plant of the group of the pulse family, pea, 1670s, from French légume (16c.), from Latin legumen "pulse, leguminous plant," of unknown origin. One suggestion ties it to Latin legere "to gather" (see lecture (n.)), because they can be scooped by the handful. Middle English had the word in the Latin form legumen (late 14c.).
plant genus, mostly herbaceous climbers, 1550s, "periwinkle," from Latin clematis, from Greek klematis, in Dioscorides as the name of a climbing or trailing plant (OED says probably the periwinkle) with long and lithe branches, diminutive of klema "vine-branch, shoot or twig broken off" (for grafting), from klan "to break" (see clastic).
"agave plant, the American aloe," 1550s, from Spanish, from Taino (Arawakan), a native Haitian language.
1706, from Latin hibiscum, later hibiscus, "marshmallow plant," from Greek hibiskos "mallow," a word of unknown origin, perhaps from Gaulish.
"dry, hollow plant stem," early 14c., of uncertain origin. Klein says ultimately from Latin cicuta "hemlock."
"arrangement of veins," 1640s, of plant structures, noun of state from Latin vena "vein" (see vein). Related: Venational.
name of a plant fiber used in making coarse fabrics and paper, and the plant which produces it, 1746, from Bengali jhuto, ultimately from Sanskrit juta-s "twisted hair, matted hair," related to jata "braid of hair," a word of unknown origin, perhaps from a non-Indo-European language.
in scientific plant name classifications from late 18c., indicating a cultivated form, is from Latin sativus "cultivated, that is sown or planted," from satus, past participle of serere "to sow, plant seed" (from PIE root *sē-
"to sow"). Sative (adj.) formerly was used in English for "sown, as in a garden (1590s). E.g. Cannabis sativa, originally the plant cultivated in the West, distinguished from indica, a wild species growing in and around India.
