A Grammatical Dictionary of Botanical Latin

spectabilis,-e (adj.B): able to be seen, visible; notable, admirable, remarkable; “spectacular, showy” (Stearn 1996); visible, open to view; remarkable, worth seeing, worthy of note, notable, admirable; “outstanding in appearance; worthy of consideration, noteworthly” (Glare); syn. speciosus,-a,-um (adj.A), q.v.; cf. eximius,-a,-um (adj.A), ‘choice;’

NOTE: in botanical Latin mostly seen in epithets.

Spectabilis,-is (s.m./f.III), abl.sg. spectabile: His/Her Excellency (Folletts; also Ashdowne & Howlett, British Medieval Latin); “under the [Roman] emperors, Spectabilis, ‘a title of high officers’ (Lewis & Short) such as proconsuls, judges and prefects.

- vapor parum spectabilis, a vapor somewhat visible.

- purus ab arboribus spectabilis undique campus, a field everywhere visible [i.e. ‘open, to view’], free [i.e. pure] from trees.

[Sarcolaena] flores spectabiles (B&H), flowers showy, i.e. outstanding in appearance, worth looking at.

- [Cespedesia] arbores procerae, spectabiles, glaberrimae, ramulis annulatis (B&H), very tall trees, showy, completely hairless, with the twigs [i.e. branchlets] annulate [i.e. marked with rings].

Orchis spectabillis, “Showy Orchid;” Osmunda regalis var. spectabilis, ‘showy;’ Aster spectabilis, with bright violet flowers: ‘showy’ (Fernald 1950); Eragrostis pectinata var. spectabilis, a variety with spikelets more exserted than the typical species, with more flowers in the spikelets; Eragrostis spectabilis, “showy” (Fernald 1950); Polygala spectabilis; UVARIA spectabilis.

Dicentra spectabilis, the showy Bleedingheart; cf. Dicentra eximia, the ‘choice’ Bleedingheart; Uvaria spectabilis.