Botanical Latin Translations

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 (updated 2 November 2025)


Byssus phosphorea L.

Taxonomic history:
    1753: Linnaeus described this species as Byssus phosphorea in Species Plantarum, 1st ed., p. 1168 of Ray Society 1957 facsimile.
   today: The current name for this species is Terana caerulea (Lam.) Kuntze


original Latin diagnosis
Byssus lanuginosa violacea lignis adnascens.

English translation
Byssus woolly [and] violet-colored [and] on wood growing.


English translation with commentary
Byssus Byssus
woolly lanuginosa - nominative singular feminine of group A adjective lanuginosus, -a, -um; modifies Byssus
[and] [added for smoother reading]
violet-colored violacea - nominative singular feminine of group A violaceus, -a, -um; modifies Byssus
[and] [added for smoother reading]
on wood lignis - dative plural of second declension neuter noun lignum, ligni; object of adnascens
growing. adnascens - nominative singular feminine of present active participle of deponent verb adnascor, adnasci, adnatus; agrees with Byssus



For a list of botanical Latin translations, please click here.         To access the Species Plantarum concordance, please click here.