Six Popular Plants Named for Famous People and Botanists
"Leonard Fuchs, a German botanist, discovered the plant known as fuchsia, while William Forsyth, a Scotch botanist, is responsible for the name forsythia."
August 1, 1950
On this day, The Ithaca Journal, out of Ithaca, New York, published a question from a reader.
The reader wanted an answer to this question:
Please list a few plants that are named for people.
The answer:
The poinsettia was named for Joel R. Poinsett, a famous statesman.
Wisteria is named in honor of Caspar Wistar, a distinguished physician and scientist of Philadelphia.
Leonard Fuchs, a German botanist, discovered the plant known as fuchsia, while William Forsyth, a Scotch botanist, is responsible for the name forsythia.
The name of Louis Antoine de Bougainville, a French soldier and explorer, is perpetuated in the bougainvillea.
The paulownia is named for the Grand Duchess Anna Pavlovna, daughter of Czar Paul I.
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Poinsettia (Euphorbia pulcherrima), a plant widely recognized for its vibrant, colorful bracts, often associated with the Christmas holiday season.
Cascading clusters of delicate, lavender-purple wisteria blossoms, with softly blurred light in the background, capturing the plant's romantic, flowering elegance.
A vivid cluster of bright pink bougainvillea bracts, surrounding small white blossoms. The flowers fill the frame with their striking, papery texture and intense color, capturing the lively character of this ornamental plant.
Two delicate fuchsia flowers with soft pink and pale petals, gracefully hanging downward.