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    Aquilinus

    /ak-wih-LY-nus/
    🏷️ Taxonomy●●● Advanced

    Also known as: aquilina, aquilinum

    An animal-reference epithet relating the plant to an eagle, often applied because of a resemblance between a plant structure and an eagle's talons, beak, or spread wings — or because the plant inhabits open, eagle-country landscapes. Appears as aquilinus (masculine), aquilina (feminine), or aquilinum (neuter).

    Etymology

    From Latin aquilinus, meaning "eagle-like," from aquila (eagle).

    Example

    Pteridium aquilinum (bracken fern) is the classic example — its generic name means "little wing" and the cross-section of the rhizome supposedly reveals a shape resembling the spread wings of an eagle.

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