Who doesn't know "wortel", orange bulbous plants, containing vitamin A, and very beneficial for health? But "wortels" are only known in Indonesia or some areas that know Indonesian. The carrot will change its name to 'Carrot' if it's in an English-speaking country, or 'Möhre' if it's in a German-speaking area.
For those who understand Latin, when they hear the Latin name of vegetables such as Daucus carota ssp. sativus' will then point to carrots, wherever they are. So, giving Latin names to plants is very important.
Some of the benefits of naming Latin in plants, including the following:
- Equate plant families (families) in various regions, making it easier to identify a plant and distinguish a plant variety.
- Agricultural purposes, so that it is easy to find the right fertilizer or pest control in one plant family (family).
- To facilitate cross-pollination of the same species.
- To determine the planting of a plant based on the family or plant family.
Experts give a Latin name to a plant after grouping it or known as 'taxonomy' (systematics), one of which is the Linnaeus method (Swedish scientist Carl von Linné's full name).
This method is known as a stratified system (from top to bottom) as follows:
- Kingdom
- Phylum (plural Fila)
- Class
- Order
- Family
- Clan or genus (plural Genera)
- Species
Vegetables belong to the plant kingdom. Each plant has its own botanical name known as the Latin name. The Latin name of vegetables is determined by: genus (genus) and type (species). For example: Allium Cepa. 'Allium' is the family name and 'cepa' is the name of the type of onion group, from the Liliaceae family or the lilies family which is characterized by long leaves with three flowers.
Allium genus has many kinds, such as:
- Allium ascalonicum (shallot)
- Allium sativum (garlic)
- Allium schoenoprasum (scallion)
- Allium ampeloprasum var. Porrum ( leek)
If at the end of the word the botanical name of a plant there is 'var' this indicates that the plant is cultivated, for example Allium cepa var. Yellow Sweet Spanish. The results of a plant cultivation do not always produce the same plants as the original, for example Allium cepa 'Sweet Vidalia' another name for onions.
The Brassicaceae family or the mustard and cabbage family consists of several genera (genus), namely:
- Brassica napus (canola)
- Brassica oleracea var. Acephala (curly kailan)
- Brassica oleracea var. Botrytis (cauliflower)
- Brassica oleracea var. Capitata (cabbage)
- Brassica oleracea var. Gemmifera (Brussels cabbage)
- Brassica oleracea var. Gongylodes (kohlrabi)
- Brassica oleracea var. Italica (broccoli)
- Brassica oleracea var. Sabauda (Savoy cabbage)
- Brassica rapa var. Rapa (radish)
- Raphanus sativus (radish / beetroot)
- Rorippa nasturtium-aquaticum (watercress)
- Rorippa x sterilis (lettuce)
Family Apiaceae or a family of aromatic plants with hollow stems, small flowers and consists of several genera (genus), namely:
- Apium graveolens var. Dulce (celery)
- Apium graveolens var. Rapaceum (celeriac)
- Daucus carota ssp. Sativus (carrot)
- Foeniculum vulgare (Florence fennel)
- Pastinaca sativa (yam)
- Petroselinum crispum var. Crispum (parsley)
Hopefully, this article about Know the Latin Name of Vegetables will useful to you.