spicatum

Spicatum is a Latin neuter adjective used as a species epithet in the scientific names of many organisms. It is derived from spica, meaning a spike or ear, and from the participial form spicatus, indicating something bearing a spike. In taxonomy, spicatum typically signals a spike-like feature, such as a spicate inflorescence or another pointed, spike-shaped attribute, though the precise trait can vary among different taxa.

Grammatical and nomenclatural notes are important for its usage. Because Latin adjectives must agree with the gender of the genus, spicatum is used with neuter genera; spicata is used with feminine genera, and spicatus with masculine genera. This agreement helps reflect the grammatical gender of the genus name within binomial nomenclature in botany and zoology.

In practice, spicatum appears across a range of plant and animal groups as a conventional descriptive epithet. Its presence usually points to a spike-like morphology rather than to a specific taxon or lineage. Because it is a descriptive term rather than a reference to a person or place, many unrelated genera may independently employ spicatum within their species names.

Related forms include spicatus (masculine) and spicata (feminine), which share the same root meaning but adapt to different grammatical genders. When compiling or parsing taxonomic lists, recognizing spicatum as a Latin descriptive epithet helps distinguish it from proper nouns and from other epithets with different roots.

See also: Latin binomial nomenclature, taxonomic epithets, spicatus, spicata.