that followed, to be the focal point for field adventures
of a number of budding young naturalists, and he never failed to foster
their enthusiasm either by being a member of their party or by entertaining
them if he happened to be there when they arrived." During
the years 1915-1917 he and his wife, Kate Stephens, who would become
the nationally recognized naturalist and paleontologist who served
as Curator of Collections for the San Diego Society of Natural History
and later as Curator of Mollusks & Marine Invertebrates, spent
a great deal of time developing a public natural history museum for
San Diego. "As evidence of the high regard in which Stephens
was held by his fellow scientists, we know that at least fourteen
new species or subspecies were named in his honor, three birds, six
mammals, one reptile, one plant, two insects, and one mollusk. He
joined the American Ornithologists' Union as an associate in 1883
and was honored by membership in 1901. He joined the Cooper Ornithological
Club in 1894 and was made an honorary member in 1912. He was designated
a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science
in 1926, and prior to 1923 was elected both a Patron and a Fellow
of the San Diego Society of Natural History. He was a charter member
of the Zoological Society of San Diego and was one of the five founders
of San Diego's now famous zoo. He was also a member of the Biological
Society of Washington and a charter member of the American Society
of Mammalogists. The most important trip ever made by Frank Stephens
on his own account was primarily in the interest of his book on California
mammals, which was published in 1906 after many years of preparation."
(ref. Penstemon stephensii)
- ste'phensonii: after James Burton Stephenson
(1882-1944), a U.S. Forest Service ranger. "James Burton Stephenson
was born in Texas but came to Orange [County, California] with his
brother, Terry, after the death of their mother when they were children.
A graduate of Santa Ana High School, where he was known as "Eric
the Red" because of his flaming hair, he went to Stanford University
with the reputation as a football star which he lived up to, making
the varsity as a freshman. He left college in 1906 to join the
Forest Service which was just being created. His headquarters
were first at El Toro, then in Corona. In 1921 he became a liaison
officer beteen the Air Force and the Forest Service. He took
charge of the Palomar ranger district and then established the ranger
station at Descanso. An almost legendary figure of southern
California's back country, Stephenson fought fires, blazed trails,
planted trees, directed and educated travellers in the tree and brush
country, operated lookouts, directed searching parties for lost persons,
sent rescue parties to snowbound mountaineers and in numerous other
ways carried on the duties of the ranger." [Information
from the Santa Ana Register and supplied by David Hollombe] (ref.
Hesperocyparis stephensonii)
- ste'rilis: infertile, sterile (ref. Avena sterilis, Bromus
sterilis)
- stevio'ides: I'm not sure about this, but
there is a genus Stevia in the Asteraceae that includes some 240 species that are native to subtropical and tropical regions from western North America to South America. One of these species, Stevia rebaudiana,called honey-leaf or sweet-leaf, is the plant from which the artificial sweetener Stevia is derived. It was
named after Petrus Jacobus Stevus (Pedro Jaime Esteve) (1500-1566), a Spanish botanist and physician, professor of medicine and mathematics at the University of Valencia, author of commentaries on Nicander and Hippocrates, and of an unpublished flora of the Kingdom of Valencia, and a leading figure in the humanist movement in Spain. From the form of the name stevioides, I think it likely that it means
"like Stevia," and the individual flowers of S. rebaudiana are remarkably similar to those of Chaenactis stevioides. The name has been used elsewhere in taxonomy, with Ageratina/Eupatorium stevioides and Revealia stevioides, which is a synonym for the monotypic species Revealia macrocephala, but I have been unable to find pictures of those species to see if they are also similar in appearance to Chaenactis stevioides (ref. Chaenactis
stevioides)
- Stillin'gia: named after Dr. Benjamin Stillingfleet
(1702-1771), a British botanist and the author of the first English
language work on the principles of Linnaeus (ref. genus Stillingia)
- still'manii: after Dr. Jacob David [his second name was sometimes
recorded as Davis] Babcock Stillman (1819-1888), known as JDB. "He
was a physician, born in Schenectady, New York in 1819. He came to
California in 1849 via Cape Horn. He wrote an account of his journey,
Seeking the Golden Fleece, the first of several books about
his travels. Stillman was a friend of and partners with Mark Hopkins,
Charles Crocker, and James Flood. He founded the first hospital in
Sacramento and the first medical society in California; was the Coroner
of the City and County of San Francisco and a San Quentin physician;
was the personal physician to Governor Leland Stanford and his family;
was one of first medical professors at UCSF; and was a botanist and
viticulturist who produced some of the earliest wines in California.
In 1880 he retired from medicine and moved to Redlands where he farmed
800 acres. JDB died March 2, 1888 in Redlands." (Quoted from
the website of the San
Anselmo Historical Museum) Stillman was granted a scholarship
to attend Union University in Schenectady, the first non-denominational
college in the United States and graduated with majors in botany and
biology. Apparently he received medical training because he became
a physician and surgeon, yet another of the many individuals who found
a nexus between medicine and botany. His book An 1850 Voyage, San
Francisco to Baltimore, By Sea and Land describes an amazing journey
that involved shipwrecks, rescues at sea, the sinking of canoes on
Lake Nicaragua, an accidental poisoning and events too numerous to
recount here. Upon returning to New York he again took up a medical
practice and the next few years included the death of his first wife,
his remarriage and his travels through Europe with the Governor of
California. Soon after returning from Europe, he travelled throughout
Texas considering it as a place to relocate. This was another epic
of adventure he described in Wanderings in the Southwest, which
included many vivid descriptions of flowers, birds, animals, and trees,
and dangerous encounters with hostile indians. Evidently he reconsidered
his earlier thoughts about moving to Texas, because he soon returned
to California, where he lived for the rest of his life. Most of his
time was taken up by medical matters, but he is also recorded as standing
next to Governor Stanford at the Golden Spike ceremony officially
completing the transcontinental railroad. His final years also included
more trips to Europe and around the world, often filled with botanical
observations, a book on horse anatomy, his position as chair of the
incorporation committee for the city of Redlands, and significant
work in developing the California wine industry. Among his six children
were represented the major occupations, one a Vice-President of Stanford
University, one a physician, one an attorney and another an engineer
(ref. Achnatherum stillmanii, Coreopsis stillmanii)
- Sti'pa: from the Greek stupe or stuppeion, "tow, flax, fiber, cordage," for the feathery or plumose inflorescences (ref. genus Stipa)
- stipa'ta: from the Latin stipatus, "compressed, surrounded"
(ref. Carex stipata)
- stipita'tum/stipita'tus: borne on a stipe or stalk (ref. Isopyrum
stipitatum, Lepidium fremontii var. stipitatum, Plagiobothrys
stipitatus)
- stipo'ides: resembling genus Stipa (ref. Piptochaetium stipoides)
- stipula'ceum: having stipules or well-developed stipules (ref. Polygonum
amphibium var. stipulaceum)
- stipular'is: having stipules (ref. Lotus stipularis, Sidalcea
stipularis)
- stipulif'era: stipule-bearing (ref. Forsellesia stipulifera,
now placed in Glossopetalon spinescens)
- sti'versii: named after Dr. Charles Austin Stivers (c. 1837/1845? -1888)
of San Francisco, a collector of
California plants. "Probably no two independent workers in botany
would be likely to agree upon the specific limitations of any Californian
species of Lupinus and their various forms with the exception
of one species. That exception is Lupinus stiversi, an annual
of the higher foothills of the Sierra Nevada. With yellow banner and
rose-pink wings it is a most beautiful species which is never mistaken
by even the novice, nor confused with any other member of the genus." (Jepson, 1933)
It was discovered by Charles Austin Stivers, U. S. A.,
often cited as an Army Lieutenant, at Summit Meadow on the Mariposa trail to Yosemite in or about the
year 1862, and was named in his honor by Dr. Albert Kellogg (Proc.
Cal. Acad. 2:192,-1862). Of Charles Stivers little is known. He
held the degree of Doctor of Medicine, and was at one time especially
interested in the study of the marine algae. His name is mentioned
occasionally in the pages of early proceedings of the Cal. Acad. Sci.
(from Willis Lynn Jepson, Madrono vol 2 page 28). David Hollombe provides
the following information: "Stivers was born in New York, probably
New York City or somewhere on Long Island. (His father was Daniel
Albertson Stivers from Matinecock, Long Island and I suspect he may
have been the D. A. Stivers who came to California in 1849 with John
Woodhouse Audubon, John Boardman Trask, etc.) Though Kellogg refers
to Lieutenant Stivers I haven't found his name on any Army records.
He edited California Horticulturist from April through November,
1871. His age was given as 50 in the first newspaper reports of his
death, later changed to 51, and this agrees with the 1880 census and
voting registers. The age given in the 1860 census (17) is probably
an error. (He is listed as female and his initials are reversed.)
He received his M.D. at Tolland Medical College in San Francisco (later
UCSF Medical School). And from the San Francisco Chronicle
Nov. 5, 1888: "Dr. Stivers, who was well known in this city,
died suddenly yesterday morning at his residence on Washington street.
He was Dr. Blach's assistant when the latter was first appointed City
Physician and was also the first Police Surgeon of of the city. During
his regime he established the city receiving hospital." (ref.
Lupinus stiversii)
- stoe'be: The PlantzAfrica website says that the name of the genus
Stoebe is from the Greek stoibe, "stuffing, padding or heap."
It was apparently used for packing wine jars and making brooms and
bedding. Umberto Quattrocchi gives the following, also for the genus
Stoebe: "Greek steibein, stibo "to
tread firmly," stoibe "thorny burnet, a species of
Poterium," Latin stoebe, es for a plant,
called also pheos (Plinius)." From David Hollombe: "stoibe,
name used by Dioscorides for Poterium spinosum, also meaning
a cushion or pad" (ref. Centaurea stoebe ssp. micranthos)
- stoechadifo'lia: with leaves like lavender, from Lavandula stoechas
or Spanish lavender or French lavender. I have found two etymologies
for the name Stoechades: (1) Stoechas was a Greek name for a plant
in the mint family which grew on a group of islands off the coast
of France now called the Ile de Hyeres where this species apparently
grew; and (2) "The Greeks had named these islands "Stoechades",
"the rows," undoubtedly because for a sailor who enters
the roads they appear to form an alignment. Other archipelagoes in
the Mediterranean bore names thus indicating the position of the islands.
For example, Kikladhes, at Aegean Sea, laid out in a circle, Sporades
(today Dodecanese) because they are scattered." (From a website
about the Frioul Islands) The derivation of the term lavender is interesting
as well. "Romans used lavender oils for bathing, cooking, and
scenting the air, and they most likely gave it the Latin root name
(either lavare-to wash or livendula- livid or bluish) from which we
derive the modern name" (From The
History of Lavender). In 12th to 15th century Middle English,
washerwomen were called 'lavanders' or 'lavenders', and 'to lavender'
meant 'to launder,' and they used the plant which had a pleasant smell
to scent drawers and freshen the clothes (ref. Arctotis stoechadifolia)
- stolonif'era/stolonif'erum: bearing stolons or runners (ref. Cornus
stolonifera, Dudleya stolonifera, Sparganium erectum
ssp. stoloniferum)
- stonea'na: after Jennifer Susan Stone (1949-2000). An In Memorium
essay in Fremontia provided the following: "Jennifer Stone, plant
ecologist for the U. S. Navy, Navy Facility Engineering Command (NAVFAC),
Engineering Field Division Southwest, San Diego, passed away on April
3, 2000, after a long battle with cancer. Jennifer was a vital member
of the San Diego Chapter of CNPS, serving as President in 1999 and
contributing energetically to that chapter's activities, particularly
the plant sale. Some of Jennifer's projects as a Naval plant ecologist
included work on San Clemente Island and with UCLA on sludge remediation,
wetland restoration, and wetland monitoring." (ref. Monardella
stoneana)
- stramin'eum/stram'ineus: straw-colored (ref.
Pseudognaphalium
stramineum)
- straminifor'mis: like straw (ref. Carex straminiformis)
- stramon'ium: spiky-fruited, and a name used by Theophrastus for the
thorn-apple (ref. Datura stramonium)
- stratio'tes: from the Greek for "soldier," applied to this
aquatic herb on account of its sword-shaped leaves (ref. Pistia
stratiotes)
- Strelit'zia: after Charlotte Sophia of Mecklenburg-Strelitz
(1744-1818) who married King George III in 1761 (ref. genus Strelitzia)
- Streptanthel'la: a diminutive form of
Streptanthus (ref. genus Streptanthella)
- streptanthifo'lius: with leaves like Streptanthus (ref. Senecio
streptanthifolius)
- Streptan'thus: from the Greek streptas,
"twisted," and anthos, "flower" (ref. genus
Streptanthus)
- streptocar'pa: with twisted fruit
- Strepto'pus: from the Greek streptos, twisted," and pous,
"foot," alluding to the twisted stalks of the flowers (ref.
genus Streptopus)
- stria'ta/stria'tus: striped (ref. Corallorhiza
striata, Fritillaria striata, Glyceria striata, Calochortus
striatus, Cytisus
striatus)
- stric'ta/stric'tum/stric'tus: upright (ref. Calamagrostis
stricta, Grindelia
stricta var. platyphylla, Melica stricta, Monardella
linoides ssp. stricta, Monolopia stricta, Oenothera stricta, Chenopodium
strictum, Lepidium strictum, Plagiobothrys strictus)
- strigo'sa/strigo'sus: strigose, that is, covered
with straight, flat-lying hairs (ref. Avena strigosa, Parapholis
strigosa, Lotus
strigosus)
- Strigosel'la: with bristly hairs (ref. genus Strigosella)
- strigulo'sa: minutely strigose (ref. Camissonia
strigulosa)
- strobila'cea: of or pertaining to a cone,
cone-like (ref. Boschniakia
strobilacea)
- strobili'na: from the Greek strobilos, "anything twisted,
a cone," (ref. Hoita strobilina)
- strombulif'era: from the Greek strombos and the Latin strombus,
"a turban, a top, also a kind of spiral snail," referring
to the tightly coiled fruit (ref. Prosopis strombulifera)
- strumar'ium: of or pertaining to tumors
or ulcers (ref. Xanthium
strumarium)
- strumo'sa: having tubercles
- Stucken'ia: named after the German botanist Wilhelm Adolf Stucken
(1860-1901). David Hollombe sent me this: "All I have on Stucken
is that he was born in Bremen, Germany and died in Zellerfeld and
that his specimens are at the Ubersee Museum, Bremen, and that some
of his plants were collected in Australia and some (30) in America."
(ref. genus Stuckenia)
- Stut'zia: for Howard Coombs Stutz (1918-2010), retired professor of genetics at Brigham Young University, studied plants in North America, Europe, the Middle East and Australia, published more than 80 papers and recently completed a book on science and evolution. He was an instructor at BYU for almost 40 years, and he and his wife were married for 70 years. (Obituary in Utah Valley's Daily Herald Jul.25, 2010) (ref. genus Stutzia)
- Stylocli'ne: from the Greek stulos
for "column" and kline, "a bed," from the
long receptacle (ref. genus Stylocline)
- Stylome'con: from the Greek stylus,
"a style," and mekon, "poppy," describing
the shape of the style (ref. genus Stylomecon)
- stylo'sa: with a prominent or well-developed style
- styraciflu'a: flowering with gum, see following entry (ref. Liquidambar
styraciflua)
- Sty'rax: the classical Greek name used by Theophrastus
and derived from a Semitic name for these resin-producing plants from
which was collected the gum storax (ref. genus Styrax)
- Suae'da: an Arabic name of antiquity (ref. genus
Suaeda)
- sua've: sweet (ref. Sium suave)
- suaveo'lens: sweetly-smelling (ref. Cuscuta suaveolens, Phacelia
suaveolens)
- sub-: below, under, almost, approaching, somewhat, rather (used
before words beginning with most consonants, but see suc-, suf-, sug-)
- subacau'lis: without much of a stem (ref. Calystegia subacaulis,
Camissonia subacaulis)
- subalpin'um: inhabiting mountain ranges below the alpine level (ref.
Dodecatheon subalpinum)
- subar'idum: from sub- in compound words meaning
"somewhat, almost, slightly, partially" and aridum meaning
"growing in dry places" (ref. Eriogonum
umbellatum var. subaridum)
- subbiflor'um: from the roots sub- for 'under, below, somewhat, almost, rather, partially,' and -biflorum for 'two-flowered' (ref. Galium trifidum ssp. subbiflorum)
- subbractea'ta: not quite bracted, bearing structures that approach
being bracts (ref. Carex subbracteata)
- subcarina'ta: havings the beginnings of a keel
- subconges'ta: becoming crowded (ref. Luzula subcongesta)
- subcorda'ta: rather heart-shaped (ref. Arctostaphylos tomentosa
ssp. subcordata)
- suberec'ta: not quite erect (ref. Atriplex suberecta)
- subero'sa: corky-textured
- subfus'ca: darkish or brownish, not quite brownish (ref. Carex subfusca)
- subglab'ra: not quite glabrous (ref. Phacelia ramosissima var.
subglabra)
- subglobo'sum: not quite but approaching globose, globe-shaped or
spherical (ref. Delphinium parishii ssp. subglobosum)
- subinclu'sa: from sub-, "almost,
approaching," and inclusa, from Latin inclusus, "confined,
shut up, included," therefore meaning "almost included,"
and referring to the anthers which in this species are almost included
within the corolla (ref. Castilleja subinclusa, Cuscuta
subinclusa)
- sublae'vis: not quite smooth (ref. Arctostaphylos bakeri ssp.
sublaevis)
- subnig'ricans: approaching a color of blackish (ref. Carex subnigricans)
- subnu'da: from the prefix sub-, "somewhat, almost, partially"
and nudus, "naked, uncovered" (ref. Plantago subnuda)
- subova'tum: somewhat ovate (ref. Bupleurum subovatum)
- subpinnatifi'da: somewhat pinnately cut or cleft (ref. Arabis
subpinnatifida)
- subpinna'tus: somewhat pinnate (ref. Lotus subpinnatus)
- subrig'idus: somewhat but not quite rigid (ref. Ranunculus aquatilus
var. subrigidus)
- subsal'inum: growing in somewhat saline places (ref. Trifolium
variegatum var. subsalinum)
- subscapo'sum: somewhat or becoming scapose
(ref. Eriogonum wrightii var. subscaposum)
- subses'sile: somewhat sessile (ref. Antirrhinum nuttalianum ssp.
subsessile)
- subspica'ta: somewhat (approaching being)
spiked (ref. Lonicera
subspicata var. denudata, Madia subspicata)
- subspino'sa: somewhat spinose (ref. Polygala subspinosa)
- subtermina'lis: the prefix sub- in compound
words signifies somewhat, almost, rather, slightly, partially etc.,
and terminalis means terminal, relating to boundaries in some way,
and since this species lives at the uppermost boundary of the salt
marsh, that may be why it has this name (ref. Salicornia
subterminalis, Scirpus subterminalis)
- subterran'eum: underground (ref. Trifolium subterraneum)
- Subular'ia: from the Latin subula, "an awl or small weapon,"
from the shape of some leaves (ref. genus Subularia)
- subula'ta/subula'tum/subula'tus:
awl-shaped (ref. Asclepias
subulata, Festuca subulata, Melica subulata,
Symphyotrichum
subulatum var. parviflorum)
- subuliflor'a: with flowers shaped like awls (ref. Festuca subuliflora)
- subulig'era: I had thought this was possibly from uligo or
uliginis, "moisture, marshiness " and the sub-
prefix meaning "almost, rather, somewhat." Such a meaning
would fit the habitat for this taxon as wet places. But David Hollombe
says the derivation is from subula, "awl," and gero,
"to bear, to carry," and this is in accord with the Jepson
Manual's common name which is 'awl-leaved navarretia.' He further
provided the information that Greene's description of Navarretia
subuligera includes the following: "Leaves pinnately parted,
the segments subulate [awl-shaped] and rigid." (ref. Navarretia
subuligera)
- subumbella'ta: somewhat umbelled (ref. Draba subumbellata,
Rorippa subumbellata)
- subvesti'tus: from the prefix sub- in compound words used
to indicate "somewhat, almost, rather, slightly, partially"
and vestitus, "covered, clothed, usually with hairs"
(ref. Micropus californicus var. subvestitus)
- subvillo'sa: with rather soft hairs, somewhat villous (ref. Arabis
sparsiflora var. subvillosa)
- subvisco'sa/subvisco'sus: slightly sticky
or viscous (ref. Penstemon spectabilis var. subviscosus)
- suc-: see sub- (used for words beginning with c)
- succi'sa: appearing bitten or broken off
- succulen'ta/succulen'tus: thick and fleshy,
juicy, from the roots succus, "juice," and -ulentus,
a suffix indicating an abundance of (ref. Castilleja campestris
ssp. succulenta, Lupinus
succulentus)
- su'dans: sweating (ref. Penstemon sudans)
- suf-: see sub- (used for words beginning with f)
- suffla'tus: inflated (ref. Astragalus cimae var. sufflatus)
- suffrutes'cens: woody at the base (ref. Erysimum suffrutescens, Oenothera suffrutescens, Primula suffrutescens)
- suffrutico'sa/suffrutico'sus: very low,
barely woody and shrub-like, somewhat shrubby (ref. Camissoniopsis
cheiranthifolia ssp. suffruticosa, Ericameria suffruticosus)
- suffusus: tinged
- sug-: see sub- (used before words beginning with g)
- Suksdorf'ia: see entry below (ref. genus Suksdorfia)
- suks'dorfii/suksdorf'ii: after Wilhelm Nikolaus Suksdorf
(1850-1932), a German born near Kiel who emigrated with his family
to Iowa at the age of 8 and began his interest in botany there, continuing
it in California where he later moved and began studies in a science/agriculture
course at the University of California in 1876. The summer vacation
of the year before he had begun serious collecting of Washington state
plants which he focused on for the remainder of his life. He corresponded
with Harvard's Asa Gray because the flora of Washington was not well-known
or identified, and for a brief period, 1886-1888, became Gray's assistant.
A series of physical and mental problems with which he was to be plagued
throughout his life conspired to end this position. He was not very
well known during much of his career, in part because of his preference
for writing and publishing in the German language, so many of his
articles appeared either in German and Austrian periodicals, or in
obscure American journals which would carry German-language articles.
Much of his collecting was done near his home, which was in the Columbia
River region of Washington, but because he lived where he did, he
was exposed to a wide variety of flora. He did however make some collecting
trips to the Spokane area of Washington, also to parts of Oregon and
Idaho that are near to Washington, to one location in Montana, and
finally he made one major collecting trip to California in 1913. It
was often difficult for later botanists to locate many of his collecting
sites, because he had a habit of giving them German or highly romanticized
names in his notes that did not correspond to any English language
maps. He also used a shorthand system of symbols and abbreviations
that he didn't bother to explain, which further compounded the problem.
But thanks to the herculean labors of graduate student William Weber,
who matched the symbols in his notebooks with those on plant collection
sheets, and also produced a complete itinerary of all Suksdorf's collecting
trips over 57 years, thereby revealing the locations of virtually
all his sites. Suksdorf corresponded with dozens of the country's
most important botanists, collected innumerable plant species, pressing,
identifying and mounting some 150,000 specimens over his lifetime.
In the 1920's he was a special fellow at the herbarium of Washington
State University for two winters. He had a preference for field botany
over laboratory botany, and he tended to be a splitter of species.
He had little regard for the study of plants that took place away
from the field, but nevertheless he made a great contribution to the
knowledge of western botany. His specimen sheets reside in many of
the world's major herbaria, and some 70 species, sub-species and varieties,
plus one genus, bear his name. It is generally accepted that he had
encountered every species that existed in his area of study. He died
in a freak railroad accident near his home in 1932 (ref. Artemisia
suksdorfii, Bromus suksdorfii, Mimulus
suksdorfii)
- sul'ca/sulca'ta/sulca'tum: furrowed (ref. Eriogonum heermannii var.
sulcatum)
- sulfur'ea: see sulphurea below
- sulphur'ea/sulphur'eus: sulpher-yellow (ref. Centaurea sulphurea,
Lathyrus sulphureus)
- sumatren'sis: of or referring to Sumatra (ref. Erigeron sumatrensis)
- super-: above
- super'ba/super'bus: superb (ref. Phlox superba, Calochortus
superbus)
- supi'na: prostrate (ref. Euphorbia supina, Linaria supina)
- supinifor'mis: having a prostrate form (ref. Juncus supiniformis)
- sup'plex: humble (ref. Erigeron supplex)
- supra-: above, over
- Swallen'ia: after American agrostologist
and taxonomist Jason Richard Swallen (1903-1991). "Jason was
born May 1, 1903, in Alliance, Ohio. He earned a BA from Ohio Wesleyan
University in 1924 and an MS from Kansas State Agricultural College
in 1925, doing a thesis on the Ranales of Kansas. He spent two summers
at the Michigan University Biological Station. In 1954 he was awarded
an honorary DSc by his Ohio Alma Mater. In 1925 he started as a junior
botanist (1925-31) at the U.S. Department of Agriculture, serving
under the great agrostologists, A. S. Hitchcock and Agnes Chase, and
began collecting (California, 1927, Southwest and into Mexico 1928,
1931, 1932 to Yucatan). After the sudden death of A. S. Hitchcock
in 1935 he began actively publishing with Agnes Chase. In 1936 he
published on the grasses of Honduras and Peten ( Guatemala) and was
promoted to assistant botanist and then associate botanist. From 1943
to 1945 he was agricultural production officer in the State Department
(Office of Inter-American Affairs), serving in Brazil. In 1947, he
became the curator of the Division of Grasses at the Smithsonian and
became chairman of the Botany Department (head curator) in 1950, responsibilities
he served until his retirement in 1965. After retirement he lived
in Florida, Maryland, and Ohio. Two grass genera, Swallenia
Soderstrom & Decker (1950) and Swallenochloa McClure (1973),
were named for him, as well as a number of species, the first being
Eragrostis swallenii A. S. Hitchcock (1933) and the last Festuca
swallenii Alexeev (1981). He was elected to the Washington Biologists'
Field Club in 1932, served as treasurer, president (1948-51), and
was awarded an honorary membership in 1974. On April 22, 1991, he
died in Delaware, Ohio, about 6 months after his second wife, Clara
(Brazel), passed away." (Quoted from a website of the Washington
Biologists Field Club). He was also the author of New Grasses
of Mexico, Central America and Surinam, published in 1950 (ref.
genus Swallenia)
- Swer'tia: named after Emanuel Sweert (1552-1612)
(sometimes spelled as Swert or Sweerts), a Dutch florist, botanist,
artist and author of his Florilegium, or Flowering Plants
(ref. genus Swertia)
- Syag'rus: from the Latin name syagrus used by Pliny for a
kind of palm-tree (ref. genus Syagrus)
- sylvat'ica: of or growing in woods, sylvan (ref. Microseris sylvatica)
- sylves'tris: growing in woods, forest-loving, wild (ref. Malva
sylvestris)
- Symphoricar'pos: from the Greek symphorein,
"borne together," and karpos, "fruit,"
and so meaning "fruit borne together" because of the clustered
berries (ref. genus Symphoricarpos)
- Symphyotri'chum: from the Greek symphysis, for "borne
together or growing together, coalescing," and trichos
or trichinos, "hair, a single hair" (ref. genus Symphyotrichum)
- Symphy'tum: from the Greek sympho or symphein, "to
grow together," and phyton, "plant," together
being a name symphyton used by Dioscorides for the plant called
comfrey which was reputed to heal wounds (ref. genus Symphytum)
- Syntrichopap'pus: from the the Greek
syn, "together," thrix, "hair,"
and pappos, "pappus," from the fused pappus bristles
(ref. genus Syntrichopappus)
- syntro'phus: the roots of this specific epithet would appear to be
the Greek syn, "together," and trophos, perhaps
"one who is fed, well-fed or well-nourished." One website
gave the derivation as from the Greek syntrophos, "foster
brother, one reared in the same house" but that was for the prokaryotic
genus Syntrophus and may not apply here. David Hollombe sent
this: "thriving together, which relates to the plants' clustered
growth habit, edaphic soil preference, stable morphology and allopatric
distribution" (ref. Calochortus syntrophus)
- syria'cum: Syrian (ref. Euclidium syriacum)
- Synth'yris: from the Greek syn, "together," and
thyris, "a small door," referring to the fruit valves
(ref. genus Synthyris)
- Systenothe'ca: from the Greek systenos, "narrow, tapering
to a point" and theke, "a box or case," alluding
to the shape of the involucre teeth (ref. genus Systenotheca)
- sys'tyla: David Hollombe sent me the following information: "Originally
described as a species of Nama, in which 'The connate styles,
united for more than two thirds their length, are peculiar to this
species' ["Stylis longe ultra medium connatis inferne..."]
(Asa Gray, in Proceedings of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences)"
(ref. Draperia systyla)
- syzigach'ne: derived from the Greek syzygos,
"a joining or yoking together," and achne, "anything
shaved off, froth, foam, down, chaff," from the glumes which tend to stick together by their tips (ref. Beckmannia syzigachne)
- Syzyg'ium: from the Greek syzygos, "coupled, joined,
united" (ref. genus Syzygium)
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