A conjunction is a word used to connect words, phrases, clauses and sentences. Those most commonly used are ‘and’ (et, atque), ‘or’ (aut, vel) and ‘but’ (sed). Several may consist of two or three words in English, e.g. ‘and also’ (atque, ac), ‘or if’, ‘or else’ (seu, sive), ‘so that’ (ut).

In general, where two nouns are joined by a conjunction, the second takes the same number and case as the first. Unlike prepositions, conjunctions have no control over the grammar.

The conjunction ‘and’ may also be shown by adding -que to the end of the last word of a phrase or clause:

folia et flores or folia floresque leaves and flowers

and in place of vel, -ve may be added;

folia vel flores or folia floresve leaves or flowers

Some may be used in pairs, but in Latin the same word is repeated; thus we have ‘both…and’ (et…et), ‘either…or’ (vel…vel), ‘neither…nor’ (nec…nec).

et sepala et petala flava both sepals and petals yellow

nec flores nec fructus visi neither flowers nor fruit seen

folia pilis vel simplicibus vel glandulosis leaves with either simple or glandular hairs

With ut (‘so that’, ‘in order that’), a complication arises since it is followed by a verb in the subjunctive, a difficult area of Latin grammar that is best avoided in botany. It is simpler to write the description in such a way that you don’t have to use it.

It’s time to be brave and get to grips with translating. Below are exercises, with answers starting on p. 75. These are also useful if you are running a course in botanical Latin.

In exercises where several Latin words are available and correct, we give just one. The vital point is that the word you choose has the correct ending, in case, gender and number.

Where necessary, consult the Vocabulary for the declension and gender of a noun and for the group of an adjective. Don’t guess. One example that comes to mind – and we have seen this several times – is the word folia (Second Declension nominative or accusative neuter plural), which looks like a First Declension nominative feminine singular noun, and then errors such as foliae and folias suddenly appear in the description!

A few compound adjectives are listed in the Vocabulary, but others you will have to construct.

You may find it useful to revise the relevant section in the grammar before doing these.

This primer is based on short courses in botanical Latin run in Australia at the Northern Territory Herbarium, Darwin, and the Western Australian Herbarium, Perth. We presented these independently and, on discovering that we had similar approaches, decided to combine them as a book.

Between 1 January 1935 and 31 December 2011 it was mandatory that new plant names be accompanied by a diagnosis or description in Latin. For non-fossil algae the period was 1 January 1958 to 31 December 2011, while for fossil plants published on or after 1 January 1996 either Latin or English could be used. From 1 January 2012, descriptions of all of these are permissible in either Latin or English. Besides this, there will always remain a need for translating from Latin in order to understand the many botanical texts in this language.

William Stearn’s wonderful Botanical Latin appeared in 1966 and has gone through many new impressions and editions, as well as a Chinese translation. It provides almost all one could require for translating to and from Latin, but a primer (in the sense of works such as Kennedy’s Shorter Latin Primer, providing the basic needs) may be useful for those who need to translate the more straightforward diagnoses and short descriptions now widely used when describing new taxa. Besides its concise approach, our work also differs from Stearn’s in including many more terms (especially from cryptogamic groups) in the vocabulary, while excluding many terms not used in descriptions.

Vocabulary

When searching for a Latin word in this vocabulary, remember that you have to look under the nominative singular for a noun and under the masculine nominative singular for an adjective (and for its comparative and superlative forms).

To save space, we have kept the length of entries to a minimum and not included definitions. Hence, the Vocabulary should be used in conjunction with glossaries, several of which are listed in the bibliography, and Stearn’s Botanical Latin.

Where Latin and English words of the same meaning are the same or so similar that they would appear side by side, they are listed once, under either the English or the Latin term. The Latin may be recognised by the part of speech given immediately afterwards, in brackets. Closely related terms (e.g. aequalis, aequans; alternate, alternately) are grouped in one entry.

Entries are included for many prefixes and suffixes. We indicate whether these are of Greek or Latin origin, since they should be associated with words of the same language when new epithets or terms are coined. We also indicate whether the associated word is a noun or verb (it’s rarely an adjective). Note that the declension and gender are not given for prefixes, since these are joined to a following word, but they are for suffixes since these terminate a compound word.

Classical Latin – that used by the Romans – is fairly different in many respects from modern Latin, and from scientific Latin in particular. In scientific Latin the basic grammar and syntax remain but much of the vocabulary is different – understandably, as many terms were unknown to the Romans. In particular, in botanical Latin we tend to omit most verbs, making a kind of telegraphic style, so avoiding one of the more difficult parts of the language.

This primer aims to teach you the very basics of botanical Latin, so that when the time comes for you to compose your own first description or diagnosis, starting off will not be the drama you feared, as at least you will understand the basic workings of the language and the methods used in translation. Likewise, with this primer as a guide you should be able to translate most botanical texts written in Latin. Bear in mind that early botanical Latin – say, until 1850 or later – is more akin to classical Latin, and so texts from that time will require wider knowledge of grammar, or assistance from a Latin scholar.

In many examples in this book, we give the literal translation into English as well as the colloquial so that the differences between the two languages can be demonstrated. This means that the English may sometimes appear slightly unusual or stilted, as the word order will be a bit eccentric.

Some tips

It’s good practice to get into the way of a standard sequence for describing the organs. A sound one was developed by the Flora of Australia Editorial Committee and refined through the experience of preparing volumes of the Flora of Australia (Flora of Australia Guide for Contributors, ABRS, 3rd edn 1993, p. 8). The same format was adopted for the Species Plantarum Project (Orchard, 1999). Within organs, it is best to follow the sequence of attributes: position, number, overall shape, apex, base, length, breadth, indumentum, venation, texture. There may be no need to include all attributes, e.g. those common to all species of a genus, or not relevant to a particular organ. For leaves, the lamina is usually described before the petiole and stipules; for stamens, the filaments before the anthers; for the pistil, the ovary before the style and stigma.

Avoid unnecessary articles (the, a, an). Use a short or plain-English word rather than a long or technical one of the same meaning, e.g. warty (not verrucose), funnel-shaped (not infundibuliform), jointed (not articulate). You want the reader to understand what you are saying, not close the book. Likewise, use ‘standard’ botanical Latin rather than try to be erudite by using a classical word, e.g. porca (adj. porcatus) or crista (adj. cristatus) for ridge(d), not columen which, when declined, can look like a misspelling of column. Avoid unnecessary words, e.g. ‘leaves lanceolate with entire margins’ may be written as ‘leaves lanceolate, entire’; ‘altogether glabrous’ is a tautology. Be aware of terms that have both a general and a particular meaning, e.g. pubescence (a useful general term for hair-covering is indumentum, or just say ‘hairy’).