canariensis

Canariensis is a Latin species epithet used in the scientific names of organisms to indicate a link to the Canary Islands, an archipelago off the northwest coast of Africa that is part of Spain. It is not a taxon on its own but a descriptor embedded in a binomial name to help identify origin or regional association of a species.

In taxonomic practice, canariensis functions as an adjectival epithet. It is derived from the Canary Islands and is written in a form that commonly appears as canariensis in many genera, though the exact ending may vary with gender in some taxa. The epithet is used across plants, animals, fungi, and other organisms when the species is native to or originally described from the Canary Islands.

The Canary Islands host a number of endemic and regionally associated species, and the epithet canariensis is frequently encountered in their scientific names. Notable examples include Phoenix canariensis, the Canary Island date palm, and Arbutus canariensis, the Canary Island strawberry tree. In general, the use of canariensis signals a geographical connection rather than a taxonomic grouping, and multiple, unrelated organisms may share the epithet due to their link to the same island group.