A Grammatical Dictionary of Botanical Latin

Lignum,-i (s.n.II), abl. sg. ligno: wood; in general, timber, wood; “the wood; that central part of a stem which lies below the bark, or its equivalent, the cortical integument” (Lindley); see log [> L. lignum,-i (s.n.II), that which is gathered, i.e. for firewood (Lewis & Short); in the classical period the word was used only in the plural, and so it is often used, e.g. by S&A for wood as litter, the substrate for many species of fungi, but in the singular for a particular piece of wood, as in its occurrence in a single instance];

- [fungi] in lignis pineis abiegnisque hinc inde (S&A), here and there on pine and fir wood.

- [lichen] formam diminutam ad ligna putrescentia abietis prope Mont-Dore Arvernea in Gallia legi (Nyl.), I have collected the reduced form on putrescent wood of a fir near Mont-Dore, Avernea in France.

- ad cortices et ligna quercus, on the barks and woods of the oak [tree].

- arbor ligno duro albo, tree with wood hard white (Stearn).

- forma platyphylla (C. crispum v. nudum Schaer. 1. c ) statu thallo cinerascente ad ligna aqua saepe immersa (Nyl.), a broad-leaved [i.e. broad-lobed] form with the thallus condition ashy, often on wood immersed in water.

- praeter ligno Pruni domesticae arida etiam in ramis alneis deciduis hinc inde occurrit (S&A), it occurs here and there especially on the dry wood of Prunus domestica and on the deciduous branches of Alnus.

- amat ligna pinea vel fabrefacta cellaria hyemalis, vel rudia sylvatica aestivalis : bis terve inventa, it loves pine wood or formed wood of cellars, vernal, or rough forest [wood], in summer; found two or three times.

- in lignis siccis duris quercinis, alneis, fagineis, tilliaceis, aliisque vulgaris, perennis (S&A), on dry, hard Oak, Alder, Beech, Basswood and other wood, common, perennial.

- in lignis pineis dejectis humidis putribus passim (S&A), on fallen pine wood, moist, rotten, everywhere.

- ad ligna putrida terramque umbrosam, on rotten wood (pl.) and shady soil.

- in frustis ligni carie exesi sicci, rarior (S&A), in dry fragments of wood eaten up with decay, more rare.

- lignum pallidum molle (F. Mueller), the wood pale, soft.

- Arbuscula, cortice sordide cano scrobiculato, ligno flavescente (F. Mueller),

- Lauro affinis arbor ligno moschum olente (Swartz), a tree related to Laurus, with the leaves wider, with the wood smelling like musk.

- ligno duro flavescente (Swartz), the the wood hard, yellowish.

- arbor humilis: ligno candido, molli, fragili (Swartz), a low tree, with the wood a clear white, soft, fragile.

- truncus constans corporibus duobus, ligneo nempe et corticali, juxta leges inversas crescentibus; Corpus ligneum exhibens in centro medullam e qua productiones medullares radiantes trans strata lignea annua,alia (lignum) interiora seniora duriora, alia (alburnum ) exteriora juniora molliora albida (DeCandolle); the trunk consists of two bodies, namely the ligneous and the cortical, growing according to inverse laws; the corpus ligneus displaying in the center a medulla from which medullary productions are radiating across the woody annual layers, the inner ones (the wood), older, harder, the other (alburnum) younger, softer, whitish.

Lignum fabrefactum (part.A), abl. sg. ligno fabrefacto: woodwork, worked wood.

Lignum,-i (s.n.II) intergerinum: “the dissepiment of a fruit” (Lindley; Jackson); see intergerivus,-a,-um (adj.A).

NOTE: Strychnos colubrina and S. ligustrina, natives respectively of Malabar and Java, is employed as an antidote to the bites of poisonous snakes, hence it is termed Lignum colubrinum or Snake-wood (Bentley).

NOTE: Moringa pterygosperma: “The wood has been supposed, but on no trustworthy authority, to be the Lignum nephriticum of the old Materia Medica writers” (Bentley) [nephriticus, q.v., medicinal application to diseases of the kidneys (nephritis).