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Identifications L-R: Yellow lady's slipper (Cypripedium parviflorum); Bladder campion (Silene cucullata); Fire pink (Silene virginica); Cancer root (Conopholis americana); Needle-tip blue-eyed grass (Sisyrinchium mucronatum), Eastern ninebark (Physocarpus opulifolius), Green and gold (Chrysogonum virginianum).

Virginia Plant Names:
Latin and Greek Meanings and Derivations
An Annotated Dictionary of Botanical and Biographical Etymology
Compiled by Michael L. Charters

  • xanthiifo'lia: with leaves like genus Xanthium.
  • Xanth'ium: from the Greek word xanthos meaning "yellow." The genus Xanthium was published by Carl Linnaeus in 1753 and is called cocklebur. The plant has been used for making yellow dye.
  • Xanthorhi'za: from Greek xanthos, "yellow," and rhiza, "root." The genus Xanthorhiza is monotypic containing only a single species, and is commonly called yellowroot. It was published by Humphry Marshall in 1785.
  • Xerophyl'lum: from the Greek xeros, "dry," and phyllon, "leaf," with dry leaves, alluding to the tough, persistent leaves. The genus Xerophyllum was published by AndrĂ© Michaux in 1803 and is commonly called turkeybeard or beargrass.
  • xylos'teum: from Greek xylum, "wood," and oteon, "bone," alluding to hard wood like a bone. xylos'teum: from Greek xylum, "wood," and oteon, "bone," alluding to hard wood like a bone.
  • Xy'ris: a Greek name used by Dioscorides for Iris foetidissima. FNA says from "Greek xyron, "razor," in reference to a plant with two-edged leaves. The genus Xyris was published by Carl Linnaeus in 1753 and is called yellow-eyed grass.