The present study summarizes the anatomic lexicon of Beja, the only representative of the North Cushitic branch according to all relevant sources published during last two centuries. This dialectological material is compared with probable or possible counterparts in other Cushitic branches and further, in the Afroasiatic perspective, with Omotic, Chadic, Berber, Egyptian and Semitic lexical data, all in agreement with historical phonology formulated in Blažek 2007. Several etymological studies devoted to thematic parts of the Beja lexicon were already published: Fauna (Blažek 2003a), Kinship & Social terminology (Blažek 2003b), Natural Phenomena, Time and Geographical Terminology (Blažek 2005 & 2006).

The contribution summarises the Beja lexicon connected with natural phenomena, including astronomical, temporal, and geographical terminology. Every lexeme is documented in available sources and etymologized in areal or genealogical perspectives. In the case of borrowings, the ambition is to trace primary donor-languages, usually Arabic or Ethio-Semitic, sometimes Nilo-Saharan. The inherited lexemes are identified, if no convincing donors were determined, while there are promising comparanda in other Cushitic, Omotic or other Afroasiatic branches.

In the present contribution the Beja botanical terminology is analyzed from the point of view of semantic motivation. The study is limited only to the unborrowed part of the botanical lexicon (with some exceptions), together 76 terms. First 51 terms are etymologized with help of external comparisons with probable cognates in other Cushitic or Afroasiatic languages. The last 25 terms are understandable from the point of view of internal etymology and their semantic motivation is more transparent than in the preceding cases.