Sativa, sativus, and sativum are Latin botanical adjectives meaning cultivated. It is often associated botanically with plants that promote good health and used to designate certain seed-grown domestic crops.
Usage Sativa (ending in -a) is the feminine form of the adjective, but masculine (-us) and neuter (-um) endings are also used to agree with the gender of the nouns they modify; for example, the masculine Crocus sativus and neuter Pisum sativum.
List of plant names containing sativum
Examples of crops incorporating this word and its variations into their Latin name include:
Allium sativum, garlic. Avena sativa, the common oat. Cannabis sativa, one of three forms of cannabis. Castanea sativa, sweet chestnut. Coriandrum sativum, coriander, also known as cilantro, an annual herb. Crocus sativus, the saffron crocus. Cucumis sativus, the cucumber. Daucus carota subsp. sativus, the carrot. Eruca sativa, the rocket or arugula, a leaf vegetable. Hordeum sativum, barley. Lactuca sativa, lettuce. Lathyrus sativus, grass pea Lepidium sativum, garden cress. Madia sativa, Chilean tarweed. Medicago sativa, alfalfa. Nigella sativa, a flower whose edible seeds are sometimes known as "black cumin" or "black caraway". Oryza sativa, rice. Pastinaca sativa., parsnip, a root vegetable closely related to the carrot and parsley; all belong to the family Apiaceae. Pisum sativum, pea plant. Ribes sativum, the whitecurrant. Vicia sativa, common vetch.
See also List of Latin and Greek words commonly used in systematic names
References