Ivy (Hedera helix) – ‘helix’ means ‘twisted’ or ‘spiral’

Dear Readers, what a splendid crop of answers we had this week: Claire, Mal from FEARN, Rosalind Atkins, Anne and Fran and Bobby Freelove all proved their mettle with a score of 12 out of 12, well done to all of you – you were undefeated by Latin binomials, and there was a fine discussion about the merits of scientific names over on my Facebook page, for those of you who indulge. Suffice it to say that much as we love vernacular names, we can all see the value of having a name for each species that’s recognised across regions and countries. 

Let’s  see what I can come up with for tomorrow. 

Species Name and Meaning

1. J) Officinalis means a traditional healing plant
2. E) Verna means ‘of the spring’
3. K) Rupestre means ‘wall or rock-loving’
4. F) Sativa means ‘found on cultivated land’
5. L) Pratense means ‘meadow-loving’.
6. H) Sylvestris means ‘found in forests/woods’
7. A) Repens means ‘creeping’
8. B) Palustre/palustris means ‘found in marshes and bogs’
9. C) Corniculata means ‘horned’ (the seed capsules of plants named ‘corniculata’ often have two tiny horns on them
10. G) Lutea means ‘yellow’ as in Yellow Corydalis, Pseudofumaria lutea.
11. I) Maculatum means ‘spotted’
12. D) Hirsutum means ‘hairy’