aurantius

Aurantius is a Latin adjective meaning orange or orange-yellow, used in scholarly descriptions to indicate an orange coloration. In taxonomy, aurantius and its gendered forms appear as a descriptive epithet in the names of plants, animals, and fungi to signal orange coloration in parts such as flowers, plumage, or fruit. It is commonly encountered in historical and scientific texts, and, unlike standardized color names in modern palettes, is not a distinct color code but a descriptive term.

The word derives from Latin aurantium (orange) and its root aur- associated with golden hues; as with many Latin descriptors, the form of the epithet changes to agree with the gender of the noun it modifies. A related term appears in taxonomic group names such as Aurantioideae, a subfamily of the citrus-bearing plant family Rutaceae, whose name means orange-like.

A well-known species epithet employing the same root is Citrus aurantium (bitter orange), showing how aurantius-origin terms appear in taxonomy to denote orange fruit color.

For related topics, see orange (color) and Aurantioideae.