Taxonomic history:
1753: Linnaeus described this species as Cupressus disticha in Species Plantarum, edition 1, p. 1003.
1810: A. Richard created the genus Taxodium in a note in volume 16 (page 298) of Annales du Muséum d'Histoire Naturelle, in which note he transferred Linnaeus’s Cupressus disticha to the new genus as Taxodium distichum.
today: The current name for this species is Taxodium distichum (L.) Rich.
original Latin description
Cupressus foliis distichis patentibus.
English translation
Cupressus with leaves distichous [and] spreading.
English translation with commentary
Cupressus | Cupressus |
with leaves | foliis - ablative plural of second declension neuter noun folium, -i |
distichous, | distichis - ablative plural neuter of group A adjective distichus, -a, -um; modifies foliis |
[and] | [added for smoother readinng] |
spreading. | patentibus - ablative plural neuter of present active participle of 2nd declensio verb pateo, -ere, -ui, ---; modifies foliis |