A Grammatical Dictionary of Botanical Latin

Evergreen (Eng.adj.), sempervirent, “continuing to bear green leaves all the year round” (Lindley), sempervirent, “evergreen. Retaining greenness during winter as well as summer” (Lindley); “retaining its leaves during the winter” (Jackson): sempervirens,-entis (part.B), perennifolius,-a,-um (adj.A); cf. perhiemans; cf. aichlorus,-a,-um (adj.A) > Gk. aei, ever + chlorus, ‘green;’ aiphyllus,-a,-um (adj.A) > Gk. aei, ever, + phyllon, leaf; see sempervivus,-a,-um (adj.A), ever-living, always alive; opp. deciduous, q.v.; see winter;

NOTE: perennial, lasting throughout the year and from year to year, might be thought to have more to do with the viability of the root rather than the leaves.

Perennial (Eng. Adj.): lasting or existing for a long or apparently infinite time; enduring or continually recurring; present at all seasons of the year; persisting for several years usually with new herbaceous growth from a perennating part (Merriam-Webster).

- frútices v. arbusculi sempervirentes, glabri, aromatici, shrubs or small trees evergreen, glabrous, aromatic.

NOTE: for ‘evergreen forest’ see acerosus,-a,-um (adj.A), ‘like a pine needle.’

Equisetum hyemale, ‘of winter; because evergreen’ (Fernald 1950).

Evergreen plant: aizoon,-i (s.n.II), abl. sg. aizoo, nom. & acc. pl. aizoa, dat. & abl. pl. aizois; Aizoon,-i (s.n.II), Linn. These plants live under almost any treatment; hence the name is derived from aei, always, and zoon, alive. Tetragoniaceae (Paxton); = Aizoaceae; see aei (Gk.adv.).

Evergreen tree: arbor,-oris (s.f.III) conifera, abl.sg. arbore conifera;

- arbores foliis pro tempore orbatae haud sempervirentes, trees for a time stripped of leaves not evergreen (Stearn).

NOTE: leaves evergreen: folia persistentia (pl. part.B), folia perdurantia (pl. part B), folia permanentia (pl. part.B), folia remanentia (pl. part.B): see persistent, persisting; cf. diutinus,-a,-um (adj.A), diuturnus,-a,-um (adj.A): -lived, long (long-lived).

semi-evergreen: subperennifolius,-a,-um (adj.A).

Sempervirentiprata,-orum (pl.n.II), abl. pl. sempervirentipratis [> L. pratum,-i (s.n.II), a meadow) “meadow associations dominated by species mostly evergreen, in temperate climates, where frequent rain enables them to grow during most of the year” (Jackson); see pratum,-i (s.n.II).

[Duration of Leaf] “Evergreen, [folia] persistentia, sempervirentia, perennia. Keeping on the plant for more than a year. Daphne sempervirens, Vinca major, V. minor, Uva-ursi buxifolia, Hederá communis, Pinus, Taxus” (S.Gray).

“Some vegetables do not drop their leaves at all, during the whole year. Their verdure is not, in the least, injured by the changes of the weather. The Holly, the Ivy, the Fir, the Juniper, the Yew, the Cypress, the Kalmiae, and many others, belong to this class of Evergreens” (Barton).

“Duration and Fall of the Leaf.-The leaf varies as regards its duration, and receives different names accordingly. Thus when it falls off soon after its appearance, it is said to be fugacious or caducous; if it lasts throughout the season in which it is developed, it is deciduous or annual - or if beyond a single season, or until new leaves are developed, so that the plant is never without leaves, it is persistent, evergreen, or perennial” (Bentley).