pumila

Pumila is a Latin adjective used in the scientific naming of organisms, meaning dwarf or small. In taxonomic usage, pumila serves as a specific epithet, most often to indicate that the species is smaller than related taxa within the same genus. The form pumila is feminine and agrees in gender with the genus name; masculine is pumilus and neuter pumilum.

Because it is a descriptive epithet rather than a unique taxon, pumila appears in many genera across plants and animals. It is particularly common in botany, where dwarf forms or low-growing shrubs and trees are labeled with pumila; in zoology, smaller or juvenile forms may bear the epithet as well. The term signals relative size within a genus or group rather than prescribing a specific morphological standard across all species that bear it.

One well-known example is Pinus pumila, the dwarf Siberian pine, native to northeastern Asia. It grows as a low shrub or small tree adapted to cold, windy environments and can form dense stands in tundra and subalpine zones. The epithet does not imply a universal trait for all species bearing it; rather, it indicates a tendency toward smaller stature within the context of each respective genus.

Because many species share the epithet across diverse lineages, pumila is not a standalone taxon but a descriptive element of a binomial name that, taken with its genus, identifies a particular organism.