JARS v44n1 - Names Of Plants: Part Eight

Names Of Plants: Part Eight
Theo Smid
Hayward, California

Rhododendron Species — T
R. taggiànum Hutch, (of Harry F. Tagg, c.1873-1933, keeper of museum, Royal Botanic Garden, Edinburgh; contributor to Species of Rhododendron , 1930) Ch. "white trumpet r."
R. taiwanalpìnum Ohwi (of alpine [northern] Taiwan) Azalea.
R. taliénse Franch. (of the Tali Range, Yunnan) Ch. "Dali r."
R. tamurae (no stress) Masamune (of Kageyoshi Tamura, a horticulturist of Tokyo) Dwarf Indica Azalea. Marubasatsuki .
R. tanastylum Balf.f. & Ward (G. tanaos stretched + style)
var. pennivénium (Balf. f. & Forr.) Chamb. (L. feathered vein)
R. tashiroi (no stress) Maxim, (of Tashiro, a Japanese botanist) Sakura Tsutsuji ; intr. by USDA in 1955.
R. tatsienénse Franch. (of Tatsienlu, now Kangding, Sichuan) Ch. "stiff leaved r."
var. nudàtum R.C. Fang (L. denuded)
R. taxifòlium Merr. (Taxus/Yew-leaf)
R. taxoìdes J.J. Sm. (like Taxus)
R. telmateìum Balf.f. & W.W. Sm. (G. telma standing water, a place of)
R. teménium Balf.f. & Forr. (G. temenos a sacred precinct around a temple, i.e. near Doker La, Tsarong, e. Tibet)
var. dealbàtum (Cowan) Chamb. (L. whitening)
var. gílvum (Cowan) Chamb. (L. pale yellow)
Chrysánthum Group (G. golden-yellow + flower) Ch. "oxhidetea."
R. ténue Ching (L. slender) Ch. Slender Azalea.
R. tephropéplum Balf.f. & Farr. (G. tephra ashes + peplos covering, i.e. blackish scales below) Ch. "gray clad r."
R. thaumasiánthum Sleum. (G. thauma a wonder + flower)
R. thayerànum Rehd. & Wils. (of a family descended from Thomas Thayer, who settled in Braintree, Mass., before 1647, especially Nathaniel Thayer, 1808-1883, who financed Agassiz's expedition to Brazil in 1865 and established the herbarium at Harvard) Ch. "reversed margin r."
R. thomsónii Hook.f. (of Thomas Thomson, 18171878, M.D. Glasgow; surgeon, Bengal Army; with J.D. Hooker in the Himalayan expedition of 1849; supt. Botanic Garden, Calcutta, 1854-61; collected in Kashmir; Western Himalaya and Tibet; a Narrative of a Journey, 1847, 1852)
ssp. lopsangiànum (song) (Cowan) Chamb. (of the Dalai Lama, Nga Wang Lopsang Tup Den Gyatso) provisional name.
R. thymifòlium Maxim, (leaf of thyme) Ch. "thousand-li-fragrance r."
R. tosaénse Makino (of Tosa, Japan) Tosa Azalea, Fuji Tsutsuji .
R. tóxopei J.J. Sm. (of the Dutch geneticist H.T. Toxopeus, who collected in the Moluccas)
R. trailliànum Forr. & W.W. Sm. (of George W. Traill, 1836-1897, botanist and father in law of George Forrest; studied algae in Scotland; Trailliella Batters) Ch. "Sichuan-Yunnan r."
var. dictýotum (Tagg) Chamb. (G. diktuon a network)
R. tricánthum Rehd. (C. trichos of hair + flower) intr. 1904.
R. trichócladum Franch. (G. hairy klados shoot) Ch. "coarse-haired r."
Lophogynum Croup (G. lophos crest of a helmet + ovary)
R. trichóstomum Franch. (G. hairy stoma + mouth) Ch. "hairy mouthed r."
Ledoìdes Group (resembling Ledum ) Ch. "tubular flower r."
Rádinum Group (G. lit. slender)
R. triflòrum Hook.f. (L. three flowered) Ch. "three flowered r."
var. bauhiniiflòrum (Watt ex Hutch.) Cullen (Bauhinia-flower) Manipur.
ssp. multiflòrum R.C. Fang (L. many flowered)
Mahógani Group (brown blotch and spots)
R. trilectòrum Cowan (L. of three readers, i.e. resembling two other species?)
R. triúmphans Yersin & Chevalier (L. winning honors)
R. truncícolum Sleum. (trunk-dweller)
R. tsáii (-ah-) Fang (of Prof. Tsai Hsetao, b. 1911, director of Yunnan Institute of Tropical Botany; vice-dir. of Kunming Institute of Botany; collected in Yunnan)
R. tsariénse Cowan (of Tsari Chu, s. e. Xizang, i.e. Tibet)
R. tschonoskii (no stress) Maxim, (of Tschonoski, a Japanese collector) Tschonoski Azalea, Kume Tsutsuji ; intr. Eng., 1878, U.S., 1892.
R. tsóii Merr. (of Tso Ching Iieh, member of the staff of the Institute of Agriculture, Forestry and Botany, Sun Yatsen University, Guangdong) Ch. "two Guang r." i.e. of Guangdong and Guangxi provinces; guang means "long."
R. tùba Sleum. (L. trumpet, a noun in apposition), possibly a hybrid.
R. tuberculíferum J.J. Sm. (L. nodule-bearing)
R. tútcherae Hemsl. & Wils. (of the wife of W.J. Tutcher of Hong Kong, who gave assistance to the authors)
var. gymnocárpum A.L. Chang (G. gumnos naked + karpos fruit) Ch. "distant fragrance tree."

Rhododendron Species — U
R. últimum Wernh. (L. the last, i.e. in the area)
R. ungérnii Trautv. (of Baron F. von Ungern-Sternberg, 1800-1868, prof. at Dorpat, now Tartu, Estonia) intr. 1886.
R. uniflòrum Ward (L. one flower) Ch. "solitary-flower r."
var. imperàtor (Ward) Cullen (L. emperor)
R. uvariifòlium Diels (leaf of Uvaria , climbing shrubs of the Philippines) Ch. "Uvaria r."

Rhododendron Species — V
R. vaccinioìdes Hook. f. (resembling Vaccinium ) Ch. "Vaccinium r."
R. valentiniànum Forr. ex Hutch, (of Père S.P. Valentin, French Foreign Missions, Tsedjong, Yunnan)
var. oblongilobàtum R.C. Fang (L. oblong-lobed, i.e. corolla) Ch. "south-Yunnan hairy stalked r."
R. vanderbiltiànum Merr. (of George Vanderbilt, who financed an expedition to Sumatra in the 1930s)
R. vandeursénii Sleum. (of H.M. Vandeursen, Amer. zoologist, assistant curator of the Archbold Expedition to New Guinea)
R. vanvuurénii J.J. Sm. (of L. van Vuuren, a soldier in the former Dutch Indian Army, who collected in Celebes, now Sulawesi)
R. variolòsum Beccari (L. much-varied, i.e. in color)
R. vàseyi A. Gray (of George S. Vasey, 1822-1893, who discovered it in No. Car. in 1878) Pinkshell Azalea. Vasey came to the U.S. with his parents from Yorkshire; practiced medicine in Illinois, 1848-66; botanist in charge of U.S. Nat'l Herbarium, 1872-93; botanized in the Rocky Mountains. Vaseya Thurb. Vaseyochloa Hitchcock.
R. veitchiànum Hook, (of the Veitch family of nurserymen, of whom the following are representative: John, 1752-1839, who founded a nursery in 1808; James, 1792-1863; James, 1815-1869, in whose honor the VMM was instituted; Robert T., 1823-1885; John Gould, 1839-1870, who collected in the Pacific; Peter Christian Massyn, 1850-1929, who collected in Fiji, Australia, N.Z., New Guinea and Borneo, Sir Harry James, 1840-1924, hybridizer of orchids... Anna Mildred Langley, 1889-1949, daughter of P.C. Massyn, managing dir. of the firm.)
Cubittii Group (of George E. S. Cubitt, c. 1875-1966, Asst Inspector General of India, Conservator of Forests, Malay Peninsula)
R. vénator Tagg (L. hunter, i.e. scarlet color of the jacket)
R. venòsum Nutt. (L. much veined)
R. vernicòsum Franch. (L. varnished, i.e. lvs. glabrous above & beneath) Ch. "glossy leaved r."
R. versteègii J.J. Sm. (of G.M. Versteeg, who contributed one of first specimens from New Guinea)
R. verticillàtum Low ex Lindl. (L. whorled)
R. vesiculíferum Tagg (L. bearing vesicles, i.e. small bladder-like hairs)
R. viálii Delavay & Franch. (of Père Paul Vial, Fr. For. Missions, Yunnan) Ch. "red horse silver flower."
R. vidálii Rolfe (for a Capt. Vidal, Brit. Royal Navy, fl. 1840s, who discovered Campanula vidalii in the Azores)
R. villòsulum J.J. Sm. (L. very downy) Ch. "longhaired r."
R. vinícolor Sleum. (L. wine-colored)
R. vínkii Sleum. ("after my colleague W. Vink with whom I explored the Arfak Mts., Vogel Peninsula, New Guinea, by helicopter in 1962")
Vireya , a section of the genus. Karl Ludwig von Blume (Braunschweig 1796 Leiden 1862), director of the botanic garden at Batavia, director of the Rijksherbarium, Leiden, and writer on the flora of Java, described the second known species, R. album , in Cat. Gew. Buitz. , 1823, and subsequently numerous others. As a group he named them for his friend, Jules Joseph Virey (1776-1847). After serving as a physician in a military hospital and as chief pharmacist in Val de Grace, Virey went to Paris. While defending his doctoral thesis in natural history he attacked the then popular theories of Lamarck, who maintained that new species develop through the efforts of organisms to adapt themselves to new conditions, i.e. the inheritability of acquired characteristics. Although he was supported by several members of the Chamber of Deputies, Virey was denied the chair of Natural History. Among his works were: Histoire du genre humain , 8 vols., Paris, 1817; Traité de pharmacie théoretique et pratique , Paris, 1833. In Pierre Larousse, Grand Dictionnaire Universel du XIX Siècle , Paris, 1868, virèye [sic] is defined as alloplecte, entrelacé genre de plantes de la famille des genériacées, tribu des épiscieés. George Don (1798-1856) segregated both Vireya and Hymenanthes in his General System of Dichlamydeous Plants , 1834. [These are plants with a double floral envelope.]
R. virgàtum Hook. f. (L. with little, narrow branches) Ch. "willow branch r."
ssp. oleifòlium (Franch.) Cullen (L. olive-leaf)
var. glabriflòrum K.M. Feng (L. smooth flower) Ch. "few haired willow branch r."
R. viscidifòlium Davidian (L. sticky leaf)
R. viscòsum (L.) Torrey (L. gluey) Swamp Azalea, the first American azalea grown in England, by Bishop Henry Compton of London in 1680 from seed sent by Rev. John Banister, 1650-1692, English missionary naturalist who was accidentally shot to death by a game hunter while he himself was hunting plants.
R. vitis-idaèa Sleum. (L. vine of Mt. Ida) This is a wooded eminence near Troy with a view of the Hellespont on which some of the Olympic divinities dwelled during the Trojan War. On it Paris chose Aphrodite as the fairest of the three goddesses and from it Zeus, as a giant eagle, snatched the handsome boy Ganymede and made him cup bearer on Mt. Olympus.

Other Ericaceous Genera — T
Tripetaleìa Siebold & Zuccarini (G. three + petalon leaf) 2 spp. Japan.
T. bracteàta Maxim. (L. bearing bracts, i.e. subtended)
T. paniculàta Sieb. & Zucc. (L. irregularly branched flower cluster) intr. 1892.

Tsusiophýllum Maxim, is considered as a monotypic genus, separate from Rhododendron because it has a corolla tubular and stamens 5, included; anthers opening by slits. Rehder bases the name on Tsusia , a subgenus of Rhododendron , and C. leaf. As an azalea, it is listed as Rhododendron tsusiophyllum Sugimoto.
T. tanakae (no stress) Maxim, (of Tyozaburo Tanaka, Japanese botanist; mts. of Honshu and Taiwan; intr. 1915.

Other Ericaceous Genera — V
Vaccínium L. (ancient name of V. myrtillus , Virgil, Bucolics 2, 18; Ovid, Trist. 1, 1, 5: Pliny, N.H. 16, 77; etc.) Blueberry, Cranberry, Huckleberry, Bilberry, etc. c.150 spp. no. hemisphere, most in No. Amer. & e. Asia.
V. angustiiòlium Ait. (L. narrow-leaf) Lowbush Bl., Low-Sweet/Late-Sweet Bl., Sweet Hurts; Arctic Amer.-Minn., mts. of N.Y., N.H.; intr. 1772; much collected from wild plants.
V. arctostáphylos L. (like Arctostaphylos) Caucasus; intr. 1800.
V. áshei Reade (of William W. Ashe, 1872-1932) Rabbit-Eye Bl.; Ga. Fla. so. Ala.; minor element, with V. corymbosum , of commercial blueberries.
V. atrocóccum (A. Gray) A. Heller (L. black-scarlet) Black Highbush Bl.; s. e. Va., e. S.C., intr. before 1898.
V. caèsium Greene (L. bluish-gray) Deerberry, Squaw H.; Penn. W. Va. Fla. Ala.
V. caespitòsum Michx. (L. forming tufts) Dwarf Bilb.; No. Amer.; intr. 1823.
V. cándicans Michx. (L. becoming white, i.e. undersurface of lvs.) Ga., Ala.
V. corymbòsu L. (G. korumbos broad, flat flower cluster) Highbush/Swamp Bl., Whortle berry; chief parent of comm. blueberries; Me. Fla. La.; intr. 1765.
V. crassifòlium L. (L. thick-leaf) Creeping Bl.; s. e. Va. S.C.; intr. 1787.
V. cylindràceum Smith (L. cylindrical, i.e. tubular flowers) Azores.
V. delavàyi Franch. (of Père Jean Marie Delavay, Fr. missionary in Yunnan), w. China; cult. 1933.
V. delkiòsum Piper (L. delicious) Wash. no. Ore.; intr. 1920.
V. dunaliànum Wight (of Michel F. Dunal, 1789-1856, prof. of bot., Montpellier) Himal.
V. ellióttii Chapman (of Stephen Elliott, 1771-1830, prof. in Charleston, S.C., author of A sketch of the botany of South Carolina and Georgia ) Elliott's Bl.; Va. Fla. to Ark., La.
V. fuscàtum Aiton (L. swarthy, i.e. the leathery lvs.) so. Ga., Fla.
V. glaucálbum Hook. f. ex C.B. Clarke (L. white-glaucous, i.e. undersurface of lvs.) Himal.
V. hirsùtum Buckley (L. hairy, i.e. pubescent lvs.) Hairy H.; Tenn., N.C.; intr. 1887.
V. macrocárpon Aiton (G. large fruit) Cranberry, Large/American C., Nfld. to Minn., so. to N.C.
(From the O.E.D.):cranberry. Also craneberry. A name of comparatively recent appearance in English; entirely unknown to the herbalists of 16-17th c., who knew the plant and fruit ( V. oxycoccus , ed.) as marshwhorts, fenwhorts, fenberries, marshberries, mossberries. Several varieties of the name appear in continental languages, as G. Kranichbeere, Kranbeere, LG Krônbere. . . Kranebere (all meaning craneberry); cf. also Sw. tranbar, Da. tranchaer, F. trana, trane, crane.
The name appears to have been adopted by the North American colonists from some LG source and brought to America with the American cranberries ( V. macrocarpon ) and imported [to England, ed.] already in 1688. Thence it began to be applied in the 18th c. to the British species V. Oxycoccus . In some parts, where the latter is unknown, the name is erroneously given to the Cowberry ( V. Vitis Idaea ).
1672 Josselyn, New Eng. Rarities 119. "Cranberry, or Bear Berry, is a small trayling plant in salt marshes"...1868 Queen Victoria, Life in Highlands 139, "Dinner ending with a good tart of cranberries."
The name originated in the resemblance of the petals and anther" beak" to the head of a crane. Some other names: F. canneberge, Sp. arandano, It. mortellina di paiule, Cz. brusinka, Mod. German Moosbeere.
V. membranàceum Douglad (L. thin-skinned) Thin Leaf/Blue H., Mountain Bl.; Ont., Mich. B.C. no. Cal.; much collected in the wild; intr. 1828.
V. myrsinìtes Lam (like Myrsine, Cape Myrtle, African Boxwood) N.C., Fla., La.; cult. 1813.
V. myrtilloìdes Michx. (resembling V. myrtillus ) Sour-top/Velvet-Leaf Bl.; Labr. B.C., so. to Va.; much collected from wild plants for market.
V. myrtíllus L. (former generic name) Whortleberry, Whinberry; Fr. myrtìlle ; Ger. Heidelbeere ; It. mirtillo ; Eur., no. Asia; cult. 1789.
V. nummalàría Hook. f. & T. Thomson (L. pertaining to a moneychanger, i.e. lvs. shaped like coins) Himal.; intr. 1850.
V. occidentàle A. Gray (L. western) Western Bl.; B.C. c. Cal. e. to Rocky Mt S.; intr. 1918.
V. oldhàmii Miq. (of Richard Oldham, 18371864) Korea, Japan; intr. 1892.
V. ovalifòlium Smith (L. oval-leaf) Mathers; no. Amer.; intr. 1880.
V. ovàtum Pursh L. egg-shaped) Cal./Evergreen/Shot H.; B.C. Cal.; florists' greens called "Huckleberry" or "Leatherleaf"; intr. 1826.
V. oxycóccos L. (old generic name from G. oxus sharp, i.e. in taste + kokkos berry) Small/European Cranberry; Fr. canneberge; Ger. Moosbeere; It. mortellina di palule; no. Eur. and Asia, No. Amer.; cult. 1789.
V. padifòlium Smith (L. from padus ancient Gallic name for Picea : Pliny 3,122) Madeira.
V. pállidum Ait. (L. pale) N.Y., Ga., Ala., Mo., Ark.; cult, c.1878.
V. parvifòlium Smith (L. small-leaf) Red H.; Alaska Cal.; intr. 1881.
V. praèstans Lambert (L. distinguished) Kamchatka Bilb.; no. Asia; intr. 1914.
V. scopàrium Leiberg (L. broom-like; yellow-green stems resemble Broom) Grouseberry, Little Leaf H.; Alta. B.C., so. to Colo., Cal.; intr. 1904.
V. sprengélii (G. Don) Sleum. (of Kurt P.J. Sprengel, 17661833, prof. of med. & bot., Halle; published on flora of Halle, Umbelliferae , history of botany and edited the 18th edition of Linnaeus's Systema Vegetabilium , 1825-28) Himal., China, s. e. Asia; intr. c.1908.
V. stapfiànum (shtahp-fe-) Sleum. (of Otto Stapf, 1857-1933, Austrian bot. at Kew; keeper 1909-22) Borneo.
V. uliginòsum L. (L. swampy, i.e. habitat) Bog Bilb., Moorberry; Fr. airelledesmarais; Ger. Moorbeere, Rauschbeere; no. Eur. & Asia, No. Amer.; cult. 1789.
V. vácillans Torrey (L. swaying) Sugar H., Low/Early Sweet Bilb./BI.; w. Nova Scotia Mich. so. to Mo. Ga.; cult, c.1878.
V. virgàtum Ait. (L. twiggy) Ga. Fla., w. to Ark., Tex.; intr. 1770.
V. vitis-idaèa L. (L. grape of Mt. Ida, a celebrated ridge near Troy) Covered with woods and presenting a fine view of the Hellespont, Mt. Ida was a favorite haunt of the gods during the Trojan War. From it Zeus, in the guise of a giant eagle, snatched Ganymede to make him cupbearer on Olympus; there Paris gave the prize of beauty to Aphrodite among the three goddesses. Cowberry, Foxberry, Cranberry; Fr. airelle rouge; Ger. Preisselbeere; It. mortella rossa; no. Eur.; often collected wild and marketed; cult. 1789.
var. mìnus Loddiges (L. less) Mt. Cranb., Rock C., Lingberry, Lingen, Lingenberry; Mass. Alaska; cult. 1825.

This series began in the Spring 1988 issue of the ARS journal and will continue in the Spring 1990 issue.