Kerria
/ˈkɛr.i.ə/noun
A small genus of flowering shrubs in the rose family, especially Kerria japonica, the Japanese kerria.
Did you know?The genus was named for William Kerr, a Scottish gardener and plant collector who introduced Kerria japonica to European horticulture from China in the early nineteenth century.
Etymological Timeline
18th Century
English
William Kerr
“Scottish gardener and plant collector whose name later became the genus name”
1804
Botanical Latin
Corchorus japonicus
“An earlier scientific name applied to the plant, associating it with the genus Corchorus and Japan”
1818
Botanical Latin
Kerria
“A new plant genus established by Augustin Pyramus de Candolle and named in honor of William Kerr”
19th Century
Botanical Latin
Kerria japonica
“The best-known species in the genus, a flowering shrub native to parts of China and Japan”
Modern English
English
kerria
“A cultivated flowering shrub, especially the yellow-flowered Japanese kerria”
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