# Plants names from Native American languages

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/plants-names-from-native-american-languages/941362>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [May 4, 2021, 10:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/plants-names-from-native-american-languages/941362 "2021-05-04T10:52:56Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 5\
**Page:** 2

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**Author:** ![Terminus\_Est](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terminus_est/32/3087_2.png) [@Terminus\_Est](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Terminus_Est)\
**Post date:** [May 5, 2021, 5:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/plants-names-from-native-american-languages/941362/21 "2021-05-05T05:50:02Z")

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> [@dtilque](#):
>
> Chili is a collective name for a group of plants, each of which has its own name.

If you can accept squash, which refers to many different species of _Cucurbita_, then you can certainly accept chili. Anyway, here’s another one for you: chia, from Nahuatl.

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**Author:** ![dtilque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d6d6ee/32.png) [@dtilque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dtilque)\
**Post date:** [May 5, 2021, 6:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/plants-names-from-native-american-languages/941362/22 "2021-05-05T06:13:29Z")

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> [@Terminus\_Est](#):
>
> If you can accept squash, which refers to many different species of _Cucurbita_ , then you can certainly accept chili.

Actually, most of the common names of plants refer to multiple species. Usually, there’s no single word to refer to most of those species. The species names, if they have one, are usually a compound of some other word with the generic. Chili seems to be different in that most kinds of chilis have a distinct single name for each type.

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**Author:** ![bibliophage](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bibliophage/32/7615_2.png) [@bibliophage](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bibliophage)\
**Post date:** [May 5, 2021, 8:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/plants-names-from-native-american-languages/941362/23 "2021-05-05T20:09:18Z")

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**Carib:**  
curare (refers to the plant _Strychnos toxifera_ as well as its poisonous product)  
plantain (genus _Musa_; the other plantain, genus _Plantago_, has a different etymology)

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**Author:** ![bibliophage](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bibliophage/32/7615_2.png) [@bibliophage](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bibliophage)\
**Post date:** [May 5, 2021, 8:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/plants-names-from-native-american-languages/941362/24 "2021-05-05T20:31:56Z")

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**Tupi:**  
carnauba (source of the wax)

**Quechua:**  
cherimoya  
maté

**Nahuatl:**  
teosinte

**unknown Native American languages:**  
tonka (bean)  
yautia

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**Author:** ![Terminus\_Est](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terminus_est/32/3087_2.png) [@Terminus\_Est](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Terminus_Est)\
**Post date:** [May 6, 2021, 12:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/plants-names-from-native-american-languages/941362/25 "2021-05-06T00:23:24Z")

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> [@dtilque](#):
>
> Chili seems to be different in that most kinds of chilis have a distinct single name for each type.

While chili does refer to many species of _Capsicum_, each species can have many different cultivars or varieties each of which can their own name. For example, Jalapeño and Cayenne are cultivars of _C. annum_, Habanero and Scotch Bonnet are cultivars of _C. chinense_, and Piri piri and Tabasco pepper are cultivars of _C. frutescens_. Bell peppers are varieties of _C. annum_ which have been bred to have no capsaicin.

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