[Alice]

This list of botanical epithets (the species name) might be of interest.

acaulis = without a stem
aculeatus = prickly
alatus = winged
altissimus = tallest
amarus = bitter
angustifolius = narrow-leaved
apianus = pertaining to bees
argenteus = silvery
arvensis = of fields/meadows
atropurpureus = dark purple
aurantiacus = orange-coloured
australis = southern
barba-jovis = Jupiter's beard
blepharophyllus = with leaves fringed like eyelids
campestris = of the fields
candidus = pure white, bright
caudatus = having a tail
coronarius = for wreaths, garlands, crowns
crassifolius = thick-leaved
edulis = edible
esculentus = edible
fistulosus = hollow
flavus = yellow
formosus =  beautiful
fruticosus = shrubby
fuscus = dark, black
graveolens = strong-smelling
hirtus = hairy, shaggy, rough
lanatus = woolly
laevigatus = smooth
latifolius = broad-leaved
luteus = yellow
maculatus = spotted, stained
majalis = pertaining to May
melliferous = honey-bearing
mitis = mild
mollis = soft
mutabilis = changeable
non-scriptus = unmarked
nummularius = coin-shaped
nutans = nodding
officinalis = with a medicinal or herbal use
oleraceus = resembling herbs
palustris = marsh-loving
papyriferus = paper-bearing
patulus = spreading
pavoninus = peacock-like
peregrinus = exotic
petraeus = of rocks
pilosus = hairy, shaggy
praecox = precocious, early
pratensis = of meadows
pravissimus = mis-shapen
pudicus = bashful
pulchellus = pretty
pulcherrimus = most beatiful
punctatus = spotted
radicans = having rooting stems
racemosus = clustering
ramosus = branched
repandus = turned up or back
repens = creeping
ruber = red
rugosus = wrinkled
rupestris =  of cliffs, rocks
sativus = cultivated, sown
saxatilis = living amongst rocks
scandens = climbing
sempervirens = evergreen
serotinus = late
siliqua = pod
stans = erect
styracifluus = flowing with fragrant gum
sylvaticus = of the woods
sylvestris = living in woods
tinctorius = used in dyeing
tomentosus = having a mass of rough hairs
unguis-cati = cat's claw
unguicularis = pertaining to a claw
urens = stinging
venustus =  charming
verus = true
vulgaris = common

[Alisdair]

Nice, Alice! I don't think I've yet seen a plant labelled pravissimus though I've seen and grown plenty that deserve the name....

[Alice]

I had a good giggle, Alistair. I have also grown many mis-shapen specimens!
Acacia pravissima (Oven's Wattle) was the one that came to mind.
I have fun contemplating botanical names. The most unpronounceable ones come from persons', usually botanists' names:
Betula maximowicziana, named after the Russian botanist Carl Johann Maximovich, Gaura lindheimeri, from the German botanist Ferdinand Jacob Lindheimer,
Amsonia tabernaemontana - wait for it: from the father of German botany Jacobus Theodorus Tabernaemontanus, which was the latinized name of Jakob Dietrich von Bergzabern! I have yet to work out where the word forskaohlei (as in Salvia forskaohlei) comes from.

[John J]

Many years ago when I first encountered Paeonia mlokosewitschii it was introduced to me as 'Molly the witch' as everyone found difficulty pronouncing it. It is named after a Polish soldier, naturalist and forester, Ludwik Franciszek Mlokosiewicz (1831-1909), who was stationed at Lagodekhi in the Caucasus, where the plant originates from.

[Hilary]

Alice,
Now that is what I call a list!
Many thanks
I liked the blepheraphyllus

[Alice]

Molly the witch takes the biscuit, John!

[JTh]

I have no problems with P. mlokosewitchii, but I find Ophrys tenthredinifera a real tongue twister and I have to concentrate before I say it. It is called sawfly orchid in English, which is logical, the word tenthrēdōn is said to be the Greek word for a certain group of sawflies (Tenthredinidae, they are the largest family of sawflies).

[David Bracey]

In the field we used to use the Bayer code to record species.  For example Galiun aparine (for some reason this is the example I always use) becomes GALAP.. That is using the first two letters of the Generic and and the last three of the specific name.  It works well...P.mlokosewschii therefore becomes PAMLO and Ophrys tenthredinifera becomes OPTEN.  With practice you soon get used to this method and names. 

There are very few names which can be confused .

[JTh]

David, That's far to cryptic for me. OK if you work in an environment with a limited number of plants and where everybody around you share the same vocabulary, but not for general use.

[Umbrian]

Quite agree Jorun and....don't you mean the FIRST three letters of the specific name David? Anyway "Molly the Witch" is much more fun

[Alisdair]

David's system has too many ambiguities, too. His Galap example could just as easily be Galarhoeus apios or Galax aphylla....

[John J]

I realize that nothing has been posted on here for a while but I didn't want to start a new thread and the subject is tentatively connected.
Yesterday my wife and I paid a visit to a Garden Centre we hadn't frequented for some time. There she saw a red-flowered salvia and asked the manageress which one it was. The answer, Salvia coccinea. My wife's response was that was logical considering the flower colour, to be told that the name had nothing to do with the colour of the flowers but was merely the family name of the plant.
I guess you're never too old to learn something new!!

[MikeHardman]

Maybe I'm missing something...
I would be on the side of your wife, coccineus being a Latin word for scarlet

[John J]

Hi, Mike, good to see you back in action.
My closing remark above was a poor attempt at sarcasm, I'm afraid. The common names of Salvia coccinea include, Red Sage and Blood Sage, and as you point out coccinea means 'dyed scarlet'. What I would have been amazed at was the fact that someone who is in charge of a garden centre and spends every working day dealing with an assortment of plants wasn't also aware of this, if I hadn't long since ceased to be amazed at anything that I come across in these places. 

[MikeHardman]

Hi John // ah - I'm with you now; agreed // Mike