Anomalus
/a-NOM-a-lus/🏷️ Taxonomy●●● Advanced
Also known as: anomala, anomalum
An epithet frankly acknowledging that the plant does not conform to the typical pattern of its genus — it has some unusual or irregular feature that sets it apart from its relatives. Like paradoxus, it is a botanist's admission of botanical oddity. Appears as anomalus (masculine), anomala (feminine), or anomalum (neuter).
Etymology
From Latin anomalus, from Greek anomalos, meaning "uneven" or "irregular," from an- (without) + homalos (even, regular).
Example
“Clematis anomala and Carex anomala both have the structural irregularities their naming botanists found puzzling — features that made classification difficult and the honest epithet 'anomalous' the most apt choice.”