A random thought today during the "off season"... wondering how, if you were going to, would you pronounce some of these plant names? We could discuss these here. There are some that are used often and sound nearly identical when spoken, but some that look simply impossible to form into a spoken word. Most of the plant names I know I've never said out loud, or heard anyone else pronounce. In my mind, I usually concoct a pronunciation that helps me remember how to spell it if it's one that I plan to learn and use.

Please drop a name if you have a curiosity. I'm not sure there are finitely right or wrong answers for these, and with people here from all parts of the world with various accents and languages, I don't seek a consensus on what we shall all do beyond this discussion. Just a lighthearted discussion, seems like it would be fun to compare what it would sound like if actually spoken out loud by person A or person B...

I'll open with Euphorbia myrsinites. Are we giving this "myrsinites" 3 syllables (mer'sin'ites) or 4 (mer'sin'i'tees)?

Kalanchoe is one that I've seen is described as being pronounced with 4 syllables (kal-an-co-ee) but 3 is where I am with it (kal-an-cho).

I like this topic, because I too am familiar with many plant names I've only seen in print. Being a logophile, I have researched some pronunciations out of curiosity but others I just garble in my head.

One linguistic fact that helps a lot is that many plant names come from Greek root words (that carried into Latin). The Greek "ch" is pronounced like a "k" — as in chamomile, chaos, chemistry, etc. Hence kal-an-ko-ee. But that is even disputed between American and British English experts, so I say, pick the one you like.

When I first saw Agastache, my initial reaction was ag-ah-stash. Then the penny dropped about the ch, and I wobbled between ag-ah-stak and ag-ah-STAK-ee. Then I watched a video in which the owner of an online nursery said a-GAH-sta-kee. Okay then!

One I really like (Greek roots again) is Caesalpinia. Think Caesar, the emperor. That initial "C" works as an "S" and makes it fun to say: sez-al-PIN-ee-a.

I have a feeling this thread won't have mass appeal, but thanks for the opportunity to geek out!

I ordered some plants once from a vendor and was asking about a Yucca. I pronounce it Yuck-ka, but he was like, do you mean Yoo-ka? I've never heard it pronounced that way before (I could be mispronouncing it myself), but I thought it was interesting!

I've never heard yooka either! Reminds me of a muddled conversation I had with a friend many years ago. I was talking about her Cotoneaster (Cuh-TONE-ee-aster) and she kept saying she didn't have one. I said "It's right by your front door, the one with the red berries." She replied, "Oh, the Cotton Easter!"

NMoasis said:I've never heard yooka either! Reminds me of a muddled conversation I had with a friend many years ago. I was talking about her Cotoneaster (Cuh-TONE-ee-aster) and she kept saying she didn't have one. I said "It's right by your front door, the one with the red berries." She replied, "Oh, the Cotton Easter!"

I'd say it the way your friend does.

My mom was a Brit, lots of words came out different!

Mine too, Rj. Funny story about that: When my sister wanted to plant an orchard, she tried to find a lemon tree like the one we'd had at our family home. She got really discouraged when employees at every nursery she visited had never heard of a "Maya" lemon. We both laughed till we hurt when she realized we'd had a Meyer lemon, pronounced with a British accent.

Not plant related, but my German MIL calls pretzels, prayt-zels.

Cotton-Easter… a Easter plant - half white fuzz and half colored egg plant…that was a tricky one.
Ka-ton-ne-aster….

Amaryllidaceae … amary-llida-ceae …Am-a-ryl-lis..Am-ar-yll-is…
friend with Boston accent.. Am-ha-rill-us .

Chionanthus…ka-no-nan-thus ..this one was a tongue twister with or without the diction breakdown .

Heuchera …hoo-ker-uh-a… Like always asking for a smoking bar no wait it's a plant.

Today all the plant pics and spelling are at the touch of a Computer. Ya all remember the struggling to spell plants on tests.

Linguistics is tricky, in many cases many languages have morphed thru the years historically.

Heuchera is one of the first Latin plant names I ever encountered. Decided it was HOOTCH-era then, still think of it like that now in spite of knowing better

From an acquaintance, British, after dealing with a very frustrating customer..." I wanted to bash him about the earholes with my handbag." Still makes me chuckle. As far as botanical names, I believe there is no letter which is not pronounced. So I try to include them all. lol.

Liriope = lur eye oh pee

Heard above pronounced on a gardening program, and the best sounding pronunciation I've heard in spite of the fact that I'm the only person I know using that pronunciation.

I go a little more "leer" on that first syllable, but otherwise I can hear that. Vowels are all over the place regionally.

Gary, love the "earholes"!😆

Eponymous botanical names should be pronounced like the person's (or place's, etc.) name would be pronounced.

So, Heuchera is pronounced "HOY-ker-uh" in recognition of Johann Heinrich von Huecher (German physician & botanist). I've heard "Heuchera" pronounced correctly on occasion but not often.

Likewise, Fuchsia should be pronounced "FOOKS-ee-uh" for the German botanist, Leonhart Fuchs. However, I've never heard anyone use the proper pronunciation for this one.

There are many more eponymous botanical names that are commonly mispronounced.

My cousin was from a small village near the Cotswolds, when he went into the RAF as a Navigator they had to send him through a course to clean up his speech so that he could be understood on the radio.😀

youwannamess

@danita, huh, hadn't thought about those German name pronunciations... enlightening! So however I've been pronouncing Heuchera, it was wrong!

breith95 said:youwannamess

Perfectly apt!

The full name is - Youwannamess yougotone

At least, that's what my family jokingly calls it!

HAHAHA! Eponymous Euonymus?

I guess hyew'chair'uh (Heuchera) is a lonely camp with just me. LMBO!!!

YOO-ka is the Spanish pronunciation. Similarly the correct pronunciation of Agave is ah-GAY-veh, since it is a latinization of maguey which is pronounced may-GAY. Nobody's gonna do that though.
Aloe and Kalanchoe are 3 and 4 syllables, respectively. The "e" is pronounced "eh" because there is a superscript ".." over it. Nobody's gonna do that either.
Kniphofia being a German name, goes along with Heuchera and Fuchsia and is pronounced NIP-off-ee-a. Try Lagerstroemia and Koelreuteria with "oe" as "eh" and "eu" as "oy" and see what kind of looks you get. Gotta love German names!
How about mlokosowitschii if you really want some pronunciation fun. Just remember to swallow the "m", turn the "w" into a "v" and stick in a "sss" with the "ch" and you'll have no problem.