From the GardenRant archives, this post was originally published in December of 2008.
I wrote this a number of years ago after I discovered gardeners, even students, were intimidated when trying to give scientific names. They said they felt silly especially if they were with other gardeners whom they were sure “knew everything” and might correct their pronunciation. Now that everyone wants to use plant Latin and plant Greek, here is the next barrier to overcome.
Most people like to pronounce names with some degree of confidence. Scientific names can be intimidating and often we will not say them for fear of sounding ignorant. Like anything else, pronunciation is something that one feels confident with only with continued use. If scientific names are seldom part of one’s gardening vocabulary, we will always stumble and stutter. I have provided pronunciation guides for most genera and specific epithets in my books, as “correct” as I thought possible, but with a definite Armitage bias as well. And I often get skewered by linguists and editors.
However, let’s get real. Does a person in Germany pronounce a genus like a person in Ireland, or Holland? Of course not. Does it really matter if paniculata is pronounced (pa-nik-ew-lah’ ta) or (pa-nik-ew-lay’ ta)? I prefer to pronounce Stokesia as (stokes’ ee-a), in recognition of Dr. John Stokes, for whom the genus was named. However (stow-keys’ ee-a) is commonly used and equally understood. I read comments in Internet articles and can even hear proper botanical etiquette through my speakers that someone has posted. They are all very well done, and most differ with each other.
In teaching my students and talking with growers, landscapers and gardeners, I had to come up with an easy rule. So, here is the Armitage Method for Plant Pronunciation. “Get the syllables in the right order, then fire away.”
Don’t worry about sounding silly, it is only the garden snob who continually tries to correct you. And who needs snobs in a garden?
I have a question for Rant readers. How do you pronounce clematis? I have been corrected on this a number of times, and I’d love to know how others say it.—Elizabeth
Excerpted from Herbaceous Perennials Plants 3rd ed:
Thank you for bringing up clematis! For years I said it clem-AT-iss, and never got a comment. Then one day I read somewhere that it’s pronounced CLEM-uh-tiss. I still have to do a Jedi mind trick every time I say the word, it’s so counterintuitive to me! And 9 times out of 10, the person I’m saying it to gives me a blank stare. It’d be nice to know the origin of the word to see how it might make sense (ie. was it named for a Clem?). Like you, I’m really curious how others pronounce it!
Because it climbs upon a lattice, some will say “clem-at’-is”,
But Webster will not cease to hiss, Until they call it “clem’-a-tis.”
Maybe it’s a Midwestern thing, but I pronounced it clem-AT-iss for years. Then I got into the horticultural business and found most of my co-workers calling it CLEM-a-tiss. It’s a hard habit to break, and I tend to use both interchangeably, depending on the context–“I have a clem-AT-iss growing here, but over there is a CLEM-a-tiss heracleifolia.”
I rely upon my 1984 edition of the New Pronouncing Dictionary of Plant Names, published by the Florists’ Publishing Company. Original copyright was 1964 and I believe it’s out of print now. Great resource!
I’ve always heard and said CLEM-a-tis unit recently. Maybe regional.
I also am from the Midwest and have always pronounced it clem-AT-us, but since joining the international clematis society, and viewing their recent webinars, everyone (no matter where in the world they live) pronounces it CLEM-it-us. So, I am trying very hard to change my ways … old (and I am old) habits die hard! Argh!
me and aquilegia just don’t agree. I say ah quig lia . but it’s a quill lee gee ah. and yet, everyone knows what i’m talking about: the faeries in me garden. Anyway, I’m not embarassed if I say it wrong and I appreciate the correction as long as one isn’t nasty about it. Which, with my garden buds, is a rare occurrence. At this point, I’m not sweating the medium stuff, either.
Clem-AT-us has always been the way I have heard it and used it in western Canada. I thought of the other pronunciation as British until recently….wrongly it seems. Not changing my spots at this late date though. Words of all sorts are pronounced or even used differently in different places.
Here’s what Ogden Nash said in a poem:
“Because it likes to climb on a lattice,
The rabble always call it clematis.
But Webster will not cease to hiss,
Until you call it clematis.”
I pronounce it the rabble way.
There’s at least one other way, the British way: With the second syllable pronounced the way British pronounce the second syllable in tomato.
The clem A tis conversation could go on forever, and the Armitage rule lets everyone be right. Regarding scientific names, William T. Stearn in Botanical Latin (a giant tome of rules) says, “How they are pronounced really matters little provided they sound pleasant and are understood by all concerned.” I live in Panama, and names sound pleasant to me using Spanish pronunciation. So my mom and I don’t always speak with the same botanical accent.
Why bother- the taxonomists will revise the plant name by the time you learn it.
I apparently say it “the British way” according to the comment by John. I don’t know why. Born & raised in NJ, twenty years military, mostly in the Midwest, three years in Germany, speak so-so conversational Spanish. You tell me Lol!
I used to work at a clematis nursery. When I started,I was told very firmly that it is pronounced clem-a-tis, with equal stress on all syllables. At that time clem-ay-tis was considered ‘common’. Mind you,I usually just had to “water the clems”! If you’re understood,it doesn’t matter; much harder is figuring out what plant is meant when common names are used.
I am on the clem-at’-is team here in South Central Pa. When I first heard someone pronounce it CLEM–a-tis, I naturally assumed I had been wrong in my pronunciation. It’s heartening to read I am on such a large team.
And what about poinsettia?
Allan’s rant is a great one! There is an old saying – I think from the horsey set – ‘Get over rough ground as quickly as possible’. So, I don’t always get the syllables in the right order – I probably slur way more than I should. But, as my professor, Dr. Art Cameron told us horticulture students years ago – ‘Say the name how you think it should be said, and make the other person think they have it wrong’. I’ll also say, anytime you can get Ogden Nash brought into a conversation, it is a discussion worth having!
I’ve been in the trade many years. Twice, so far, a customer looking for a clematis has asked me if I had chlamydia. So let’s just not worry about pronunciation, hmmm? I don’t.
A visiting member of the Clematis society of England came to one if our horticulture classes at Michigan state. We all giggled at his CLEM a tis pronunciation and chalked it up to his accent.