The a to Z of Plant Names: A Quick Reference Guide to 4000 Garden Plants Read Free

World species, thus resulting in the splitting of the genus into several smaller ones.
Are these changes avoidable? In this example, it is not wrong to retain all species in the genus
Aster
, if, with good reason, it is believed that is where they should be, but the new classification shows better the relationships of the species involved, which can help gardeners and plant breeders. Inaddition, new species named may not have a useable name in the old genus. For example, new species of
Veronica
have already been described from New Zealand and Australia with no name available for them in
Hebe
or
Parahebe
, or whichever genus they would have been assigned to in the past.
While conservation is a considerable help in promoting name stability, sometimes it comes at a price. When the genus
Chrysanthemum
was split into smaller genera, the generic name should have stayed with
C. segetum
(corn marigold) and its relatives, necessitating a new genus for the florists’ ‘mums’. As this would have caused considerable horticultural disruption, the genus
Chrysanthemum
was conserved so that the ‘mums’ would not have to change their name. This, however, necessitated moving the corn marigold and its relatives to another genus,
Glebionis
.
Pronunciation
     
    Pronunciation is one of the most controversial aspects of plant names, and although there are strict rules on how to form and spell plant names, there are no rules on how to pronounce them. They are derived from, or at least regarded as being, Latin, but that does not mean they have to be pronounced as such. As a language, Latin is very rarely spoken in the way the Romans used it. As it spread across Europe, used as an international language, its pronunciation was heavily influenced by the native language; even church Latin, at least today, is strongly influenced by Italian. The original Latin pronunciation is not known for certain, and much of what is known would make it inappropriate, difficult and incomprehensible for English speakers.
    It is surprising how infrequently plant names are actually spoken; they are much more likely to be encountered when reading or writing. One simple rule to follow is to pronounce every vowel separately, except for diphthongs (two vowels together pronounced as one) such as ae, ai, au, oe and eu), so
Abies
is ab-ee-ayz, not ay-beez. The most important aspect to take into considerationwhen saying a plant name is to be understood, that the person listening knows which plant is being referred to. It therefore makes sense to adopt a traditional pronunciation, one that is widely used and understood, and I have based the suggested pronunciations used here on what I have heard and what I know people recognise. Of course, there is a considerable variety of ways that plant names are pronounced, often depending on regional accent. There is also a great deal of leeway in how names can be pronounced and still be understood. For example, it does not matter if you say uh-me-ri-
kah
-nuh or uh-me-ri-
kay
-nuh; both will be understood, and the difference between the two is very small. Some may prefer to use pur-
poo
-ree-oos, while most will say pur-
pew
-ree-oos. Pronunciation can clarify which is meant of two similar-sounding names—for example,
Dahlia
and
Dalea
, both commonly pronounced
day
-lee-uh.
    One of the most difficult parts of a name to decide how to pronounce is the
-ii
found at the end of many species epithets. By far the most common pronunciation of this, in my experience, is ‘ee-ie’ (e.g, wil-
son
-ee-ie, but
wil
-son-ie or wil-
son
-ee-ee are also found). I have opted for ‘-ee-ee’ here because it is more likely to be accepted by non-English speakers (who would not use the ‘-ie’ sound for the letter
i
) and emphasises the spelling, thus differentiating between epithets ending
-ii
and those ending
-iae
. However, all are likely to be understood, and in every case, it is better to use a pronunciation with which you are familiar and