sempervirens

Sempervirens is a Latin epithet used in the scientific names of various organisms, most notably plants, to indicate an evergreen habit. The term is derived from semper meaning “always” and virens meaning “green.” In botanical nomenclature, sempervirens appears as the species epithet in binomial names and is sometimes used in horticultural contexts to reflect persistent green foliage.

Among plants, the epithet sempervirens is best known from Sequoia sempervirens, the coast redwood. This conifer, native to the coastal regions of northern California and southern Oregon, is renowned for its extraordinary height and its year-round green needles. Helleborus sempervirens, the evergreen hellebore, is another well-known example; a hardy perennial grown in gardens for its winter to early-spring flowers and evergreen foliage.

The use of sempervirens is not restricted to these species; it appears in several other plant taxa to signal an evergreen habit. As with other Latin epithets, its presence is descriptive rather than a direct indicator of phylogenetic relationships beyond the inferred habit. In taxonomic practice, the epithet helps convey a characteristic of the plant, aiding identification and classification.

See also evergreen, nomenclature, binomial nomenclature.