Botanical Latin Translations

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(updated 21 January 2025)





Scirpus palustris L.

Taxonomic history:
   1753: Linnaeus described this species as Scirpus palustris in Species Plantarum, 1st ed., p. 47.
   today: The current name for this species is Eleocharis palustris (L.) Roem. & Schult.


original Latin diagnosis
Scirpus culmo tereti nudo, spica subovata imbricata.

English translation
Scirpus with the culm terete [and] bare; [and] with a spike nearly ovate [and] imbricate.



English translation with commentary
Scirpus Scirpus
with the culm culmo - ablative singular of second declension masculine noun culmus, -i
terete tereti - ablative singular masculine of group B adjective teres, -es, -e; modifies culmo
[and] [added for smoother reading]
bare; nudo - ablative singular masculine of group A adjective nudus, -a, -um; modifies culmo
[and] [added for smoother reading]
with a spike spica - ablative singular of first declension feminine noun spica, -ae
nearly ovate subovata - ablative singular feminine of group A adjective subovatus, -a, -um; modifies spica
[and] [added for smoother reading]
imbricate. imbricata - ablative singular feminine of group A adjective imbricatus, -a, -um; modifies spica


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