Why do plants have Latin names?

Names provide us with information about a plant, for example its characteristics, its uses, its botanical features. Plants generally have two types of names: one or more common names, which may vary from area to area, and a Latin name, which may actually be Greek! Let's take the example of a common flower, Viper's Bugloss. In some regions it is known as Blueweed, yet the name Blueweed may also refer to Chicory. Snake-flower is another common name but could be confused with a plant called Snake Plant. Slanghoved, Gewöhnliche Natternkopf and Llengua de Bou all designate the same plant in Danish, German and Catalan. It's not always easy to know exactly which plant we are talking about! In botany, the attribution of a Latin name allows us to identify precisely a plant regardless of region, language or country.

In the case of Viper's Bugloss, the Latin name is Echium vulgare. The first word (the genus) gives the name of the group of plants with similarities and always starts with a capital letter. The Echium genus covers around 60 different species. This name appears to come for the Greek word for viper, Echis. The seeds are in the shape of the head of a viper and the plant was used in ancient times to treat snake bites. The second word (the epithet), which is written all in lowercase, gives us the exact species. In this case, vulgare means "Common". Other plants with the epithet vulgare include Foeniculum vulgare (Common Fennel), Orignanum vulgare (Common Origan) and Tanacetum vulgare (Common Tansy).

Epithets can give us distinct information about a plant: its habitat (Arnica montana - mountain), its origin (Litchi chinesis - Chinese), its colour (Rhodiola rosea - pink) or size (Sequoia gigantea - giant). The properties of the plant may also be cited, for example, Papaver somniferum (Opium Poppy) contains the alkaloids morphine, thebaine and papaverine, potent analgesics which have been used since ancient times to induce sleep [1].

Occasionally Latin names are longer than two words and give us further information such as the variety or the subspecies. Vitis vinifera var tinctoria is a specific variety of red vine effective in treating circulatory problems such as varicose veins.[2] The variety "tinctoria" possesses anthocyanins and proanthocyanins which protect and tonify the capillaries and veins.

Latin names can sometimes be amusing (Monstera deliciosa) or simply state the obvious (Fagus sylvatica, the European Beech, literally means tree of the forest!), however they are vital for the clear identification of a plant.

One of my favourite plant names is Bellis perennis which means "pretty forever". This is the Latin name for the common Daisy, which suits it well!

For more information on the common daisy, read "Three flowers to help repair damaged skin".

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[1] Julyan, M, Dircksen, M. The ancient drug opium. Akroterion, 2012 March DOI:10.7445/56-0-5

[2] Azhdari M, Zilaee M, Karandish M, Hosseini SA, Mansoori A, Zendehdel M, Khodarahpour S. Red vine leaf extract (AS 195) can improve some signs and symptoms of chronic venous insufficiency, a systematic review. Phytother Res. 2020 Oct;34(10):2577-2585. doi: 10.1002/ptr.6705.