vaginatum

Vaginatum is a Latin neuter adjective used as a specific epithet in the scientific names of plants. It is not the name of a genus or a single species; rather, it appears in the binomial names of multiple species across different genera. The epithet vaginatum derives from the Latin vagina, meaning sheath, and the neuter ending -atum, a form commonly used to describe a plant feature such as a prominent sheath or sheath-like structure.

One well-known example is Paspalum vaginatum, commonly called seashore paspalum, a warm-season turfgrass that tolerates saline and coastal conditions and is used for turf in coastal areas and on golf courses. The epithet may reflect morphological characteristics related to sheathing structures observed in a given species, though the exact feature can vary between genera and species.

Because Latin epithet endings agree with the gender of the genus, vaginatum appears in neuter genera and would appear as vaginatum in those contexts, while feminine genera would use vaginata (for example, a hypothetical feminine-gendered equivalent). The use of vaginatum, like other species epithets, is descriptive rather than indicating a single taxon.

See also: botanical nomenclature, species epithet, Latin descriptors in scientific naming.