atropurpureus

Atropurpureus is a Latin adjectival epithet used in biological nomenclature to describe a dark or very purple coloration. It is not a taxon in itself but appears in the scientific names of species and infraspecific taxa across different organisms to indicate purple traits such as flower color, fruit pigmentation, or other purple characteristics.

Etymology and form: The name combines atro- from Latin ater, meaning dark or blackish, with purpureus, meaning purple. In Latin, the epithet must agree in gender with the genus; masculine atropurpureus, feminine atropurpurea, neuter atropurpureum.

Taxonomic usage: The epithet is most common in botany, where purple petals, sepals, or inflorescences frequently motivate the descriptor. It is also found in some fungal names and, more rarely, in animals when purple coloration is diagnostic. Because it is a descriptive epithet rather than a defining taxon, many genera may have a species bearing atropurpureus, and the exact hue can vary with lighting, maturation, and substrate.

Limitations: Color-based epithets can be subjective and historical; modern taxonomy increasingly relies on genetic data for species limits, while color remains a convenient, though approximate, descriptive feature. Atropurpureus may appear in horticultural or cultivar contexts as part of naming, but in formal nomenclature it primarily serves as a descriptive epithet.

See also: Purpureus (color epithet), Latin binomial nomenclature, Taxonomic epithets.