Resistance Gardening Tip: Learn A Little Latin
Latin Plant Names | How they Work & Why they Matter
A few weeks ago I read a post on Substack by Kendall Marie Platt called "Why Latin plant names are a load of 💩." She argues that Latin plant names are elitist writing "They create an us and them vibe. Those in the know vs those plebs who don’t know enough. It’s giving me ‘you can’t sit with us’ vibes. I know I certainly felt like this when I was learning to garden." I agree with Kendall about a LOT, and this certainly isn't a take down. But I don't agree with her about Latin plant names.
In fact, I think Latin plant names are really important in selecting plants that will actually work in your climate and reducing waste. And as a resistance tool, using them counters the rampant anti-intellectualism that has consumed the US over the last 30 years. Ultimately, I would argue, Latin plant names are not elitist – they are precise. But they also aren't often discussed in gardening communities – and this can cause confusion, poor plant choices, and more problems.
OK, let's get started…
A Brief History: From Chaos to Clarity
When you hear someone refer to Rosa gallica instead of just "rose," or Quercus rubra rather than "Red Oak," you might wonder: why all the Latin? Why isn’t a common name good enough? While common names are easy to remember and often charming, the world of plants is vast and complex and evolving — and that’s where Latin scientific names come into play.
Before the 18th century, plant names were chaotic. A single plant might be known by several different common names in different regions (this is still true), and some of these names could be long-winded descriptions rather than actual standardized terms. And the translations of these common names often didn't make much sense when moving from one language to another.
This all changed thanks to Swedish botanist Carl Linnaeus, who revolutionized taxonomy – the naming of living things – in the 1750s. Linnaeus introduced binomial nomenclature: a two-part naming system in Latin (or Latinized form), which became the universal standard for naming plants, animals, and all living creatures.
Linnaeus wasn't the first to use Latin, but the Latin names of plants at that time were long, descriptive, and difficult to remember. He created a simple two-part naming convention which stuck. Linnaeus used Latin – a "dead language" – to circumvent the mistranslation problems which had plagued naming to date. He even renamed himself, giving himself the Latin name Carolus Linnaeus – his given name was Carl von Linné. And Latin, that "dead language," lives on in every scientific field world wide.
A Note about Carl Linnaeus: Linnaeus also tried to apply his naming structures to human beings, dividing humans into multiple species. With the publication of the twelfth edition of Systema naturae in 1766, "he proposed more hierarchical views based on differences in innate moral and intellectual capacities, thus contributing to the birth of scientific racism." So, his legacy is certainly tainted. For more about Linnaeus and race, start here.
In the centuries since, Linnaeus' system has been refined, but the basics of Linnaeus' ideas remain.
Why Latin?
Latin was the language of science and scholarship during Linnaeus’s time, and its use has persisted for good reasons:
Near-Universality: Latin names are used worldwide, regardless of local language. A Japanese botanist and a Brazilian horticulturist will both know precisely what plant Camellia japonica means. Yes, this means, however, that scientists must learn the Roman or Latin alphabet if that is not their native writing form.
Precision: Common names can be wildly inconsistent – and widely applied to multiple plants. For example all of the following plants are commonly known as "bluebells," but planting the wrong variety in the wrong place can be devastating.
English Bluebell (Hyacinthoides non-scripta)
Spanish Bluebell (Hyacinthoides hispanica)
Virginia Bluebells (Mertensia virginica)
Scottish Bluebells (Campanula rotundifolia)
Texas Bluebell (Eustoma russellianum)
Desert or California Bluebell (Phacelia campanularia)
Hyacinthoides non-scripta is native to the UK, but it is threatened by Hyacinthoides hispanica which is invasive in the UK. But both are commonly called "bluebells" – and planting the wrong variety can be hugely problematic environmentally. And we don't plant invasive species, right?!
Stability: While common names evolve over time, Latin names are more regulated. They follow rules set by the International Code of Nomenclature for algae, fungi, and plants (ICN).
Descriptiveness: Many Latin epithets describe a key feature of the plant — glauca means “bluish-gray,” alba means “white,” and rubra means “red.” Yes, that could have been accomplished in any language, but it's nice to know those aren't just random letters! Those Latin names do actually mean something!
Having said all of that, Latin names sometimes change. As science delves deeper into the differentiation of species at a genetic level, they have discovered that plants categorized in one genus may actually need to be in another.
For example, Linnaeus classified all kinds of plants as Asters. But with genetic study, it turns out North American Asters aren't related to European Asters. So they were reclassified in a new genus: Symphyotrichum. We may still call them Asters, but New England Aster and New York Asters are both now Symphyotrichum. So if you are trying to plant native North American species, Aster isn't enough information – you need to look for Symphyotrichum species. For more about this renaming process, I highly recommend this article from Gardens Illustrated.
And there is a decided effort to change the names of plants which are offensive, racist, or insensitive. The International Botanical Congress is thoughtfully considering a process for making changes to existing plant names – and for fixing names which are offensive. For more on this, I highly recommend this article from NPR.
The Structure and Punctuation of a Species Name
This naming convention applies to every living thing. Homo sapiens (human beings) and Sequoia sempervirens (Redwood Trees) are each named exactly the same way. And as with people, specificity in naming helps to identify WHICH particular plant you are discussing. There may have been dozens of Mark's in the audience at the BAFTA's, for example, but only one Mark – Mark Hamill – lost his pants on stage during his speech.
If you remember from high school biology class, living things are classified using a system of ever-increasing specificity: Kingdom, Phylum, Class, Order, Family, Genus, and Species (King Philip Came Over For Good Supper, if you will). Plant names – and the names of all other species – are composed of those last two pieces.
Each Latin plant name consists of two parts:
Genus name: Always capitalized and italicized.
Species epithet: Always lowercase and italicized. This distinguishes the plant within the genus.
For example:
Lavandula angustifolia — commonly called "English Lavender"
Lavandula (the genus)
angustifolia (the species, meaning "narrow-leaved")
If a plant variety or cultivar is included, additional terms follow in single quotation marks and are not italicized:
Lavandula angustifolia 'Munstead Violet'
Why It Matters
For professional botanists, accurate identification is essential for research, conservation, and communication. For those of us who are gardeners and plant lovers, knowing the Latin names helps ensure that we get the exact plant that we want.
Imagine ordering a “black-eyed Susan” and ending up with Rudbeckia hirta instead of Thunbergia alata. Both are called by the same common name in different places, but they are entirely different plants — one’s a sunflower-like North American wildflower, the other is a tropical vine.
There's a pretty simple reason for this: as Europeans migrated around the world and collected plants, they often gave them the same names as plants that were familiar from home. So if it looked like a Hollyhock, for example, they gave it a similar name. This is yet another vestige of colonialism – rather than adopting the names of plants given by the native people of a place, they imposed their own names.
How is using Latin names an act of Resistance?
It may seem strange to use Latin as an act of Resistance, but there are seeds of resistance in this kind of precision. And yes, Latin is a colonizer language. And this naming system reflects a time and practice of exclusion. But hear me out.
Precision Saves Money and Resources
As we have already seen, the precision of plant names is critical if you want to get the right plant for the right place. And putting the right plant in the right place is an act of environmental care.
Reduce Waste: when we put the wrong plants in, that creates waste. We have wasted the effort put into raising that plant from a cutting or a seed — our own effort or those of countless others who have brought that plant to market.
Protect Your Local Environment: ensuring that the plant you are choosing is not a noxious weed or an invasive species means you are protecting your local environment and the species which are meant to thrive there.
Support Wildlife: And choosing the right native plant is supporting pollinators or other native wildlife. An Asian milkweed will not help Monarch butterflies, for example, so you must choose a North American species of Asclepias – even if their common names are the same.
You Can Provide Proper Plant Care
there are entire Instagram accounts devoted to the care of hydrangeas. Different hydrangeas should be pruned at different times in their life cycles to get the best blooms (or any blooms at all). The same is true for roses. And without knowing what plant you have, it's almost impossible to care for it properly. So make some notes! They will save you so much time and energy in the long run!
Do big box stores want you to be able to care for your plants? Nope. Not always. The orange box store, for example, makes $20 billion per year on home and garden sales. Despite their protestations to the contrary, they stock their stores with plants that will NEVER survive in the places where they are sold. They have built a business model on planned failure and frustration, over-consumption of resources, and a lack of accountability.
But knowing exactly what you are buying – the species and the variety – allows you to be a better consumer and to make better plant purchases each and every time.
Counter the Anti-Science and Anti-Intellectualism Movements
The disturbing anti-science and anti-intellectual movements continue to hammer away. With influencers being elevated to positions of power, anti-science activists like Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. and David Geier running our nation's health and human services departments, and the decimation of the CDC, NIH, NOAA, NSF, and other national science departments by DOGE and others, this regime wholeheartedly embraces anti-science and anti-intellectualism.
Indeed, having expertise in a field does not matter. Consider Thomas Fugate: "the 22-year-old with no apparent national security expertise is now a Department of Homeland Security official overseeing the government’s main hub for terrorism prevention, including an $18 million grant program intended to help communities combat violent extremism."
These kinds of appointments – and the gutting of federal agencies – reflect the rampant anti-intellectualism upon which this regime, and fascist regimes in general, thrive. Anti-intellectualism is built on a foundation of deep insecurity – the "average Joe" is just as good and just as valuable as the "elite" person, because education and experience don't matter or mean anything – and what follows is that average Joe can do the elite's job just as well. Of course, this is a fallacy. But it is the fallacy that is deeply believed by many within this regime – and its supporters.
This is a gross over-simplification of a much bigger issue, but here's where plant names come in: using the scientific name as much as possible is a vote for science and a vote for education. And as a Resistance, we have to continue to support both in any way we can!
In Conclusion
Using Latin names isn’t about being pretentious or overly scientific — it’s about clarity. The binomial system is a powerful tool for navigating the incredible diversity of the plant kingdom. Whether you’re labeling a new find in your garden or studying endangered species, Latin names provide the precision and consistency that common names often can’t.
So next time you see Salvia officinalis on a seed packet, smile — you’re speaking the same botanical language as a gardener in Italy, a researcher in Kenya, and a herbalist in India. That’s the quiet genius of Latin names.
What do you think? Is using a little Latin in the garden revolutionary for you?
Happy Gardening!
Angela
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Great article! Being familiar with a Latin name has kept me from mistakenly buying the wrong plant! It's a learning process.
LOVE THIS! You've articulated the issue so well. Down with anti-intellectualism! I've always loved etymology, plus am a biologist as well as a gardener, so scientific names just make so much sense and they should not be seen as elitist. I love my "Dictionary of Word Roots and Combining Forms" that I got in university a million years ago. Thanks for taking the time to write this out so thoughtfully.