A Grammatical Dictionary of Botanical Latin

Cera 1. As noun (cera,-ae (s.f.I), 2. As Gk. comb. form.

1. Cera,-ae (s.f.I), abl. sg. cera: wax; cf. Gk. kEros (s.m.II) bee’s wax, wax (Liddell & Scott);

NOTE: not to be confused with suffixes in, e.g. zoology ending in -cera (n.pl.II), which derives from ceras,-atis (s.n.III), q.v., ‘horn.’

- foliis ceris crystallinis in lamellulis epicuticularibus vestitis, with the leaves clothed with crystalline wax in epicuticular plaques.

- foramem cera nigra obturatum, the pore stopped up with black wax.

- cera sacra, holy wax, “propolis or bee-glue” (Glare); see propolis,-is (s.f.III).

- Cerae [= nom.pl.] pugillares, abl.pl. ceris pugillaribus, writing-tablets, [a fistful of wax] = Pugillares (pl.m.III), gen.pl. pugillarium, abl.pl. pugillaribus: “a set of writing-tablets (small enough to hold in the hand)” (Glare).

2. –cera: Gk. noun comb. form: some nomenclatural words ending in -cera derive from Gk. ‘ceras,-atis,’ horn: “horned one: horned ones;” see ceras,-atis (s.n.III);

NOTE: not to be confused with compounds of cera,-ae (s.f.I), abl. sg. cera: ‘wax.’

a) [botany] Tetracera,-ae (s.f.I) L. (Dilleniaceae).

b) in taxonomic names in zoology:

1. Acrocera,-ae (s.f.I), a genus, the ‘Top-horns;’ A. parva, A. altaica; A. bimaculata [NOTE in some species lists there are masculine adj. epithets: A. bacchulus; A. orbiculus; A. tenuistylus].

2. the following are neuter plurals and occur above the rank of family:

Brachycera,-orum (insects), a plural noun; a Suborder.

Cladocera,-orum, ‘Water-fleas,’ an Order or Superorder of crustaceans “the part of the head which projects in front of the first antennae is known as the rostrum or "beak" [> Gk. klados, branch + keras, “horn”)(Pennak's Freshwater Invertebrates of the United States);

NOTE: Cladoceran (singular Eng.noun), a crustacean of the order Cladocera.

Nematocera,-orum > Gk. nema,-atos, “thread’ + keras “horn;” a Suborder of the Order Diptera.

NOTE: an individual of a group with a name ending in a neuter plural, one might suppose, is a neuter singular, as Dipteron,-i (s.n.II) [neuter of Greek adj. dipteros, ‘having two wings’] is one member of the group (Order) Diptera,-orum (n.pl.II). In English, individuals of Brachycera, Cladocera and Nematocera are ‘Brachyceran, Cladoceran and Nematoceran’ (after WIII).

However the noun is probably composed as though it were an adjective in -cerus,-cera,-cerum (adj.A), and the -cera modifies the neuter plural Animalia (n.pl.III): (animal (s.n.III)) Brachycerum, (animal) Cladocerum, (animal) Nematocerum.

In botanical names, there are examples of a Latin adjective comb. form –cerus,-a,-um (adj.A) meaning ‘horn;’ Acronia rhinocera (horn-nose, horned nose, in reference to the thick apex of the lip assuming theh position of the horn of a rhinoceros); Adnaria brachycera (with a shorn horn); Decamerium brachycerum; Vaccinium brachycerum; Agapetes odontocera (with a tooth-horn); Ptychosperma macrocerum, with a great horn; Taraxacum microcerum, with a small horn; Tithymalus brachycerus, T. leptocerus.

Agapetes odontocera (Ericaceae), the epithet refers to the toothed, horn-shaped extensions to the anthers.