Botanical Latin Translations

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(updated 4 January 2025)





Cyperus minimus L.

Taxonomic history:
   1753: Linnaeus described this species as Cyperus minimus in Species Plantarum, 1st ed., p. 44.
   today: The current name for this species is Bulbostylus capillaris (L.) C. B. Clarke


original Latin diagnosis
Cyperus culmo tereti nudo, spicis sub apice.

English translation
Cyperus with the culm terete [and] naked; [and] with the spikes below the apex.



English translation with commentary
Cyperus Cyperus
with the culm culmo - ablative singular of second declension masculine noun culmus, -i
terete tereti - ablative singular masculine of group B adjective teres, teres, tere; modifies culmo
[and] [added for smoother reading]
naked; nudo - ablative singular masculine of group A adjective nudus, -a, -um; modifies culmo
[and] [added for smoother reading]
with the spikes spicis - ablative plural of first declension feminine noun spica, -ae
below sub - preposition (takes ablative)
the apex. apice - ablative singular of third declension masculine noun apex, apicis; object of sub


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