Last fall I started a new border along the southern edge of my yard in a place that had been conveniently worn free of grass. A plethora of natives went in as the season waned, and in my typical lazy fashion I didn't mark where anything actually was. Along comes spring and all its new growth, and I suddenly realized I had forgotten what was where. Sure, some things were easy to spot: prairie smoke has unmistakable lacy foliage, and the prairie dropseed was a no-brainer. But to figure out the rest I took a step back and just reflected on their names.

Botanical Latin names are given for a reason, whether for familial connections between organisms, or to honor a person, or to describe physical features. I examined the slowly expanding foliage seen above, and remembered these plants must be the Eryngium yuccifolium, aka rattlesnake master. Why? Because "yuccifolium" means "leaves like a yucca plant." The first part, "yucci", is easy enough to decipher, and "folium" means "leaf." Wouldn't you say the description is spot on?  The fact that the foliage of some nearby plants displayed the telltale smooth, thin, upright stalks of the onion family sealed the deal. These looked suspiciously similar to my chives and yellow onions, and I knew I had planted the Allium cernuum, aka nodding wild onion, near the Eryngium. 

Latin names may seem intimidating because they're hard to pronounce, but they serve a valuable purpose especially if you're forgetful about marking plant locations like I am. Here are a few common botanical Latin terms:

• folium/folia=leaf
• flora/florens=flower
• canadensis or virginica/virginicus= of Canada or Virginia, usually means the plant is native to the U.S.
• laevis=smooth
• cor- (as in cordifolium)=heart-shaped
• pendulus/pendula=hanging
• purpureum/purpurea=purple
• candida/candidus/candidum=white

—Rose Rankin