List of taxa named after human genitals

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This a list of species, genera, and other biological taxa named after human genitals .

Orchis militaris , a member of the Orchidaceae family. The genus name originates in the Ancient Greek ὄρχις (órkhis), or "testicle", due to the shape of the twin tubers.

Epithets

• pubescens. The word originates from the Latin pubes, "adult, full-grown"; ^[1] "genital area, groin" ^[2] (e.g., Pubis); "the down or soft hair which begins to grow on young persons when they come to the age of puberty". ^[3] The use of the term in biology to refer to hairiness or soft down is recorded since 1760 for plants and since 1826 for insects. ^[1]
• vaginalis. The common specific name is derived from the Latin vagina, originally meaning "sheath, scabbard, covering; sheath of an ear of grain, hull, husk." ^[4] The specific epithet may refer to a sheathed trait or habit of an organism (e.g. Alysicarpus vaginalis), or may refer to resemblance/relation to the vagina (e.g. Gardnerella vaginalis) ^[5]

Plants

Flower of Clitoria ternatea

Families

• Orchidaceae. The type genus is Orchis , whose name comes from the Ancient Greek ὄρχις (órkhis), literally meaning "testicle", because of the shape of the twin tubers in some species of Orchis. ^[6]

Genera

• Amorphophallus ^[7]
• Clitoria ^[8]
• Orchis ^[6]

Species

• Alysicarpus vaginalis
• Baumea vaginalis
• Chenopodium vulvaria ^[9]
• Festuca vaginalis
• Pontederia vaginalis

Amorphophallus titanum

Varieties

• Capsicum annum var. annum 'penis pepper'

Fungi

Phallus impudicus

Orders

• Phallales

Families

• Phallaceae

Genera

• Phallus ^[10]

Species

• Amanita phalloides ^[11]
• Amanita vaginata
• Stachybotrys clitoriae - a species of Stachybotrys found on leaves of the Clitoria species Clitoria densiflora . ^[12]

Animals

Genera

• Phallichthys. The genus name literally means "phallus (penis) fish", ^[13] from the Greek phallos meaning "penis" and ichthys meaning "fish", ^[14] referring to the "comparatively huge" gonopodium, the modified anal fin used for copulation. ^[13]
• Xenophallus. The genus name translates to "strange penis". ^[15]

Species

• Trypauchen vagina

Subspecies

• Muntiacus muntjak vaginalis

Animal fossils

• Scrotum humanum

References

1. Harper, Douglas. "pubescence (n.)". Online etymology dictionary. Retrieved 29 August 2022.
2. Harper, Douglas. "pubis (n.)". Online etymology dictionary. Retrieved 29 August 2022.
3. Valpy, Francis Edward Jackson (1828). An etymological dictionary of the Latin language. London: Printed by A.J. Valpy, sold by Baldwin and Co. p. 377. Retrieved 29 August 2022.
4. Harper, Douglas. "vagina (n.)". Online etymology dictionary. Retrieved 3 January 2023.
5. Gmelin, Johann Friedrich (1789). Systema naturae per regna tria naturae : secundum classes, ordines, genera, species, cum characteribus, differentiis, synonymis, locis (in Latin). Vol. 1, Part 2 (13th ed.). Lipsiae [Leipzig]: Georg. Emanuel. Beer. p. 705.
6. Hyam, R. & Pankhurst, R.J. (1995). Plants and their names : a concise dictionary. Oxford: Oxford University Press. p. 356. ISBN   978-0-19-866189-4.
7. Quattrocchi, Umberto (1999). CRC World Dictionary of Plant Names: Common Names, Scientific Names, Eponyms, Synonyms, and Etymology. CRC Press. p. 118. ISBN   9780849326738.
8. Fantz, Paul R. (2000). "Nomenclatural Notes on the Genus Clitoria for the Flora North American Project". Castanea. 65 (2): 89–92. JSTOR   4034108.
9. Blackledge, Catherine (2020). Raising the Skirt: The Unsung Power of the Vagina. Hachette UK. ISBN   9781474615846.
10. Schaechter E, Wilson N. "Modern English Translation of Hadrianus Junius' 1564 work on Phallus hadrianii". A mycological voice from the past. Archived from the original on 2013-01-19. Retrieved 2010-10-25.
11. Vaillant, Sébastien (1727). Botanicon Parisiense (in Latin). Leide & Amsterdam: J. H. Verbeek and B. Lakeman. OCLC   5146641.
12. "Stachybotrys clitoriae". Index Fungorum. Retrieved May 30, 2025.
13. Hellweg, Mike. "Meet the Merry Widows: The Genus Phallichthys". Tropical Fish Hobbyist Magazine. Archived from the original on 26 August 2023. Retrieved 26 August 2023.
14. Froese, Rainer; Pauly, Daniel (eds.). "Phallichthys amates". FishBase . August 2023 2023 version.
15. Froese, Rainer; Pauly, Daniel (eds.). "Xenophallus umbratilis". FishBase . August 2012 version.