Last month I wrote about learning to use botanical nomenclature when discussing plants.

I realized I left out a large part of the issue. A big reason people do not use the botanical names for plants is they are unsure how to pronounce them. No one likes to use words they are unfamiliar with for fear of being thought uneducated or uninformed.

Relax!! There is no "official" way to pronounce botanical terms.

True, many of the names come from the Latin, but no one actually speaks Latin now. And, many of the names also come from the Greek, from locations, japonica- from Japan or virginiana- from Virginia or from people's names, jeffersonia- Jefferson, kennedia- Kennedy.

If you are with others and there is a respected speaker or writer among you, out of courtesy, defer to the "expert". However, anyone who has worked with professional botanists knows and hears many different pronunciations. Take the Genus Thymus- Thyme. I have heard it pronounced in all the following ways: TEE-mus, TYE-mus, TEE-moose, TYE-moose, THEE-mus, THYE-mus, THEE-moose, THYE-moose.

There are, however, some accepted ways to pronounce most words used in the nomenclature.

Unlike our own form of English, there are no silent letters. Every letter is pronounced. A first look at a word can be daunting. Sometimes the word is very long because it is a compound word. Look at the word carefully, and try to break it into its parts. To learn to sound out pronunciation, look at the name and pronounce each root separately. Like we do with Rhododendron‹break it up into rhodo and dendron and say each one like its own word. After all, they are words‹meaning "rose-tree".

Some people pronounce Pittosporum, "pi-TOS-por-um"‹but by breaking it up into the two roots pitto and sporum meaning "pitch-seed", you can see it can also be more easily pronounced pi-tos-POR-um.

Here's another good one: Acacia melanoxylon, which most call mel-an-OX-ee-lon. That's the way it's pronounced often. But, since it is the blackwood acacia, and the name refers to the color of the wood, it is melano (black) and xylon (wood), or "me-lan-o-ZYE-lon", or "me-la-no-ZEE-lon". If the "oxy" part of the name referred to something sharp, as in oxyacantha (sharp-spined), then it would be OX-ee.

Confused??

Here's a chart that will help you:

The "ii" at the end of words like douglasii already mentioned‹just say it like "ee".
Say "i" like "ee", not "eye".
Say "a" like "ah", not "ay".
Say "e" like "eh", not "ee".

"Ch" is usually said like a "k", not a ch, as in Pachycereus‹"pa-kee-seer-ee-us", but sometimes as a ch as in Lachenalia‹"la-che-nal-ee-a".

And those family-name endings "aceae" and "ae" Say what sounds natural to you. I hear these pronounced many different ways‹"ae" is pronounced "eye", "ee" or "ay", and "aceae" is pronounced "ah-say-ay", "ah-see-ee", and a whole lot of other ways. Just use the pronunciation that you are most comfortable with.

You can learn to use botanical names easily with a little practice. Learn the botanical names of your favorite herbs in the garden and start referring to them by those names. Say the words out loud so you get used to hearing how the words sound. It's fun! And you'll be able to discuss plants with anyone and know you're talking about the same plant.

Here are some references for you to do more reading, if you're interested. http://www.emmitsburg.net/gardens/articles/adams/2002/latin_for_gardeners.htm
http://botany.suite101.com/article.cfm/botanical_latin#ixzz0Kbp6TUJR&D
http://www.rainyside.com/resources/reference/PronunciationGuide.html
WITH AUDIO: http://www.finegardening.com/pguide/pronunciation-guide-to-botanical-latin.aspx
Dictonary of botanical epithets- Very extensive, full list: http://ancienthistory.about.com/gi/dynamic/offsite.htm?site=http://www.winternet.com/~chuckg/dictionary.html

QUOTE FOR THE MONTH

Crabgrass can grow on bowling balls in airless rooms, and there is no known way to kill it that does not involve nuclear weapons. - Dave Barry