vernum
/VER-num/🏷️ Taxonomy● Basic
Also known as: vernus, verna
A seasonal epithet applied to plants of neuter genera whose flowers or fresh growth arrive in spring. It belongs to the -us/-a/-um adjective family, so the ending agrees with the genus rather than staying fixed as the -alis form does. Appears as vernus (masculine), verna (feminine), or vernum (neuter).
Etymology
From Latin vernus, meaning "of spring," from ver (spring).
Example
“Geum vernum (spring avens) is a familiar bearer of the neuter ending, flowering as the woodland floor warms.”