Orchid Brief: Etymologies of Orchid Names
![](https://fairchildgarden.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/iStock-482658828.jpg)
Have you ever wondered how the names of orchid flowers originated? From “Drawings of Florida Orchids” come the etymologies of some of our orchids.
![](https://fairchildgarden.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/orchid-cut-off.png)
Shop Orchids in the Fairchild Plant Store
Bletia: Don Luis Blet, Spanish herbalist and apothecary of the 18th century
Brassia: William Brass, botanist of the 18th century who collected in West Africa and was a friend of Robert Brown (Scottish botanist who described the cell nucleus)
Calapogon: from Greek kalos for beautiful and pogon for beard, allusion to bearded lip
Campylocentrum: Greek kampylos, crooked, and kentron, spur, the shape of the spur
Cranichis: kranos, helmet, referring to the helmet-like, concave lip
Cyrtopodium: Greek kyrtos, for curved, and podion, diminutive of pous, or foot, allusion to the prominently curved foot of the column
Epidendron: upon tree
Erythrodes: erythros, Greek for red, and edios for appearing
Eulophia: Greek eulophos, beautifully crested, referring to lip
Goodyera: to honor John Goodyer, (1592-1664), English botanist who translated into English “De materia medica” by Dioscorides
Habenaria: from Latin habena for thong or rein, allusion to spur or slender elongated lip of some species
Inoposis: Greek ion, for violet, and opsis, for resemblance
Liparis: from Greek liparos for fat or shining, referring to glossy leaves
Listera: dedicated to Martin Lister, English naturalist (1638-1711)
Maxillaris: from Latin maxilla for jaw, referring to resemblance of column and lip to jaws of an insect
Oncidium: a diminutive of the Greek onkos for swelling, warty excrescences of the lip
Pleurothallis: Greek pleura for rib and thallos, branch, re: short, persistent pedicels along the rachis
Polyrrhiza: from Greek polys, or many, and rhiza, root
Ponthieva: honors Henri de Ponthieu, collector in the Caribbean area who sent plants to Sir Joseph Banks in 1778
Spiranthes: from Greek speria for coil and anthos for flower, the spiral arrangement of flowers
Vanilla: from Spanish vanilla, diminutive of vaina or pod
Zuexine: from Greek zeukis, for joining, in allusion to partial union of the lip and column
![orchids-numbered orchids-numbered](https://fairchildgarden.org/wp-content/uploads/elementor/thumbs/orchids-numbered-qkhu947w92d25v30x9hwd773nz972156ysttkdftya.png)