Sativa, sativus, and sativum are Latin botanical adjectives meaning '' cultivated''. It is often associated botanically with plants that promote good health and used to designate certain seed-grown domestic crops.

Usage

''Sativa'' (ending in -a) is the feminine form of the adjective, but masculine (-us) and neuter (-um) endings are also used to agree with the gender of the nouns they modify; for example, the masculine ''

Crocus sativus ''Crocus sativus'', commonly known as saffron crocus or autumn crocus, is a species of flowering plant in the iris family (biology), family Iridaceae. A cormous autumn-flowering cultivated perennial plant, perennial, unknown in the wild, it is ...

'' and neuter ''

Pisum sativum Pea (''pisum'' in Latin) is a pulse or fodder crop, but the word often refers to the seed or sometimes the pod of this flowering plant species. Peas are eaten as a vegetable. Carl Linnaeus gave the species the scientific name ''Pisum sativum ...

''.

List of plant names containing sativum

Examples of crops incorporating this word and its variations into their Latin name include: * ''

Allium sativum Garlic (''Allium sativum'') is a species of bulbous flowering plants in the genus ''Allium''. Its close relatives include the onion, shallot, leek, chives, Allium fistulosum, Welsh onion, and Allium chinense, Chinese onion. Garlic is native to ...

'', garlic. * ''

Avena sativa The oat (''Avena sativa''), sometimes called the common oat, is a species of cereal grain grown for its seed, which is known by the same name (usually in the plural). Oats appear to have been domesticated as a secondary crop, as their seeds ...

'', the common oat. * ''

Cannabis sativa ''Cannabis sativa'' is an annual Herbaceous plant, herbaceous flowering plant. The species was first classified by Carl Linnaeus in 1753. The specific epithet ''Sativum, sativa'' means 'cultivated'. Indigenous to East Asia, Eastern Asia, the pla ...

'', one of three forms of

cannabis ''Cannabis'' () is a genus of flowering plants in the family Cannabaceae that is widely accepted as being indigenous to and originating from the continent of Asia. However, the number of species is disputed, with as many as three species be ...

.The major species of ''Cannabis'' are ''sativa'', ''indica'', and ''ruderalis''. {{Cite magazine , last=Resin , first=Harry , date=9 May 2014 , title=5 Differences Between Sativa and Indica , url=http://www.hightimes.com/read/5-differences-between-sativa-and-indica , magazine=

High Times ''High Times'' was an American monthly magazine (and cannabis brand) that advocates the legalization of cannabis as well as other counterculture ideas. The magazine was founded in 1974 by Tom Forcade. The magazine had its own book publishing d ...

, access-date=15 July 2015 , url-status=dead , archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20150716182947/http://www.hightimes.com/read/5-differences-between-sativa-and-indica , archivedate = 16 July 2015 * ''

Castanea sativa The sweet chestnut (''Castanea sativa''), also known as the Spanish chestnut or European chestnut, is a species of tree in the family Fagaceae, native to Southern Europe and Asia Minor, and widely cultivated throughout the Temperate climate, te ...

'', sweet chestnut. * ''

Coriandrum sativum Coriander (), whose leaves are known as cilantro () in the U.S. and parts of Canada, and dhania in parts of South Asia and Africa, is an annual herb (''Coriandrum sativum'') in the family Apiaceae. Most people perceive the leaves as ha ...

'', coriander, also known as cilantro, an

annual herb An annual plant is a plant that completes its biological life cycle, life cycle, from germination to the production of seeds, within one growing season, and then dies. Globally, 6% of all plant species and 15% of herbaceous plants (excluding tr ...

. * ''

'', the

saffron Saffron () is a spice derived from the flower of '' Crocus sativus'', commonly known as the "saffron crocus". The vivid crimson stigma and styles, called threads, are collected and dried for use mainly as a seasoning and colouring agent ...

crocus ''Crocus'' (; plural: crocuses or croci) is a genus of seasonal flowering plants in the family Iridaceae (iris family) comprising about 100 species of perennial plant, perennials growing from corms. They are low growing plants, whose flower stem ...

. * ''

Cucumis sativus The cucumber (''Cucumis sativus'') is a widely-cultivated creeping vine plant in the family Cucurbitaceae that bears cylindrical to spherical fruits, which are used as culinary vegetables.Daucus carota ''Daucus carota'', whose common names include wild carrot, European wild carrot, bird's nest, bishop's lace, and Queen Anne's lace (North America), is a flowering plant in the family Apiaceae. It is native to temperate regions of the Old World ...

'' subsp. ''sativus'', the

carrot The carrot ('' Daucus carota'' subsp. ''sativus'') is a root vegetable, typically orange in colour, though heirloom variants including purple, black, red, white, and yellow cultivars exist, all of which are domesticated forms of the wild ...

, a plant species. * ''

Eruca sativa Rocket, eruca, or arugula (''Eruca sativa'') is an edible annual plant in the family Brassicaceae used as a leaf vegetable for its fresh, tart, bitter, and peppery flavor. Its other common names include salad rocket and garden rocketFlora of NW ...

'', the rocket or arugula, a

leaf vegetable Leaf vegetables, also called leafy greens, vegetable greens, or simply greens, are plant leaves eaten as a vegetable, sometimes accompanied by their petioles and shoots, if tender. Leaf vegetables eaten raw in a salad can be called salad gre ...

. * ''

Hordeum sativum Barley (), a member of the grass family, is a major cereal grain grown in temperate climates globally. It was one of the first cultivated grains; it was domesticated in the Fertile Crescent around 9000 BC, giving it nonshattering spikelets ...

'', barley. * ''

Lactuca sativa Lettuce (''Lactuca sativa'') is an annual plant of the family Asteraceae mostly grown as a leaf vegetable. The leaves are most often used raw in green salads, although lettuce is also seen in other kinds of food, such as sandwiches, wraps an ...

'', lettuce. * '' Lepidium sativum'', garden cress. * ''

Madia sativa ''Madia sativa'', known by the common names coast tarweed and Chilean tarweed, is a species of flowering plant in the family Asteraceae found in parts of western North and South America. Distribution ''Madia sativa'' is native to the Americas, w ...

'', Chilean tarweed. * ''

Medicago sativa Alfalfa () (''Medicago sativa''), also called lucerne, is a perennial flowering plant in the legume family Fabaceae. It is cultivated as an important forage crop in many countries around the world. It is used for grazing, hay, and silage, as we ...

'', alfalfa. * ''

Nigella sativa ''Nigella sativa'' (common names, black caraway, black cumin, nigella or kalonji) is an annual flowering plant in the family Ranunculaceae, native to western Asia (Arabia, the Levant, Cyprus, Turkey, Iran and Iraq), and eastern Europe (Bulgari ...

'', a

flower Flowers, also known as blooms and blossoms, are the reproductive structures of flowering plants ( angiosperms). Typically, they are structured in four circular levels, called whorls, around the end of a stalk. These whorls include: calyx, m ...

whose edible

seeds In botany, a seed is a plant structure containing an embryo and stored nutrients in a protective coat called a ''testa''. More generally, the term "seed" means anything that can be sown, which may include seed and husk or tuber. Seeds are the ...

are sometimes known as "black

cumin Cumin (, ; ; ''Cuminum cyminum'') is a flowering plant in the family Apiaceae, native to the Irano-Turanian Region. Its seeds – each one contained within a fruit, which is dried – are used in the cuisines of many cultures in both whole ...

" or "black

caraway Caraway, also known as meridian fennel and Persian cumin (''Carum carvi''), is a biennial plant in the family Apiaceae, native to western Asia, Europe, and North Africa. Etymology The etymology of "caraway" is unclear. Caraway has been ...

". * ''

Oryza sativa ''Oryza sativa'', having the common name Asian cultivated rice, is the much more common of the two rice species cultivated as a cereal, the other species being ''Oryza glaberrima, O. glaberrima'', African rice. It was History of rice cultivation ...

'',

rice Rice is a cereal grain and in its Domestication, domesticated form is the staple food of over half of the world's population, particularly in Asia and Africa. Rice is the seed of the grass species ''Oryza sativa'' (Asian rice)—or, much l ...

. * '' Pastinaca sativa.,'' parsnip, a

root vegetable Root vegetables are underground plant parts eaten by humans or animals as food. In agricultural and culinary terminology, the term applies to true roots, such as taproots and root tubers, as well as non-roots such as bulbs, corms, rhizomes, and ...

closely related to the

and

parsley Parsley, or garden parsley (''Petroselinum crispum''), is a species of flowering plant in the family Apiaceae that is native to Greece, Morocco and the former Yugoslavia. It has been introduced and naturalisation (biology), naturalized in Eur ...

; all belong to the family

Apiaceae Apiaceae () or Umbelliferae is a family of mostly aromatic flowering plants named after the type genus ''Apium,'' and commonly known as the celery, carrot, or parsley family, or simply as umbellifers. It is the 16th-largest family of flowering p ...

. * ''

'', pea plant. * '' Ribes sativum'', the whitecurrant. * ''

Vicia sativa ''Vicia sativa'', known as the common vetch, garden vetch, tare or simply vetch, is a Nitrogen fixation, nitrogen-fixing legume, leguminous plant in the family Fabaceae. It is now naturalised throughout the world occurring on every continent, exc ...

'', common vetch.

References

Latin biological phrases Horticulture

Usage

List of plant names containing sativum

See also

References