If you're not able to hear the sound files, click here.

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Pronunciation of Scientific Names

They tell us that Latin is a dead language, and so it is. No one knows how it sounded in ancient Rome. But we’d have a hard time understanding one another if we each made up our own pronunciations, so guidelines have evolved.

After hearing it spoken, you start to pick up on a cadence or rhythm, and when you say a name out loud, it’s easier to remember — so we are grateful to these people for demonstrating the pronunciation of scientific names.

To hear them, click the “play” buttons beside Latin names throughout the website.

• Wayne Bateman, Scotts Lawn Service
• Christi Bruner, Carolina Wild Native Plant Nursery
• Beth Flokstra, Garden Genesis
• Jan Haldeman, Erskine College
• Margie Hunter, Gardening with the Native Plants of Tennessee
• Charles Horn, Newberry College
• Ron Lance, Big Ridge Preserve
• Tim Lee, South Carolina Parks Service
• John Manion, Curator of the Kaul Wildflower Garden, Birmingham Botanical Gardens
• Larry Mellichamp, University of North Carolina / UNC Charlotte Botanical Gardens
• John Nelson, University of South Carolina / A.C. Moore Herbarium
• Joseph Pollard, Furman University
• Doug Rayner, Wofford College
• Emily B. Sessa, Director of the William and Lynda Steere Herbarium at the New York Botanical Garden
• Bill Stringer, Clemson University
• Lisa Wagner, South Carolina Botanical Garden
• David Zaparanick, City of Atlanta

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To read more about the pronunciation of scientific names (including some of the various schools of thought), turn to page xxxvii of A Guide to the Wildflowers of South Carolina, and check out the links below:

California Plant Names: Latin and Greek Meanings and Derivations — A Dictionary of Botanical Etymology
http://www.calflora.net/botanicalnames/

Southern California Wildflowers — Guide to the Pronunciation of Plant Names
http://www.calflora.net/bloomingplants/pronunciationguide.html

Pronunciation of Vascular Plant Genera & Families of New England
http://www.ray-a.com/BotPron/