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Hi Criiter,
Great article. Many folks may already be using the Latin names of plants and not even know it. Coleus (Genus name just recently changed to something totally unpronounceable), Delphinium, Dieffenbachia (dumb cane), Impatiens, etc. are all the Latin names of the plants that have come into common use. It is sometimes difficult to know the "correct" way to say the Latin name, but in speaking to other gardeners you will sometimes hear the name of the plant that you have had trouble pronouncing. Cotinus coggygria (Smoke bush) is one name that I never knew how to pronounce and I finally heard it pronounced while speaking to someone. (It's Ko-Tine-us Ko-Gig-ri-a)
Here is a link to the Midwest Landscape Plants database and there is a button on each entry that you can press to hear how the Latin name of the plant is pronounced - it's a great resource.
Hmm... I guess I should have tested the link before I posted it - the link doesn't seem to be working. I have emailed the webmaster to find out what's going on. I accessed the site not too long ago, so maybe they are having server problems or something like that.
Mike
tl³
I would not worry about pronouncing, no one can do it 'correctly' unless is part of
your daily vocabulary. On the other hand, spelling it right is mandatory, otherwise
it do you no good.
Yes, but it's embarrassing when you're taking around a group of expert gardeners (as I was on Saturday) and have no idea how to pronounce many of the botanical names. Even common names trip me up sometimes... I pronounced "Cotoneaster" as "Cotton Easter" for years until my first RU, when I was kindly (if laughingly) told it was "ca TONE e aster."
