Good books or websites about the botanical names of plants?

Discussion in 'General Gardening Discussion' started by SimonZ, Oct 29, 2012.

  1. SimonZ

    SimonZ Gardener

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    I'd be interested to know of any comprehensive websites or good books which offer detailed explanations of the Latin names of plants. Thanks.
     
  2. Phil A

    Phil A Guest

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    I'm currently offering up for sale, Gardener's Latin. Which I think would cover your needs.

    Make me an offer:dbgrtmb:
     
  3. SimonZ

    SimonZ Gardener

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    I'll get back to you!
     
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    • Kristen

      Kristen Under gardener

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    • kindredspirit

      kindredspirit Gardening around a big Puddle. :)

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    • Kristen

      Kristen Under gardener

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      Nifty. However, how does one pronounce:

      Aesculus

      they say ESS-kew-lus and I would have said EYE-skew-lus or perhaps EYES-kew-lus

      ??
       
    • Sheal

      Sheal Total Gardener

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      I would say ee-skew-lus Kristen. Pronounced the same as encyclopaedia and Paediatric I think. :)
       
    • Phil A

      Phil A Guest

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      Carl.
       
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      • Aesculus

        Aesculus Bureaucrat 34 (Admin)

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        :rofllol:

        I've heard it pronounced Ass-Kew-Less, Ass-Kew-Luss, Ace-Kew-Less and any variation there of ;) to be honest it doesent really matter as long as people know what you mean:)
         
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        • Phil A

          Phil A Guest

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          I'm probably wrong as I learned from Mum who had a Black Country Accent.

          But i'd pronounce it A-S-CUE-LESS.
           
        • Kristen

          Kristen Under gardener

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          Ok ... I Googled it. Sorry Zigs, but "Carl" is not the right answer :heehee:

          http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Æ

          "In Classical Latin, the combination AE denotes the diphthong [ai], which had a value similar to the long i in fine as pronounced in most dialects of modern English."

          Although http://ancienthistory.about.com/od/latinlanguage/qt/latinpronounce.htm says: "Latin Diphthongs The first vowel sound in "Caesar," ae is a diphthong pronounced like "eye"". I doubt you've ever pronounced Caesar like that, I certainly haven't! and when I studied Vergil's (sic) Aeneid we certainly never referred to it as Eye-knee-ad - plus we spelt it "Virgil" so I doubt they've got the rest correct either!

          http://www.canticanova.com/latin_pron.htm says "Vowels are constant in pronunciation; they are always pronounced as below, without exception!" - so that's clear then! and it goes on to say "Æ pronounced exactly like Latin E sound example: æterna" yeagh, well that's crystal clear - Not!

          I think this probably sums up my view:

          "In English we are taught to pronounce AE as in beet, but all Latin books which I have referred to insist that the Latin AE should be pronounced as bite."

          So although we use Latin for plant names it depends whether you pronounce it in ... Latin ... or in ... English :heehee:
           
        • kindredspirit

          kindredspirit Gardening around a big Puddle. :)

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          AS far as I know I've always pronounced it Ess Ku Lus from the time I started waffling it from the age of 2. :lunapic 130165696578242 5:

          But I think it might be pronounced Aye Ku Lus now. :patpat: Aye, aye, Aesculus. :biggrin:

          EDIT: Kristen was clever; he googled it. I just went by Spanish pronounciation, which sort of follows Latin.
           
        • Phil A

          Phil A Guest

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          You can pronounce latin anyway you want now as its a dead language.

          I'm still going to call Aesculus Carl. Karl or Mr Sulu though:snork:
           
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          • Kristen

            Kristen Under gardener

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            Kristen thought he was clever until he discovered that Google results are like Gardeners - "ask two and get three different opinions" :(
             
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            • Sheal

              Sheal Total Gardener

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              So if Latin is a dead language then we should be pronouncing it the English way as Kristen says.......as in beet.

              Also does this mean we shouldn't be using the Latin names of plants anymore? :biggrin:
               
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