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Nootkatensis

/noot-kah-TEN-sis/
🏷️ Taxonomy●●● Advanced

Also known as: nootkatense

A geographic epithet indicating a plant described from or native to Nootka Sound, on the west coast of Vancouver Island, Canada. It marks many Pacific Northwest conifers and coastal plants first collected by European botanical expeditions in the late eighteenth century.

Etymology

From New Latin Nootkatensis, from Nootka Sound (named after the Nuu-chah-nulth people of Vancouver Island), where early botanical collections were made during Cook's third voyage.

Example

Xanthocyparis nootkatensis (Nootka or Alaska cypress) and Chamaecyparis nootkatensis both carry this epithet in honour of the Pacific Northwest location where they were first collected for Western science.