Scientific names go further than just allowing us to easily talk about trees on the same level they can also go as far as to describe more about the tree or plant like where it originates from, what habitat it lives in or a particular feature about the plant and some are even named to commemorate people and when this occurs it is referred to as the use of specific epithets.
For example Pinus sylvestris, the Scots Pine is found wild and sylvestris translates to mean found wild in latin. Another example is Atlas Cedar, known as Cedrus atlantica or the Atlas of the Mountains as translated.
Trees with particular features like two lobed leaves are named accordingly like Ginkgo biloba.
Therefore next time you look for a tree, check out the name in more detail and look for its key features like has it got pumilus, pygmaeus or nanus in the name as this means dwarf, or trachyspermus which means with rough seeds or latifolius meaning broadleaves.
| Name | Meaning | Name | Meaning |
| aculeatus | prickly, thorny | hispidulus | somewhat bristly |
| acuminatus | tapering to a long point | humilis | low-growing |
| alatus | winged | incanus | white-hoary |
| albescens | becoming white | japonica | of Japan |
| angustifolius | with narrow leaves | laciniatus | divided into narrow lobes as though torn |
| arborescens | tree-like | laetus | vivid |
| aureus | golden | laevicaulis | with smooth stems |
| auriculatus | eared | laevigatus | smooth |
| baccatus | with a berry-like fruit | laevis | smooth |
| breviscapus | with a short stem | lanatus | woolly |
| bulbosus | bulbous | lutescens | yellowish |
| bullatus | swollen, puckered or blistered | microcarpus | with small fruit |
| calistemon | beautiful stamens in the flower | minor | small |
| campestris | found in plains or similar level places | mollis | soft |
| canescens | becoming white; applied to plants covered with greyish-white pubescence | nanus, nana | dwarf |
| carneus | flesh-colorured | niger, ra rum | black |
| cerifera, us, um | wax bearing | nudiflorus | with bare flowers |
| coccineus, a, um | scarlet | oblongatus | oblong |
| concinnus, a, um | attractively neat | obscurus, a, um | obscure |
| cordatus, a, um | heart-shaped | occidentalis, e | western |
| cuneatus, a, um | wedge-shaped | palmatus, a, um | lobed like a hand |
| cupreus, a, um | copper-colored | palustris, e | found growing in swampy places |
| cuspidatus, a, um | ending in a sharp, stiff point | parviflorus, a, um | with small flowers |
| cyananthus, a, um | with clear blue flowers | petiolaris, e | with stalked leaves |
| delonix | Greek, refers to long-clawed petals | procerus, a, um | tall |
| diffusus, a, um | loosely spreading | procumbens | lying along the ground |
| discigerus, a, um | bearing a disk | pubescens | covered with downy hairs |
| discoidalis, e | orbicular | pumilus, a, um | dwarf |
| discoideus, a, um | discoid | pungens | sharp-pointed, pricking |
| discolor | of different colors | purpureus, a, um | purple |
| dissectus, a, um | deeply cut | pygmaeus, a, um | dwarf |
| elatus, a, um | tall | quinquefolius, a, um | with five leaves |
| elegans | elegant | radiatus, a, um | radiate |
| erectus, a, um | erect | ramosus, a, um | branched |
| eriocarpus, a, um | with woolly fruit | rubens | red |
| excelsior, ius | noble | rugosus, a, um | wrinkled |
| excelsus, a, um | tall | rupicola | found growing on rocks or cliffs |
| flavus, a, um | yellow | rusticus, a, um | from the country |
| flore-pleno | with double flowers | Sempervirens | evergreen |
| floribundus, a, um | free-flowering | serratus, a, um | saw-toothed |
| formosus, a, um | beautiful | spicatus, a, um | bearing spikes |
| fragilis, e | brittle | spinosus, a, um | spiny |
| frondosus, a, um | leafy | squarrosus, a, um | rough or scurfy, with spreading processes |
| frutescens | shrubby | stellaris, e | star-like |
| giganteus, a, um | huge | sylvaticus, a, um | found growing in woods |
| glaber, bra, brum | smooth | sylvestris, e | found wild |
| frutescens | shrubby | trachyspermus, a, um | with rough seeds |
| giganteus, a, um | huge | tricolor | in three colors |
| glaber, bra, brum | smooth | tristis, e | dull |
| fragrans | sweet-scented | umbrosus, a, um | found growing in shady places |
| globosus, a, um | spherical | viridescens | becoming green |
| gracilis, e | graceful | vulgaris, e | common |
| grandiflorus, a, um | with large flowers | zebrinus, a, um | zebra-striped |
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