There were comments on the Botany Photo of the Day for Bahiopsis laciniata regarding the meaning of the suffix part of the name. I’ve been looking for an online reference that gives definitions of botanical suffixes. One that I use for botanical terms, Dictionary of Botanical Epithets, only defines a suffix as part of a plant name, so if the name of Bahiopsis is not included, as it is not, then I would have to search out another plant that uses the -opsis suffix to find the definition. Any suggestions?
Since botanical names are generally in Latin, you can Google "latin suffix opsis" and find that it means something like "resembling in appearance".
Thank you. Those words work a lot better than what I was trying. Here are some references that came up. I only included ones that had a particular one I wanted to know, though it turns out that my underlying question isn't answered by knowing the latin (real question: in Liriodendron tulipifera, does the "ifera" (and actually it's "fer") indicate at all whether it's the leaves or the flowers that are like tulips). Well, the answer to that seems to be "no". Macroevolution.net - Biology, hybrids, human origins and more A website focusing on biology and evolutionary theory, offers among other things suffixes, prefixes, root words, biology terms. List of medical roots, suffixes and prefixes - Wikipedia Wikipedia page of medical roots, suffixes and prefixes http://www.biologyjunction.com/prefixes and suffixes.pdf Two-page pdf file of Scientific Root Words, Prefixes, And Suffixes Alphabetical list of Biology Roots, Suffixes, and Prefixes - Frost Science Alphabetical list of Biology Roots, Suffixes, and Prefixes
We use these books: Borror's Dictionary of Word Roots and Combining Forms Radcliffe-Smith's Three-Language List of Botanical Name Components
Thank you! This one is available online at University of Vermont: http://www.uvm.edu/rsenr/wfb232/Dictionary of Word Roots & Combining Forms.pdf I can get a peek into this on Amazon: Three Language List of Botanical Name Components: A Radcliffe-Smith: 9781900347501: Amazon.com: Books
