Taxa Field Guide

Named after the genus Aster. The name Aster comes from the Ancient Greek word ἀστήρ (astḗr), meaning "star", referring to the shape of the flower head.

Named after the genus Amaryllis. From Greek Amarullis, typical name of a country girl or shepherdess (in Theocritus, Virgil, Ovid, etc.), from amaryssein "to sparkle, twinkle, glance," as the eye.

Gk. gaze, gaza = riches, royal treasure; chloe = grass; or possibly after Theodorus Gaza (many spellings of this name) (1398–1478), a Greek scholar who moved to Italy in 1430. He became professor in Greek at the University of Ferrara (1447) and a Greek-Latin translator for Pope Nicholas V (1450–1455). He worked for King Alfonso V of Aragon (Alphonso the Magnanimous) (1456–1458) and subsequently for Cardinal Bessarion. He translated many works including Aristotle’s Problemata, De Partibus Animalium, and De Generatione Animalium and Theophrastus’ Historia Plantarum, works by noted Greek authors, and a Greek grammar (four books). He is regarded as one of the greatest classical scholars and humanists of the Renaissance.

Gk. (h)elios = sun; chrysos = gold; referring to the bright yellow flowerheads of many of the flowers of species in this genus.

La. senex = an old man. The white, hairy pappus of the seeds is reminiscent of an old man’s beard.

La. salvia = the sage plant; a name used by Pliny the Elder, from La. salvere = to heal; referring to the medicinal properties claimed for some species.

Named after the genus Apium including Apium graveolens - celery.

From the Latin edulis meaning 'edible'

From the Latin junceus = ‘resembling a reed’