Cabom'ba: derived from an indigenous possibly aboriginal name for an aquatic plant in Guiana. The genus Cabomba was published by Jean Baptiste Christophe Fusée Aublet in 1775 and is called fanwort.

Caca'lia: Gledhill says "very hurtful," from the name kakalia used by Dioscorides for a plant called coltsfoot, but no other sources explain this except for Stearn saying that Cacalia is a genus of virtually no garden interest.. The genus Cacalia was published by Carl Linnaeus in 1753 and this name has been rejected as illegitimate, however Tropicos does list a genus Cacalia published by Carl Ernst Otto Kuntze in 1891 which appretly replaced Linnaeus's Cacalia.

cadu'ca: transient, not persisting. There is also a hybrid species Quercus Xcaduca with parents Q. incana and Q. nigra.

caeru'lea: blue.

caerules'cens: becoming bluish.

caesarien'se/caesarien'sis: at first I drew a blank on this name whose derivation and meaning were not listed anywhere. Pliny derives caesarian from caesaries "a head of hair," because the future emperor was born with a full one. Obviously the name has a linguistic relationship to the title Caesar, and to the caesarian delivery of a child by cutting through the abdomen of the mother, but how that relates is puzzling. There were three provinces with the name in the ancient world, Flavia Caesariensis in northern Roman Britain, Maxima Caesariensis in southern Roman Britain, and Mauretania Caesariensis in North Africa, and Caesarea is also the name of towns in Palestine, Turkey, Mauritania and elsewhere. David Gledhill lists the name caesarius as meaning "imperial" (i.e. of Caesar), but I noticed in many websites that despite the fact that Juncus caesariensis ranges from North Carolina to Nova Scotia, it nevertheless has the common name of New Jersey rush. Common names often provide a clue, and so, following up on this, I discovered that New Jersey used to be called Nova Caesaria. It turns out that during the English Civil War, Sir George Carteret, the Governor of the Isle of Jersey in the English Channel, the name of which was thought by some to be derived from the name Caesarea of a Roman settlement during the height of the Roman Empire, sheltered King Charles' young son (the future Charles II) and defended the Isle for the royal family. Because of his loyalty to the crown, a grant of land in the New World between the Hudson River and the Delaware River was made by King Charles II to Carteret and another loyalist named Berkeley. That grant specifically said "which said tract of land is hereafter to be called by the name or names of New Caesarea or New Jersey." It is believed that through the years the spelling and pronunciation of Caesarea had been anglicized until it became “Jersey.” King Charles I was beheaded in 1649 and thus began the so-called Interregnum presided over by Oliver Cromwell. After Cromwell died in 1658 and the Restoration of the monarchy took place in 1660, King Charles II ruled over England, Scotland and Ireland until his death in 1685. I thank Robert Rosetta for his fascinating historical explanation of a botanical mystery in a June 2014 online article in the AboutNewJersey.com Magazine of which he was probably completely unaware. The species Juncus caesariensis was published by Frederick Vernon Coville in 1894.

caes'ia: light blue in color.

caespito'sa/caespito'sum: caespitose, having a densely-clumped, tufted or cushion-like growth form, with the flowers held above the clump or tuft, alternate spelling cespitose.

Ca'kile: an old Arabic name for this plant, qaqulleh. The genus Cakile was published by Philip Miller in 1754 and is called sea rocket.

Calamagros'tis: from the Greek kalamos, "a reed or stalk," and agrostis, "grass or weed." The genus Calamagrostis was published by Michel Adanson in 1763 and is called reedgrass.

calamin'tha: beautiful mint, from the Greek name for savory, kalaminthe, from kalos, "beautiful," and minthe, "mint."

Calamovil'fa: from the Greek kalamos, "cane," and Vilfa, a grass genus. Calamovilfa is a stout long-leafed grass of sands or sandy soil, found in the Great Lake region and from the upper Missouri to Kansas. The genus Calamovilfa was published by Frank Lamson Scribner and Effie Almira Southworth in 1890 after previous descriptions by Eduard Hackel and Asa Gray. It is called sandreed.

ca'lamus: from Greek kalamos, "a reed or cane."

calcitrap'a: from the Latin caltrop, "foot trap," which is a four-pointed weapon usually positioned on the ground to impede enemy movements. In old English it was calcatrippe, "plant that trips," from Medieval Latin calcatrippa, “thistle,” from Latin calx or calcare, "a spur-like projection," and trappa, "trap or pit." The species Centaurea calcitrapa is called red or purple starthistle.

calendula'ceum: like Calendula in color, orange-colored. Rhododendron calendulaceum has orange flowers and is called the flame azalea.

calcar'icum: the usual sources didn't turn up anything but other taxa that have this as a specific epithet are called limestone something or other, and the species in question here, Trifolium calcaricum, is found in the limestone barrens of eastern U.S. so my assumption is that calcaricum is related to limestone and calcium.

Calepi'na: Flora of North America says "from Greek chalepaino, term used by Theophrastus probably in connection with weedy plants." Gledhill suggests that it is a name Michel Adanson used perhaps in reference to the Syrian city of Aleppo. The genus Calepina was published by Adanson in 1763 and is called ball mustard.

Calibracho'a: named for Antonio de la Cal y Bracho (1766-1833), Mexican botanist and pharmacologist, disciple of the group of naturalists of the botanical garden of Madrid. He came to Nueva España in 1795 to work as a senior botanist at the San Pedro hospital in the city of Puebla, where he became established and lived until the end of his life. He was a member of the Medical Surgical Academy of Puebla, the city where he founded a botanical garden in 1802. He published Ensayo para la materia médica mexicana in 1832. He died in the city of Puebla during the cholera epidemic in 1833. The genus Calia was published in 1832 by Manuel de Mier y Terán and Jean Louis Berlandier, but was ruled as an illegitimate name. The genus Calibrachoa was properly published by Vicente (Vincente) de Cervantes Mendo in 1825.

callerya'na: named for Joseph-Gaëtan-Pierre-Maxime-Marie Callery (Giuseppe Gaetano Pietro Massimo Maria Calleri

(1810-1862), an Italian-French Roman Catholic missionary. He was born in Turin where his mother was a tailor and his father a silk merchant. He studied the classics in Lyons and worked for a while as a shop clerk. He was ordained priest in 1834 following studies at the Missions étrangères de Paris. He was sent to Korea but was not able to get into the country; therefore he stayed in Macau from 1836 to 1842 when he was expelled from the Société des Missions étrangères. During his time in Macau where he established a printing press and Canton he studied the Chinese and Korean languages, and explored the

local botany and geology in his spare time, collecting over 2000 botanical specimens and other natural history items. He published an encyclopedia on the Chinese language and in 1841 he published a dictionary of Chinese in Latin, but in 1842 he was expelled from the mission and after a return to France he received a new position as an interpreter for Théodore de Lagrené's embassy in Macao. He helped in the success of the Treaty of Whampoa between the Qing dynasty and the Kingdom of France. He returned to Paris in 1846 where he lived the rest of his life. Some of his bird specimens were presented to the Turin museum and several species of plants were named after him including Pyrus calleryana and Eugenia calleryana. He also visited Java and the Philippines and many of the plant specimens he collected were unknown in Europe at the time. He married Henriette-Louise-Clémentine Quelquejeu in 1861 in Lisses, France, and two sources say he had six children with her, so they must have been together for some considerable time before their marriage, and he died just a year later at the age of 51 and was buried at the cemetery at Montmartre.

Callicar'pa: from Greek kalli, "beautiful," and karpos, "fruit." The shrubs are sometimes called beauty-berry, The genus Callicarpa was published by Carl Linnaeus in 1753.

Callirho'e: in Greek mythology, Callirhoe (or Kallirhoe, Callirrhoe) means "beautiful flow or beautiful stream." Callirhoe was one of the Oceanids, daughters of the Titans Oceanus and Tethys. She was obviously very busy and quite romantically active because Wikipedia says she had consorted with Chrysaor, Neilus, Poseidon and Manes. By Chrysaor, she became the mother of the monsters Geryon and Echidna while Chione was her daughter by the river-god of Egypt, Neilus. Meanwhile, to Poseidon, Callirhoe bore Minyas, founder of Minyan Orchomenus, and to Manes, Cotys, a king of Maeonia. Callirhoe was the naiad who became the companion of Persephone when the daughter of Demeter was abducted by the lord of the dead, Hades. Since many of the Solar System's planets and moons have names derived from mythology, it is not inapproprate that Jupiter has a moon named Callirhoe. The genus Callirhoe was published by Thomas Nuttall in 1822.

Calli'triche: from the Greek kallos, "beautiful," and trichos, "hair," because of the beautiful stems. The genus Callitriche was published by Carl Linnaeus in 1753 and is called water-starwort.

Calopo'gon: from the Greek kalos, "beautiful," and pogon, "beard," alluding to the yellow, stamen-like hairs at the top of the flower which attract pollinators.. The genus Calopogon was published by Robert Brown in 1813 and is called grass-pink because of the slender grass-like leaves.

calpoden'dron: derivation uncertain. The only thing I can discover about this epithet is Gledhill saying "estuarine tree," from the roots calpe and dendron, the latter of which means tree, but the only root I can find for calpe is kalpis, which means "an urn." After much searching I did find one obscure reference to a common name "urn tree" for Crataegus calpodendron, which stated that it was in reference to the shape of the fruit.

Cal'tha: one source says a Latin name for the marigold, while another says a Greek name for some yellow-flowered plants, possibly derived from the ancient Greek word kalathos, meaning "goblet," and said to refer to the shape of the flower. The genus Caltha was published by Carl Linnaeus in 1753 and is called marsh-marigold or cowslip.

cal'viceps: with a hairless head, from Latin calvus, "hairless, smooth," and ceps, "head."

Calycan'thus: calyx-flower, from the Greek kalyx, "covering, cup, calyx," and anthos, "flower," and referring to the similarity between the sepals and petals. An alternative derivation is suggested in a website on European trees, to wit, canthus is a Latin word which means "the wheel" or "the iron band which encircles the wheel," in allusion to the radial form of the flower." Stearn says "The calyx and the petals are the same color." The genus Calycanthus is called sweet-shrub or carolina allspice and was published by Carl Linnaeus in 1759.

calyci'na: calyx-like, with a persistent calyx.

calyco'sus: having a full calyx.

Calyste'gia: from two Greek words kalux, "cup," and stegos, "a covering," and thus meaning "a covering cup," with reference to the large bracts concealing the calyx. The genus Calystegia was published by Robert Brown in 1810 and is called bindweed or false bindweed.

Camas'sia: from native American words camas and quamash for "sweet" in reference to the importance of this plant as a food source. Wikipedia says: "Qém'es, a term for the plant's bulb, which was gathered and used as a food source by tribes in the Pacific Northwest, and was an important food source for the Lewis and Clark Expedition (1804–1806). The bulbs are or were harvested and pit-roasted or boiled by women of the Nez Perce, Cree, and Blackfoot tribes. The genus Camassia was published by John Lindley in 1832 and is called wild hyacinth, quamash lily and camas lily.

Camelin'a: Wikipedia says "The name Camelina comes from the Greek for "ground" and "flax", alluding to its being a weed which suppresses the vigour of flax crops," and Flora of North America expands on that by saying "Greek chamai, "dwarf or on the ground," and linon, "flax," alluding to its suppressing influence on the growth of flax." Gledhill, unhelpfully, just says "A name used by l'Obel." The genus Camelina was published by Heinrich Johann Crantz in 1769 and is commonly called false flax.

Campan'ula: small bell, a diminutive of the late Latin campana, "a bell," alluding to the bell-like form of the flower. Species in this family are called bellflowers. Campanula was published in 1753 by Carl Linnaeus.

campanula'ta: bell-shaped, from Latin campana, "bell."

Campanulastrum: resembling a Campanula. The suffix -astrum is a little problematic. Used for Apiastrum it apparently connotes "something wild." For the epithet Eriastrum, the meaning has something to do with stars ot being starlike. For Funastrum it is suggested that it alludes to the twining stems. For Loeseliastrum it supposedly indicates resemblance to Loeselia. For arenastrum and Portulacastrum, two derivations are given, resemblance and starlike.

campes'tre/campes'tris: of the fields or open plains.

camphora'ta: pertaining to or resembling camphor.

campor'um: relating to plains or fields, from Latin campus, "a plain, field, open country, level place."

Camp'sis: from the Greek kampe for "something bent," alluding to the curved stamens of these climbing plants. The genus Campsis was published in 1790 by João Loureiro, and it is known as trumpet-creeper.

campylop'tera: curved wing, from Latin campylo, "curved," and pteron or pteris, "wing."

canaden'se/canaden'sis: of or from Canada.

canarien'sis: of or from the Canary Islands.

can'byi: named for William Marriott Canby (1831-1904), a Delaware businessman, banker, philanthropist and avid

botanist. He was well known as a leading expert on the flora of Delaware and the eastern shore of Maryland. Born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, he received education at the Friends School at Westtown, PA, and from private tutors, and conducted several successful businesses in Wilmington, Delaware, using the profits derived therefrom to fund his extensive travels through North America collecting plants for his personal herbarium. He was one of the founders of the Delaware Western Railroad, and the first president of Wilmington's Board of Park Commissioners. He is credited with being the person most

responsible for creating Wilmington's city parks. From 1880 until his death Canby was president of the Wilmington Savings Fund Trust and was also a trustee of the Union Bank and director of the Delaware Fire Insurance Company. His collecting trips spanned much of the northern and eastern states, and by 1893 he had amassed a collection of 30,000 specimens which he sold in that year to the New York College of Pharmacy, before immediately embarking upon the collection of a second herbarium which would number some 15,000 specimens and which was donated to the Natural History Society of Delaware. Some of his most important expeditions include his participation on the Northern Transcontinental Survey, on which trip he served as head of the Division of Economic Botany. In 1898 he accompanied John Muir and Charles Sprague Sargent of Harvard's Arnold Arboretum on a journey to the Appalachians, and in 1902, two years before his death, accompanied Muir when the pair visited Alaska. He also worked with taxonomist Asa Gray and the great landscape architect Frederic Law Olmsted, and corresponded with Charles Darwin about a subject he was especially interested in, insectivorous plants, particularly venus fly traps and pitcher plants. Darwin was enamored of him and called him Dr. Canby although he had no degree. He died in Augusta, Georgia, at the age of 72. The genus Canbya was published in his honor by Asa Gray in 1886 based on an earlier description by Charles Christopher Parry in 1877. (Photo credit: Wisconsin Historical Society)

can'didum: shining or pure white.

canes'cens: covered with short gray or white hairs, from Latin canescens, present participle of canescere, “to become gray or white.”

cani'na: with sharp teeth or thorns.

cannab'inum/cannab'inus: hemp-like.

Cann'abis: from Latin cannabis and Greek kannabis, "hemp," said to come from Arabic kinnab or Persian kannab. Wikipedia says "The plant name Cannabis is derived originally from a Scythian or Thracian word, which was adapted by the Persians as kanab, then by the Greeks as kánnabis, and subsequently into Latin as cannabis. The history of this word is one of the most complex that I have encountered, and an entire article in Wikipedia is devoted exclusively to the etymology of Cannabis. The genus Cannabis was published by Carl Linnaeus in 1753.

capicas'trum: I searched diligently for this epithet which is listed in the waifs section of Flora of Virginia under Solanaceae (Solanum capicastrum Link ex Schauer) and came up with nothing. After further investigation I find that such a species does not exist and should be Solanum capsicastrum Link ex Schauer, so this was a typo, and capsicastrum means resembling Capsicum, biting, peppery, from the Greek kapto, "to bite."

capilla'cea/capilla'ceum: hair-like, very slender.

capillar'e/capilla'ris: hair-like, pertaining to hair, relating to any structure as fine as a hair.

capillifo'lium: with threadlike leaves.

capil'lus-vener'is: the history of the derivation of this specific epithet is extremely complicated and is tied in with the derivation of the common name, 'maidenhair fern.' It was originally published in 1753 by Linnaeus in his Species Plantarum. To my knowledge, 'capillus' has been used only a few times in botanical names, however 'veneris' has been used as a specific epithet in more than a dozen other taxa. Stearn's Dictionary of Plant Names says that capillus-veneris derives from two Greek words referring to "hair" and "Venus," hence "Venus-haired," however Fuller Theological Seminary Professor of Historical Theology John L. Thompson in an e-mail to Tom Chester elaborated on this derivation as follows: "veneris is the traditionally polite word in Latin for sexual desire, and it applies equally to men or women.  It takes on a slang usage as a euphemism for various sexual organs, male as well as female, but it works as a euphemism precisely because it's polite.  Thus the "maiden" of maidenhair has been imported by the coiner of the English common name, perhaps, but it's not part of the Latin capillus-veneris. Indeed, capillus usually means hair of the head, not body, but "hair of desire" could indeed be a euphemism for pubic hair." He also refers to the fact that when this fern is removed from water it will be dry as the water will not cling to it, and that Venus's hair was supposedly dry when she arose from the sea, thereby creating a connection between this plant and Venus's hair. My belief is that the term veneris has been most often used to mean "beauty, charm, loveliness."

capita'ta/capita'tum/capita'tus: capitate, refers to the way the flowers form in a head-like cluster, from the Latin capitatus meaning "forming a head."

capitella'ta: having a small head.

Capno'ides: the Greek root for this generic name is kapnos, "smoke, vapor," so capnoides means "looking smoky or like smoke." The genus Capnoides was published in 1753 by Philip Miller and then by Michel Adanson in 1763 but Tropicos considers both of these publications illegitimate. IPNI has Miller's publication as invalid but apparently accepts the Adanson one. World Flora Online and IPNI have Adanson as the author and the Flora of Virginia has Philip Miller as the author. The genus is called rock harlequin.

cap'rea: pertaining to goats. Wikipedia provides this interesting tidbit: "The Latin specific epithet caprea means "goat." This, and the common name goat willow, probably derive from the first known illustration of the species in Hieronymus Bock's 1546 Herbal, where the plant is shown being browsed by a goat."

capreola'ta: provided with tendrils, from capreolus, "tendrils."

Capsel'la: from Latin capsa, "box or case," alluding to fruit resembling medieval wallet or purse. The genus Capsella was published by Friedrich Kasimir Medikus in 1792 and is called chepherd's purse.

Cap'sicum: from the Greek kapto, "to bite or gulp." Wikipedia says "The generic name may come from Latin capsa, meaning "box," presumably alluding to the pods," and FNA confirms this by saying that the epithet comes from "Latin capsa, "box or case," alluding to the fruit resembling a medieval wallet or purse." The genus Capsicum was published by Carl Linnaeus in 1753 and includes 20-27 species of the bell peppers and the mild-to-hot chili peppers like jalapeño. Wikipedia also says that five species are widely cultivated, C. annuum, C. baccatum, C. chinense, C. frutescens, and C. pubescens, and that "Peru is thought to be the country with the highest cultivated Capsicum diversity since varieties of all five domesticates are commonly sold in markets in contrast to other countries. Bolivia is considered to be the country where the largest diversity of wild Capsicum peppers are consumed. The fruit of most species of Capsicum contains capsaicin (methyl-n-vanillyl nonenamide), a lipophilic chemical that can produce a burning sensation (pungency or spiciness) in the mouth of the eater. The amount of capsaicin is measured in Scoville Heat Units (SHU) and this value varies significantly among Capsicum varieties. For example, a typical bell pepper has a value of zero SHU and a jalapeño has a value of 4000–8000 SHU. In 2017, the Guinness Book of World Records listed the Carolina Reaper (a cultivar of Capsicum chinense) as the world's hottest pepper at 1,641,183 SHU, according to tests conducted by Winthrop University in South Carolina, United States."

Cardam'ine: originally from the Greek kardamis or kardamon for a kind of cress. The genus Cardamine is called toothwort or bittercress and was published by Carl Linnaeus in 1753.

cardiac'a: antispasmodic, dyspeptic, of heart conditions, from Greek kardia, "the heart," and Latin cardiacus, "relating to the heart," in reference to the former medicinal use of the plant as a heart stimulant.

cardina'lis: bright red, scarlet.

Cardiosper'mum: from the Greek kardia, "heart," and sperma, "a seed," alluding to the black seeds that have a heart-shaped scar. The genus Cardiospermum was published by Carl Linnaeus in 1753 and is called balloon vine.

Car'duus: the classical Latin name for thistle. The genus Carduus is called plumeless thistle and was published by Carl Linnaeus in 1753.

Car'ex: the classical Latin name from the Latin word secare for sedge. It comes from the Greek word kairo which means "to cut," alluding to the long narrow leaves in which some species have sharp edges. The genus Carex was published by Carl Linnaeus in 1753 and is called sedge.

careya'na: named for John Carey (1797-1880), British botanist and plant collector who studied and botanized in North

America between 1830 and 1852. He was a frequent guest and invaluable companion to Asa Gray, travelling and collecting with him in North Carolina and Virginia, and revising Gray's proofs of the first edition of the Manual of the Botany of the Northern United States, also contributing articles on Salix (willows), Populus (poplars), and Carex (sedges). In his obituary, Gray described Carey as "a near and faithful friend, an accomplished botanist, a genial and warm-hearted and truly good man." Carey described several species, primarily in the genus Carex, including Carex grayi. Several species are

named in his honor, including Carex careyana and Persicaria careyi. Carey's herbarium was acquired by Royal Botanic Gardens Herbarium although some phanerogam material is at the Natural History Museum Herbarium. He corresponded frequently with Gray and John Torrey. He was born and died in Kent.

car'ica: derivation uncertain, but Stearn says about the genus name Carica "alluding to the imagined resemblance of leaves or fruits to those of a fig, Ficus carica, erroneously thought to be from Caria in southwestern Asia Minor, where figs seem to have been cultivated extensively." I assume the specific epithet carica has a similar etymology.

caricetor'um: among sedges, from caricis, "sedge."

carina'ta: keeled somewhat like a boat, referring to the shape of seeds or flowers. The species Isolepis carinata is commonly called keeled bulrush.

carolin'ae-septentriona'lis: referring to North Carolina.

carolinen'se/carolinen'sis/carolinia'na/carolinia'nus/carolinien'sis/caroli'nus: of or from the Carolinas.

caro'ta: Latin name for carrot, derived from the Latin carot for 'carrot.'

Carphephor'us: FNA says from Greek karphos, "chaff," and phoros, "bearing," alluding to the receptacular paleae. The genus Carphephorus is called chaffhead and was published in 1816 by Alexandre Henri Cassini.

Carpi'nus: Gledhill says "the classical Latin name carpinus for hornbeam, some derive it from Celtic car-pix for a wood-headed yoke." Flora of North America says "Latin carpinus, hornbeam, possibly from carpentum, a Roman horse-drawn vehicle with wheels made from its hard wood." Wiktionary says it comes from a Proto-Indo-European word kar- for "hard." The genus Carpinus was published by Carl Linnaeus in 1753 and is called hornbeam, ironwood, muscle tree and blue beech.

carthagenen'sis: from Carthago, “Carthage,” and ‎ -ensis, "of or from."

carthusia'na: possibly a reference to the Grande Chartreuse Monastery of Carthusian Monks near Grenoble, France. The Online Etymology Dictionary says referring to an austere order of monks, late 14c., from Latin Cartusianus, in reference to the order founded 1086 by St. Bruno at Chartreux, village in Dauphiné, France.

Car'um: Latin form of the Greek name karon for caraway. The genus Carum was published by Carl Linnaeus in 1753.

car'vi: from Caria, a district in Asia Minor where the species Carum carvi was much grown.

Car'ya: derived from Greek karya, a walnut tree, the fruit of which was known as karyon, a word also applied to other nuts. According to legend, Cara, daughter of the King of Laconia, was changed by Bacchus into a walnut tree, something that seemed to happen a lot in the ancient world. The genus Carya is in the walnut family, Juglandaceae. Trees composing the genus Carya are known as hickories and include species of pecans. Carya was widespread during the Tertiary; fossils have been reported from the states of Colorado and Washington, and from China, Japan, Europe, and western Siberia. The commercial use of Carya is substantial. The cultivated pecan, C. illinoinensis, is the most important nut tree native to North America, and the wood of hickories is unequaled for its use in tool handles. furniture and flooring because of its combined strength and shock resistance. Hickory nuts are also an important, high-quality food source for wildlife because they are high in proteins and fats. The name hickory is said to be a a shortening of pockerchicory/pokickery/pohickery, from Algonquian or Powhatan pawcohiccora. The genus Carya was published by Thomas Nuttall in 1818.

caryophylle'a: I can find no certain reference to the meaning or derivation of this epithet, but Gledhill says "resembling a stitchwort, clove-pink colored, from Arabic karanful, for cloves or clove-pinks." Information about the genus Carya is above, and Stearn provides an entry for the epithet caryophyllus which states: "from Greek karya, "walnut," and phyllon, "a leaf," referring to the aromatic smell of walnut leaves, which led to the use of the clove and thence to the clove-pink (Dianthus caryphyllus)."

Cas'sia: from an ancient Greek name Kasia used by Dioscorides probably for some cinnamon-like plant of tropical regions, derived from the Latin cassia and from the Greek kasia, which in turn may have come from Hebrew q'tsi-ah, "cassia," in turn from qatsa, "to cut off, strip off bark." The genus Cassia was published by Carl Linnaeus in 1753 and is just called cassia.

cassino'ides: resembling genus Cassine.

cassio'ides: resembling genus Cassia.

Castan'ea/castan'ea: there are both specific and generic epithets. The genus name derives from Latin castanea (also the scientific name of the tree), which traces back to the Ancient Greek word for sweet chestnut. A possible source of the Greek word is the ancient town of Castanea in Thessaly.The town probably took its name, though, from the trees growing around it which were in great abundance. The species name castanea however apparently is sometimes used to mean "chestnut-colored," and one species, Carex castanea is commonly called the chestnut-colored sedge. The genus is called chestnut or chinquapin.

Castille'ja: named for Professor Domingo Castillejo Muñoz (1744?-1793), a Spanish botanist, surgeon and instructor of botany at Cadiz, Spain. There is little information about him available online and his birth date, although uncertain, is often given as 1744, but he apparently served as a professor of materia medica and botany at the Royal Naval College of Surgery in Cádiz. He was devoted at that time to a study of the flora of the southern Iberian Peninsula. He worked for the Royal Botanical Garden of Madrid in receiving many new plants from the New World and distributed them to nurseries throughout Spain and the Canary Islands. The genus Castilleja was first described by his contemporary Spanish botanist José Celestino Mutis, but was first validly published by Carl Linnaeus the Younger in 1782 and is called indian paintbrush, a name which I discourage the use of.

Catal'pa: Wikipedia relates that "The name derives from the Muscogee name for the tree, kutuhlpa meaning "winged head" and is unrelated to the name of the Catawba people. The spellings "Catalpa" and "Catalpah" were used by Mark Catesby between 1729 and 1732, and Carl Linnaeus published the tree's name as Bignonia catalpa in 1753. Giovanni Antonio Scopoli established the genus Catalpa in 1777." It has been said that Scopoli incorrectly transcribed the name catawba as catalpa.. Mark Catesby's book was The natural history of Carolina, Florida and the Bahama Islands. volume 1 (1731). The Muskogee are a group of related indigenous peoples of the southeastern woodlands and most of them were forcibly removed to Indian Territory (now Oklahoma) by the federal government in the 1830s during the Trail of Tears. The genus is called either catalpa or catawba.

catar'ia: pertaining to cats. Nepeta cataria has been called catnip, catswort, catwort, catmint, and field balm.

catawbien'se: of the region of the Catawba River in the Blue Ridge Mountains in southeastern United States.

cates'baei/catesbeia'na/catesbia'na/catesbya'na: named for Mark Catesby (1682/1683-1749), born at Essex an English naturalist who studied the flora and fauna of the New World. His family’s acquaintance with the naturalist John Ray led to him becoming interested in natural history, and in 1712 he accompanied his sister Elizabeth to Williamsburg, Virginia. Her husband was Dr. William Cocke, who had been a member of the Council and Secretary of State for the Colony of Virginia. Catesby visited the West Indies in 1714, and returned to Virginia, then home to England in 1719. He had collected seeds and botanical specimens in Virginia and Jamaica, and sent them back to England where plants growing from his seeds spread his fame among gardeners and scientists. In 1722 William Sherard recommended him to undertake a plant-collecting mission to the Carolinas for certain members of the Royal Society, and he settled in Charleston, South Carolina, and spent his time travelling around the colony collecting specimens of plants and animals which he shipped back to Sherard and others. Catesby returned to England in 1726, and between 1729 and 1747 he worked on and published his Natural History of Carolina, Florida and the Bahama Islands, the first published account of the flora and fauna of North America. It included 220 plates of birds, reptiles, amphibians, fish, insects, mammals and plants. He was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society in February, 1733. After reading a paper entitled "Of birds of passage" to the Royal Society in London, he came to be recognized as one of the first people to describe bird migration. He was married to Elizabeth Rowland in 1747 after having lived with her and having had six children with her for 17 years. He died two years later, just before Christmas, 1749. He was honored with the genus name Catesbaea, and he is also commemorated in the names of the American bullfrog (Lithobates catesbeianus), two species of New World snakes (Dipsas catesbyi and Uromacer catesbyi), and a number of plant species. Catesby’s Hortus britanno-americanus was published posthumously in 1763, and a second edition, entitled Hortus Europae americanus was issued in 1767.

cathar'tica: purgative, cathartic, cleansing, from Latin catharticus, in turn from Greek kathartikos or kathairein, "fit for cleansing, purgative," from katharsis "purging, cleansing." The seeds and leaves of Rhamnus cathartica contain the substances anthraquinone and emodin and are mildly toxic for humans and other animals causing stomach cramps and laxative effects, giving rise to the common name purging buckthorn. This is the same root as for the word catharsis, which is a purification or purgation of the emotions (such as pity and fear) that brings about spiritual renewal or release from tension.

caucal'is: ancient classical name for some umbelliferus plant. The genus Caucalis was published by Carl Linnaeus in 1753.

Caulophyl'lum: from the Greek kaulos, "a stem," and phyllon, "a leaf." Stearn says "The stem of this perennial seems to form a stalk for a single large compound leaf. The genus Caulophyllum was published in 1803 by André Michaux and is called blue cohosh.

Cayra'tia: Gledhill says this epithet derived from the vernacular name, cay-rat, in Annam for a vine. The genus Cayratia was published by Antoine Laurent de Jussieu in 1818.

Ceano'thus: from the Greek keanothus, a name meaing thistle or spiny plant which was applied by Theophrastus and/or Dioscorides to an Old World plant believed by some to have been Cirsium arvense, and reused by Carl Linnaeus when he published it in 1753. The genus is called redroot or new jersey tea.

Celas'trus: from the ancient Greek name kelastros for holly. The genus is called bittersweet and was published by Carl Linnaeus in 1753.

Celo'sia: from the Greek keleos, "burning," or kelos, "burnt or dry," in allusion to the brilliant colors of some of the flowers. The genus Celosia was published by Carl Linnaeus in 1753 and is called cock's comb.

cel'sa: haughty, eminent, lofty, high.

Cel'tis: a Greek name for some tree with sweet fruit, Celtis was Pliny's Latin name for Celtis australis, the "lotus" of the ancient world. The genus Celtis was published by Carl Linnaeus in 1753 and he applied this name to the hackberry tree. The genus is simply called hackberry.

Cen'chrus: from Greek kenchros, "millet" or other small grains, and Latin cenchros, a name used by Pliny for an Arabian diamond or an unknown kind of precious stone as big as a grain of millet. The genus Cenchrus was published by Carl Linnaeus in 1753 and is called sandspur.

Centaur'ea: from the Latin centaureum and the Greek kenturion and a reference to the Centaur Chiron who was supposed to have discovered the medicinal uses of a plant in Greece that came to be called Centaury. The genus Centaurea was published by Carl Linnaeus in 1753 and has been called star-thistle or knapweed.

Centel'la: uncertain derivation. One possibility is that it comes from the Latin scintilla, originally meaning "a spark, a tiny glimmer of fire, a flash of light," but CasaBio and others say from "Greek kentron, "a spur or sharp point," and -ella, diminutive, probably alluding to the small, pointed styles." I think the latter is unlikely. The genus Centella has been called coinleaf and was published in 1763 by Carl Linnaeus.

Centrose'ma: from Greek kentron, "a spur," and sema, "a standard." The standard which is the upper and largest petal of a papilionaceous flower as in peas and sweet peas, has a short spur behind it. The genus Centrosema was published by George Bentham in 1837 and is called spurred butterfly pea.

Centun'culus: Umberto Quattrocchi states that this is derived from the Latin centunculus, meaning "a small patch," and was a name used by Pliny for a species of Polygonum like knotweed. The genus Centunculus was published by Carl Linnaeus in 1753.

cephalan'tha: from the Greek cephal or kephale meaning "head," and antha or anthos meaning "flower."

cephalan'thi: SEINet says the epithet cephalanthi means "of Cephalanthus," a genus in the Rubiaceae family, most likely referring to C. occidentalis, the buttonbush, which has tight round clusters of flowers, and upon which Cuscuta cephalanthi often grows." A University of Michigan website says: "The species epithet, cephalanthi, refers to the tendency of the plant to parasitize Cephalanthus."

Cephalan'thus: from the Greek kephale, "head," and anthos, "flower," the flowers are borne in compact rounded heads or globose clusters like those of a chrysanthemum or dahlia. The genus Cephalanthus was published by Carl Linnaeus in 1753 and is called buttonbush.

cephalophor'a: head-bearer, from the Greek kephale, "head," and phoros, "bearing, carrying," according to one source referring to the spikelets all being carried at the tip of the stem. Common names for this species include oval-leaf sedge, oval-headed sedge, woodbank sedge, and short-headed bracted sedge.

-ceps: a suffix usually meaning "head." An example of a word that uses -ceps is biceps, meaning two heads (referring to the number of muscle bundles attaching to the bone).

cerasif'era: bearing cherries ot cherry-like fruit. Prunus cerasifera is called cherry plum.

Ceras'tium: from the Greek keras, "a horn," referring to the shape of the seed capsule. The genus Cerastium was published by Carl Linnaeus in 1753 and is called mouse-ear chickweed.

ceras'us: Wiktionary says from ancient Greek kerasós, “bird cherry,” possibly of Anatolian origin.

Ceratophyl'lum/ceratophyl'lum: from the Greek keras, "a horn," and phyllon, "leaf," alluding to the stiff and narrow leaf divisions, the genus is often called hornwort. The genus Ceratophyllum was published by Carl Linnaeus in 1753.

Cer'cis: from kerkis, the ancient Greek name for the redbud, derived from the Greek word kerkis meaning "weaver's shuttle," alluding to the shape of the fruit, and applied by Theophrastus to C. siliquastrum which has been called the Judas tree since Judas Iscariot reportedly hanged himself from one. The genus Cercis was published by Carl Linnaeus in 1753 and is called redbud.

cereal'e: pertaining to agriculture. Ceres was the goddess of farming.

cerefo'lium: waxen-leaved, from Latin cereus, "waxen, of wax."

cerif'era: wax-bearing, from Latin cera, "wax, beeswax," and fero, "to bear."

cern'ua/cern'uum/cern'uus: drooping, nodding, from Latin cernuus, “with the face turned toward the earth.”

cespito'sa: alternate spelling of caespitosa, i.e. caespitose, having a densely-clumped, tufted or cushion-like growth form, with the flowers held above the clump or tuft.

Chaenomel'es: FNA provides this explanation: "Greek chaino, "open," and melon, "apple," alluding to mistakenly presumed splitting of fruit. Wiktionary says "From ancient Greek khaínō, “I gape” and mêlon, “apple," based on Thunberg’s 1784 description of the type species for the genus C. japonica."

Chaenorrhi'num: gaping nose, from Greek chaino, "to gape," and rhis, "snout," an allusion to the open mouth of the corolla which distinguishes the genus from Antirrhinum and Linaria. This genus is listed as Chaenorrhinum in the Flora of Virginia, but elsewhere as in Flora of North America, Tropicos, World Flora Online and IPNI it is listed as Chaenorhinum with only a single 'r'. It was published by Heinrich Reichenbach in 1828 and is called dwarf snapdragon or lesser toadflax.

Chaerophyl'lum: pleasing leaf, from Greek chairo, "to please," and phyllon, "leaf." The genus Chaerophyllum was published by Carl Linnaeus in 1753 and is called chervil.

Chaitur'us: possibly from Latin chaeta, "a bristle," in turn from Greek chaite, "long flowing hair, a mane," and ouros, "a tail." This genus contains only the single species marrubiastrum, which was previously called Leonurus marrubiastrum or lion's tail. The genus Chaiturus was published by Carl Ludwig Willdenow in 1787 and is called horehound motherwort.

chalaroceph'ala: having open or tired-looking heads of flowers, from Greek chalaros, "slack, supple, loose," and kephale, "head."

Chamaecris'ta: with a small crest, the Greek words chamae meaning "low growing or humble," and crista meaning "crested or ridged." A 1905 article by Edward Greene in the journal Torreya says that the "crista" part of the name harkens back to a name Crista pavonis (called peacock's crest), originally used by the Polish nauralist Jacob Breyne in 1678, alluding to the stamens which were reminiscent of a peacock's crest, and which was renamed by Linnaeus Poinciana. Breyne in his same publication had named a genus (similar to the one he had called Crista pavonis) Chamaecrista pavonis, the low or dwarf peacock's crest. Linnaeus decided that this might be a species of Cassia and first renamed it Cassia chamaecrista, but then its rank as a genus as proposed by Breyne was restored by Linnaeus in 1753 and thus was the modern genus Chamaecrista officially published. And so are the twists and turns of botanical nomenclature revealed. The genus Chamaecrista is called patridge-pea.

Chamaecyp'aris: from the Greek chamae, "dwarf, low-growing, or growing on the ground" and kyparissos, "cypress," meaning "dwarf or ground cypress." Herbalist John Dunne-Brady adds that the genus Chamaecyparis was named "by the French botanist Edouard Spach (1801-1879) and published in 1841 in the eleventh volume of Historie Naturelle des Vegetaux Phanerogames." He states further that this is "an inaccurate and inappropriate description because all species are erect and some grow as high as 120 feet."

chamae'drys: ground-oak, from the Greek chamai, "dwarf, on the ground," and drys, "oak," a name used by Theophrastus for some low-growing plant. The website First Nature says the specific epithet chamaedrys means 'charisma, or gift', but that is almost certainly incorrect.

Chamaelir'ium: Stearn says from the Greek chamai, "dwarf," and lirion, "a lily." FNA says from Greek chamae, "on the ground," and lirion, "white lily." Jaeger's Source-book confirms both of these meanings for chamae or chamai, and says further that in botany chamae sometimes signifies "false." The genus Chamaelirium is commonly called devil's-bit and was published by Carl Ludwig Willdenow in 1808.

chamaepit'ys: Theophrastus' name for a dwarf pine-like plant (Gledhill). The specific epithet chamaepitys comes from the Greek prefix chamai, "on the ground, creeping, bottom, dwarf," and pítys, "pine," thus small pine, due to the appearance of the leaves.

Chamaesy'ce: an ancient Greek name for a kind of prostrate plant. The genus Chamaesyce was published by Samuel Frederick Gray in 1821.

Chamer'ion: a difficult etymology. The chamai portion of the name clearly is from the Greek for “dwarf.” This is an epithet that was separated out from Epilobium and is distinct from another genus, once considered invalid, but now resurrected, Chamaenerion, published by Jean François Séguier in 1754. The genus Chamerion was published by Josef Ludwig Holub in 1972 and is called fireweed. Wikipedia explains what has gone on with these names in the following: “Nomenclatural issues were reviewed by Alexander N. Sennikov in Taxon, October 2011. Although pre-Linnaean authors had used the name Chamaenerion, which may have originated as early as 1561, in 1753 Carl Linnaeus preferred Epilobium. Chamaenerion is derived from the Greek chamai, meaning "low, near the ground," and nerion, the oleander, Nerium oleander. Some authors continued to use Chamaenerion (or the alternative spelling Chamaenerium), but this name was not published legitimately under the International Code of Nomenclature for algae, fungi, and plants (ICN) until Jean François Séguier did so in 1754. It was assumed by some later authors that Séguier's name was a superfluous replacement for Linnaeus' Epilobium, but Sennikov argues that a strict application of the ICN shows that it was legitimate. Ludwig K.G. Pfeiffer in 1873 used Chamaenerion in a more restricted sense than Linnaeus' Epilobium, designating Epilobium angustifolium L. as the type species. Thus the correct name for a genus separated from Epilobium and including Linnaeus' Epilobium angustifolium is Chamaenerion. In 1818, Constantine Samuel Rafinesque used the name Chamerion, suggesting it as either a subgenus or genus. Rafinesque had his own "rules" of botanical nomenclature, regarding it as appropriate to shorten generic names. However, his name was not acceptable under the ICN until published by Josef Ludwig Holub in 1972. Holub designated a different type species, Epilobium amenum Raf. As this is now included in Chamaenerion angustifolium, Chamaenerion has precedence over Chamerion. Sennikov's conclusion has been accepted by many sources since the publication of his paper, including Tropicos, GRIN Taxonomy for Plants, the Onagraceae website of the Smithsonian Museum of Natural History, and the Global Biodiversity Information Facility. Some sources published earlier that also split up Epilobium use the name Chamerion, including the Flora of China.” And it must be said, the Flora of Virginia. In answer to the question, is it Chamerion or Chamaenerion?, the excellent website Southwest Colorado Wildflowers notes that the former name [Chamaenerion] is accepted by most botanists, but almost all floras agree with this statement from Intermountain Flora: Chamerion is "an arbitrarily shortened derivative of Chamaenerion, a pre-Linnean epithet of Epilobium angustifolium meaning dwarf oleander."

chamomil'la: from the Latin chamaemelon, "chamomille or earth-apple," Dioscorides' name, referring to the smell of the blossoms. There is also a genus Chamomilla.

chapmania'na/chapmann'ii: named for Alvan Wentworth Chapman (1809-1899), an American physician and pioneering

		botanist in the study of the flora of the American Southeast who wrote Flora of the Southern United States, the first comprehensive description of American plants in any region beyond the northeastern states. He was born in Southampton, Massachusetts and graduated with honors from Amherst College with a BA degree in classics in 1830. He moved to Georgia and then Florida in 1835 where he held various teaching positions, and married Mary Ann Hancock in 1839. He studied medicine under Albert Reese from 1833 until 1835, and perhaps elsewhere, and was granted an honorary MD degree in 1846 from the

University of Louisville in Kentucky. In 1847, he settled in Apalachicola, Florida, remaining there for the rest of his life and working as a physician and botanist. He practiced medicine first at Quincy and then Marianna. His botanical interest seems to have started when he lived in Georgia, adjacent to the botanically unexplored regions of northern Florida. Working in near isolation, in his spare time, he had a manuscript by 1859, and visited Harvard University for five months, consulting with and becoming a friend of Asa Gray, and arranging for publication of his Flora of the Southern United States, which occurred in 1860.  He dedicated his Flora of the Southern United States, “To the Rev. Moses Ashley Curtis, D.D. of North Carolina, this volume is dedicated by his obliged friend, the author.” Dr. Chapman must have found a kindred spirit in Rev. Curtis. Neither set out to be a botanist by training. Rev. Curtis was performing pioneer missionary work in remote locations in the North Carolina mountains when he began studying botany as a pastime. Like Chapman, he went on to make great contributions to the science. He explored the remote Florida landscape in search of rare and undescribed flora, despite the difficulties of living and working in such a remote location. His discovery of an amazing variety of plants, trees, and flowers over his decades of work in the South established him as one of the brightest scientific minds of the times. During the American Civil War, Chapman strongly supported the Union, but his wife was a Secessionist and they lived apart for the duration. Chapman claimed that he owed his life during the frequent raids to the fact that he was the only surgeon in the city and disease was rife. The University of North Carolina conferred an honorary degree upon him (1886) and he was elected an Associate Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences (1887) and an Honorary Member of the Botanical Society of America (1895). Dr. Chapman was also a local businessman, County Judge, Mayor, and Collector of Customs. His first name was alternately spelled “Alvan” and “Alvin” at different points in his life. Local historians agree that he was likely named “Alvan” at birth but adopted the more common spelling of “Alvin” later in life. He died in 1899 at almost 90 years of age. A contemporary, C.I. Kimball, wrote, “The passing of Dr. Chapman is to this community like the fall of a mighty oak which leaves the landscape desolate.”

Chasmanth'ium: gaping flower, from the Greek chasma, meaning "wide opening, yawnng, gaping" and anthos, meaning "flower." The genus Chasmanthium was published by Johann Heinrich Link in 1827 and is called spikegrass.

Cheilan'thes: from the Greek cheilos, "a lip," and anthos, "flower," in reference to the form of the membranous covering (indusium) of the spore-bearing parts. The genus Cheilanthes was published by Olof Swartz in 1806 and is called lip fern.

cheirantho'ides: resembling genus Cheiranthus.

Chelido'nium: two different derivations have been proposed: (1) Stearn says from the Greek chelidon, "a swallow," supposedly because its first flowering and the arrival of swallows sometimes coincides; and (2) FNA says Greek cheilidon, swallow (bird), perhaps from lore reported by Aristotle and others that mother swallows bathe eyes of their young with the sap. The genus Chelidonium was published by Carl Linnaeus in 1753 and is called greater celandine.

Chelo'ne: from the Greek chelon or chelone, "a tortoise or land turtle," so turtle-like, alluding to a fancied resemblance between flower head and tortoise back, this genus having been commonly called turtleheads. The genus Chelone was published by Carl Linnaeus in 1753 and is called turtlehead.

chenopodiifo'lia: resembling the genus Chenopodium,

Chenopo'dium: from the Greek chen, "goose," and pous, "foot," or podion, "a little foot," referring to the shape of the leaves in some species. The genus Chenopodium was published by Carl Linnaeus in 1753 and has been called goosefoot, lamb's quarters and pigweed.

cheroke'ensis: honors the larger Cherokee Nation whose ancestral homelands included the mountains of western North Carolina.

Chima'phila: from the Greek cheima, "winter weather," and phelein, "to love," from its evergreen habit and referring to one of the common names, wintergreen aka pipsissiwa or prince's pine. The name pipsissewa comes from the Cree word pipsiskwee, which translates into “breaks into pieces,” alluding to the plant's diuretic properties and its use to treat kidney stones.The genus Chimaphila was published by Frederick Traugott Pursh in 1814.

chinen'se/chinen'sis: of or from China.

Chionan'thus: from Greek chion, "snow," and anthos, "flower." The type species, Chionanthus virginicus, has snowy white flowers. The genus Chionanthus was published by Carl Linnaeus in 1753. The genus is called fringetree or old man's beard.

chloran'tha: from the Greek chloros, "green," and anthos, "flower."

Chlor'is: named for the Greek goddess of flowers, Chloris (Flora in Roman mythology), daughter of Amphion. A related Latin word is chloris, "verdant," from Greek chloros, meaning "greenish-yellow, pale green, pale, pallid, or fresh." Chloris was a nymph/goddess who was associated with spring, flowers and new growth, believed to have dwelt in the Elysian Fields. She was desired and abducted by Zephyrus, the god of the west wind who transformed her into a deity known as Flora after they were married. Together they have a son named Karpos. She was also thought to have been responsible for the transformations of Adonis, Attis, Crocus, Hyacinthus and Narcissus into flowers. The genus Chloris was published by Olof Swartz in 1788 and is called finger grass.

chlorolep'is: possibly from the Greek chloros, "green," and lepis, "scale."

Chondril'la: a Greek name for endive or chicory. The genus Chondrilla is called skeleton-weed and was published by Carl Linnaeus in 1753.

chrysocar'pa: with golden fruit.

Chrysog'onum: golden joints, from chrysos, "gold," and gonu, "a knee." The genus Chrysogonum was published in 1753 by Carl Linnaeus and is called green-and-gold.

Chrysop'sis: from chrysos, "golden," and -opsis, "bearing a resemblance or appearance," from the golden color of the heads. The genus Chrysopsis was published by Stephen Elliott in 1824 and has been called golden-aster.

Chrysosplen'ium: from the Greek chrysos, "gold," and splynos, "the spleen" or splenion, "a pad or compress of linen," in reference to the sessile leaves. The genus Chrysosplenium was published by Carl Linnaeus in 1753 and is called golden saxifrage.