‘What else did the Romans do for us’ asks Monty Python. ‘All right, but apart from the sanitation, the medicine, education, wine, public order, irrigation, roads, a fresh water system, and public health, what have the Romans ever done for us? ‘ Well if you include Latin as a language they gave us modern gardening nomenclature.

What can Latin Names Tell Gardeners

• Latin names are full of information and can hide the secrets of where the plant is found or to which areas it is endemic. eg Cyclamen persicum, the Persian cyclamen.
• The name can show the  colour,  albicans or albus flowers will be whitish, virdis or virens will be green.
• A name prefixed with melano… caulon,  melano… cococus,  will be black, stemmed or berried respectively. Other plants with black features will follow this pattern.
• Fragrans means propensity for scent often sweet-scented and the best fragrantisimus is likely to be very fragrant
• Other horticultural information may include; flowering times,natural habitat or fruitfulness- fructifera.
• Latin for a shady place sylvestris or woodland in the name ending will show where a plant will be happiest.
• Plants that are named after the shape of their leaves like palmate.
• The time of year that they flower as in vernalis of spring.
• Melleus in the name pertains to honey and will likely attract bees and other insects.
• There are numerous other identifiers and features in Latin based plant names but you just need a learn a few (and a book or PC) to enjoy the skills  of plant selection.

So Monty Python was on the right lines but ‘he is a very naughty boy’ of he doesn’t learn some gardeners Latin.