Occidentalis
/ok-sih-den-TAH-lis/🏷️ Taxonomy●● Intermediate
Also known as: occidentale
A geographic epithet broadly indicating a plant from western regions — in practice most often the Americas or western Europe, depending on context. It frequently appears paired with or contrasted against orientalis in genera that contain both eastern and western hemisphere species.
Etymology
From Latin occidentalis, meaning "western," from occidens (the setting sun, the west), present participle of occidere (to fall, to set).
Example
“Thuja occidentalis (eastern arborvitae), named by European botanists who considered North America "the West," and Platanus occidentalis (American sycamore) both carry this geographic label.”