A Gardener's Latin: The language of plants explained (National Trust Home & Garden)

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Again, ‘Acer’ means maple while the descriptive ‘palmatum’ means shaped like a hand, and it is derived from ‘platanoides,’ meaning “resembling the plane tree. A Rosa rugosa (Japanese rose) will be recognised as such whether you live in Manchester, Melbourne or Mumbai.

Using Latin plant names helps to avert confusion caused by the often contradictory and multiple common names an individual may have. He is never afraid to say if he isn't familiar with a particular topic, but always has some relevant facts to pass on. RHS Latin for Gardeners is an informative, entertaining and beautifully illustrated unravelling of the mysteries of botanical Latin.Unlike its common name (of which there may be several), the Latin name for a plant is unique to each plant. Latin names can give you useful information about a plant, including its colour, where it originates from and growth habit. Behind the tangled garden of microphones that had sprouted on the lectern, Goldwater spoke softly and casually about his family. So where a plant has the word orientalis as part of its Latin name you’ll recognise it’s something to do with the orient or east. After all, Linnaeus didn’t have a microscope or DNA testing lab, which would have helped definitively determine which plants were related.

Stefan has a practical no nonsense approach to gardening, obviously based on many years of experience in horticulture, and particularly vegetable growing. The Royal Horticultural Society (RHS) is the UK's largest gardening charity, dedicated to advancing horticulture and promoting good gardening.Vainilla, the orchid pod from which vanilla comes, is derived from the Latin word “vaina,” which means vagina (have you ever really looked at an orchid flower?