Vespertinus
/ves-per-TY-nus/🏷️ Taxonomy●●● Advanced
Also known as: vespertina, vespertinum
A phenological epithet indicating the plant opens or releases its fragrance in the evening — the twilight period between day and night. Evening-flowering plants are typically pollinated by moths beginning their nocturnal activity at dusk. Appears as vespertinus (masculine), vespertina (feminine), or vespertinum (neuter).
Etymology
From Latin vespertinus, meaning "of the evening" or "western," from vesper (evening, the evening star, the west).
Example
“Hesperis matronalis (dame's violet) — Hesperis being the Greek for evening — and plants described as vespertina both release their perfume at dusk, timing their fragrance perfectly for the first moths of the evening.”