A Grammatical Dictionary of Botanical Latin

Fauces (pl.f.III of faux, q.v.), gen. pl. faucium (i-stem), acc. pl. fauces, dat. & abl. pl. faucibus: jaws, defile, gorge, chasm, narrow pass, defile, gorge, straits, as the Hellespont; in English: “the orifice or throat of a gamopetalous corolla or calyx; the part between the proper tube and the limb” (Fernald 1950); the throat is referred to as the ‘fauces’ (pl.) by Jackson (1928); Stearn (1983) indicated that in botanical Latin the word is mostly used in the singular; see faux, gen.sg. faucis (s.f.III); see throat;

Fauces, in Latin, also refers to “the upper part of the throat, pharynx; the windpipe, throat; (of dangerous animals) the jaws, maw; [also] the exterior of the throat, the neck” (after Glare).

Gorge (Eng.noun): “the throat of a flower” (Jackson).

1. botany: gorge (Eng.noun): “the throat of a flower” (Jackson). -[botany] corollis succulentis urceolatis, intus super fauces breviter tomentosis, with the corollas succulent urceolate, within above the throat shortly tomentose.

Tournefort uses the plural:

- Dracocephalon est plantae genus, flore monopetalo, labiato, cujus labium superius quod galeatum est, inferiusque tripartitum in fauces desinunt, speciemque capitis nescio cujus Draconis prae se ferunt (Tourn.), Dracocephalon is a type of plant with a monopetalous, labiate flower, the upper lip of which because it is galeate, and the lower one three-parted terminating in the throat, and I do not know the kind of serpent whose head they [i.e. the plants] display.

- Lamium est plantae genus, flore monopetalo labiato, cujus labium superius cochlearis instar est excavatum; inferius vero bifidum, cordiforme, desinuntque ambo in fauces marginatas (Tourn.), Lamium is a type of plant with a monpetalous labiate flower, the upper lip of which is excavate like a spoon; but the lower is bifid, heart-shaped, and both end in the bordered throat.

2. geography, a narrow entrance or outlet, “the mouth or entrance of a harbor, river; the entrance to a pass or defile” (Glare); a porch, gateway as an entrance to a building; the crater of a volcano; (of the sea) a strait); a ‘neck’ of land, an isthmus; cf. ostium,-ii (s.n.II);

- in faucibus crescens, in the gorge(s) growing (Stearn).

- in faucibus fluminis Niagarae lectus, collected in the gorge of the Niagara River.

- in cacumine summi Erkauit latere septentrionali fauces dioriticas habitans, inhabiting in the peaks of the highest point of Erkauit dioritic gorges on the north side.

- fauces terrae [fauces in plural, terrae gen.sg.]: 'gulf,' lit. 'jaws of land,' in international law, promontories or headlands enclosing an arm of the sea, considered territorial waters and not part of the high seas.

- Patria: Terra Natal Africae, in faucibus silvarum primitivarum ad flumen Umslutiae detexit (JaegerSauerb.), native land: the Natal region of Africa, discovered in the primitive forested gorges at the river Umslutia.

NOTE: in English, although the Latin plural may be used, a singular word is meant. The plural in Latin takes modifiers with plural endings. Stearn (1983) indicated that Botanical Latin usage mostly employs the singular in prose; see faux.

NOTE: (used in the singular) in fauce abrupte Borregail de S. Geronimo (JaegSauerb.), in the steep gorge Borregail of S. Geronimus.