parviflora

Parviflora is a Latin-language species epithet used in the scientific names of many flowering plants. It literally means “small-flowered,” derived from parvus (small) and flora (flower). The epithet is gendered in botanical Latin, with parviflora corresponding to feminine-gender genera; related forms include parviflorus for masculine genera and parviflorum for neuter genera. It is not a genus or a standalone species name by itself, but part of a binomial name.

In taxonomy, parviflora signals a morphological characteristic of the plant—typically that its flowers are smaller than those of related species. The descriptor is descriptive rather than diagnostic on its own and can vary in prominence among different species and contexts. As with other Latin epithets, its exact meaning is relative to comparisons within a genus or family.

The epithet parviflora appears across diverse plant groups and is found in many genera, reflecting the descriptive style of botanical naming. Because it is an epithet, there is no single species universally identified as “parviflora”; multiple species across different genera may bear the name, each with its own full scientific designation and authority. For precise identification, the full binomial name, together with the author citation and publication details, must be consulted.