How can I remember the latin names for plants?

[4390evans]

Hey everyone,

You's will probables remember earlier this year I said I was starting the RHS level 2 well I had my first class last night and as most of you's will know that you have to remember the latin names for the flowers not the common ones we use daily. Only thing is I have a terrible memory! Anyone got any hints or tips I could use to start calling stuff by their proper names?

Thanks guys
Jen x

[Jeanied]

My only suggestion is, Jen - that the Latin names relate to key characteristics -for example the word flora means flower and sagitta means arrow. So get yourself some flash cards and write the name on one side and the definition of the characteristic on the other and keep testing yourself.

[Nicos]

Yup...google basic terms Latin to English/ French etc...then you'll understand the key terms

[Nicos]

I say french terms/ words because upper class England spoke French for several hundred years when some plants were being named !

[veggiechicken]

Send for Catalogue Request - Chiltern Seeds Secure Online Seed Catalogue and Shop
All the seeds are listed by their Latin names with the meanings of the names alongside them. Just sit down and read through it - that's how I learnt them.
I also have Gardener's Latin: a lexicon: Amazon.co.uk: Bill Neal: Books which is quite entertaining.

[Scarlet]

So get yourself some flash cards and write the name on one side and the definition of the characteristic on the other and keep testing yourself.

One of my boys is dyslexic. His short term memory is such a problem , he has to "over learn" everything. He keeps flash cards in his pocket when he has to learn something. They get taken out several times a day and read through when he has a spare 10mins...it really works, it sticks eventually.

[Jeanied]

Scarlet, this was my teaching background - sadly no longer required these days - but the old methods really worked!

[arpoet]

When you get to my age, Jen, its hard enough to remember the English names, let alone, Latin ones.
However, my grandson (age 5) is autistic and we taught him to speak using flash cards.
Repetition really worked for him and now he can read books well in advance of his age.
In fact he sits next to when I am writing emails and reads them out loud. Good job I don't have secrets.

[Glutton4...]

Get a copy of the Hutchinson Dictionary of Plant Names - it's an invaluable book. Which reminds me, I need to buy a copy for my gardening chum!

Failing that, dunno, my memory is so bad now, that when my chum points at a plant and asks what it's called, I usually just say Pete, or Fred, to cover up the fact that I can't remember!! I don't think she's fooled though, and that's no help to you either!

[Martin H]

I find that it's easier to remember the names if I look up what they mean and how they came to get them. Wikipedia is good for this. The species name is usually either descriptive of some important feature of the plant (e.g. sempervirens = evergreen), or it is named after someone who collected it (e.g. Dahlia is from Andreas Dahl, forrestii from George Forrest, Euphorbia after some ancient doctor who discovered that the sap is a laxative).

[rary]

I have never tried learning Latin names for plants,( its hard enough for me to remember the common names) but I do memorize some poems (Burns) and I do that by doing much the same as MartinH recommends find out what the words mean, I also print the poem and break it down into two verse cards that fit into my wallet, that way I always have part of the poem with me I can work my way through the poem by repetition, if I forget a verse I simply go back to it and keep repeating it till I have it, it also helps to say what you remember out loud so better doing it when by your self.
ps. I usually do my poems while walking the dog, she must be the best dog in the area for Burns poems

[PAULW]

Flash cards common name one side latin on the other is the way to go , carry round in the pocket can test yourself or in a group anytime

[Greenleaves]

I have to constantly take exams to keep my practice certificate. I record what I need to remember on my iphone then sit on the train listening to it....bit like learning a song. If you know the common name its just a matter of matching


works for me