The a to Z of Plant Names: A Quick Reference Guide to 4000 Garden Plants (90 page)

Zamioculcas
Schott (Araceae). zah-mee-oh-
kool
-kuhs. From
Zamia
(which the foliage resembles) and culcas, the Arabic name for
Colocasia antiquorum
, which has a similar rhizome. 1 sp., perenn. herb. E Africa.

zamiifolia
(Lodd.) Engl. zah-mee-i-
foh
-lee-uh. Lat. with leaves like
Zamia
.

Zamia
L. (Zamiaceae).
zah
-mee-uh. From Lat. name used by Pliny for a pine cone, from Gk. dried up. 53 spp. cycads. SE USA to S Am.

furfuracea
L.f. fur-few-
ray
-see-uh. Cardboard palm. Lat. scurfy (referring to the short brown hairs on the leaves). Mex. (Veracruz).

Zantedeschia
Spreng. (Araceae). zan-te-
desk
-ee-uh. After Giovanni Zantedeschi (1773–1846), Italian botanist and physician. 8 spp. perenn. herbs. C and S Africa.

aethiopica
(L.) Spreng. ee-thee-
op
-ikuh. Arum lily. Lat. of Africa. S Africa.

Zauschneria californica
C. Presl =
Epilobium canum

cana
Greene =
Epilobium canum

Zea
L. (Poaceae).
zee
-uh. Gk. name for another cereal grass. 6 spp. grasses. Mex., C Am.

mays
L.
mayz
. Corn, maize. From a Caribbean name. Cult. with sub-species in Mex. and C Am.

zebra plant
Aphelandra squarrosa

Zebrina pendula
Schnizl. =
Tradescantia zebrina

Zelkova
Spach (Ulmaceae). zel-
koh
-vuh. From the Georgian name of
Z. carpinifolia
, from Georgian bar rock, referring to the use of the hard wood in building. 6 spp., deciduous trees, shrubs. Sicily, Crete, W and E Asia.

carpinifolia
(Pall.) K. Koch. kar-pieni-
foh
-lee-uh. Caucasian elm. Lat. with leaves like
Carpinus
. W Asia.

serrata
(Thunb.) Makino. se-
rah
-tuh. Lat. toothed (the leaves). E Russia, Korea, Japan, Taiwan.

Zenobia
D. Don (Ericaceae). ze-
noh
-bee-uh. After Septimia Zenobia, 3rd-cent. queen of Palmyra, Syria. 1 sp., shrub. SE USA.

pulverulenta
(Bartr. ex Willd.) Pollard. pul-ve-rue-
lent
-uh. Lat. powdery (a white bloom usually covers the leaves).

Zephyranthes
Herb. (Amaryllidaceae). zef-i-
ranth
-eez. Rain lilies, zephyr lilies. Gk. flower of the west wind, referring to their origin. 70 spp. bulbous herbs. SE USA to S Am.

candida
(Lindl.) Herb.
kan
-di-duh. Lat. white (the flowers). S Am.

Zigadenus elegans
Pursh =
Anticlea elegans

Zinnia
L. (Asteraceae).
zin
-ee-uh. After Johann Gottfried Zinn (1727–1759), German botanist and ophthalmologist. 17 spp., ann. and perenn. herbs, subshrubs. USA to S Am.

elegans
Jacq.
el
-i-ganz. Lat. elegant. Mex.

zucchini
Cucurbita pepo

Coombes, A. J. 1985.
The Collingridge Dictionary of Plant Names
. Collingridge.

Coombes, A. J. (ed.), W. Ehrhardt, E. Götz, N. Bödeker, and S. Seybold. 2009.
The Timber Press Dictionary of Plant Names
. Timber Press.

Gledhill, D. 2008.
The Names of Plants
. Cambridge University Press.

Griffiths, M. 1994.
Index of Garden Plants
. The Royal Horticultural Society.

Lewis, C. T. 1963.
Elementary Latin Dictionary
. Oxford University Press.

Liddell, H. G., and R. Scott. 1891.
Greek-English Lexicon
. Oxford University Press.

Lord, T. (ed.). 2009.
RHS Plant Finder
. Dorling Kindersley.

Mabberley, D. J. 2008.
Mabberley’s Plant Book
. Cambridge University Press.

Stearn, W. T. 1973.
Botanical Latin
. David & Charles.

California Plant Names.
http://www.calflora.net/botanicalnames/

Flora of China.
http://hua.huh.harvard.edu/china/index.html

Flora of North America Editorial Committee, eds. 1993–. Flora of North America North of Mexico.
www.fna.org

Plant Information Online. Andersen Horticultural Library, University of Minnesota.
http://plantinfo.umn.edu/

Stevens, P. F. 2001–. Angiosperm Phylogeny Website. Version 9, June 2008.
http://www.mobot.org/MOBOT/research/APweb/
.

The International Plant Names Index.
http://www.ipni.org

Tropicos.org. Missouri Botanical Garden.
http://www.tropicos.org

World Checklist of Selected Plant Families. The Board of Trustees of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. Published on the Internet;
http://www.kew.org/wcsp/

USDA, ARS, National Genetic Resources Program. Germplasm Resources Information Network (GRIN) [Online Database]. National Germplasm Resources Laboratory, Beltsville, Maryland.
http://www.ars-grin.gov/cgi-bin/npgs/html/tax_search.pl