Orchid Brief: Etymologies of Orchid Names

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