CactiGuide.com Big Picture Project

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iann
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Post by iann »

Here's a young potted plant, E. engelmannii var chrysocentrus.
Image

And another, var variegatus.
Image

Both these spent the winter outside (and last summer to toughen them up in advance) and both may be dead. They are not as hardy as E. coccineus, E. viridiflorus, E. reichenbachii, and E. fendleri.
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daiv
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Post by daiv »

If they are dead, they sure don't show it. Don't you think by now they would?
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iann
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Post by iann »

The photos are from before they were planted out. They look pretty ugly now.
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daiv
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Post by daiv »

Ahh! Makes a lot more sense now.
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peterb
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Post by peterb »

As you know, chrysocentrus grows all over the Meadview AZ area, from roughly Chloride up the Meadview Road. E. engelmannii variegatus is also a northern AZ plant, from the mesas around Navajo Bridge, for example. It's very cold up in these areas but perhaps it doesn't stay freezing during the day, so there is some heat to offset the freezing nights?

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Peterthecactusguy
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Post by Peterthecactusguy »

PeterB,
It gets below freezing here in BCC a lot (at night) and it warms up into the 50's during the day. So that wouldnt seem to be a bad bet.
Here's to you, all you insidious creatures of green..er I mean cacti.
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exotica
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Re: CactiGuide.com Big Picture Project

Post by exotica »

daiv, I believe a lot of cacti enthusiasts get puzzled when it comes to plants' Latin names pronunciation. Including me.
Wouldn't it be nice to have a phonetic part in the genera and species names on cactiguide.com, hopefully with stress marks? :wink:
I.e. I've no idea what is the right way to pronounce Acharagma (and a lot more, mainly species' epithets) - Akaragma (like in kite), Acharagma (like in cherry), Aharagma (like in hamburger) and where to put the stress…
Cheers, Andrey
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Post by daiv »

Hi Andrey.
Thanks. This subject has been brought up a few times here and has been discussed at length. What it boils down to is that however YOU say it is correct. Pronounce it as best you can and just run with it. So any of your examples are fine. Latin names are a mishmash of Latin, greek, proper names, etc. So I suppose for those wanting to have some sort of standard to follow, the best would be to learn etymology of each name and try as best as you can to preserve the pronunciation of the incorporated name if applicable.

And just remember, the person you are talking to is just as scared of his own way of saying these names as you are of yours. So a good strategy is let the other guy say a name first and then raise an eyebrow and frown. Then use your version with confidence and let them sweat it out.

Daiv
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exotica
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Re: CactiGuide.com Big Picture Project

Post by exotica »

Good. :)
Cheers, Andrey
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Re: CactiGuide.com Big Picture Project

Post by daiv »

By the way, I have the book "Botanical Latin" by William T. Stearn. The book is quite large at 560 pages!

http://www.exoticplantbooks.com/detail/?product_id=168

However, on the matter of pronunciation there can't be more than 10 pages if even that many. It more or less says that you can't insist on any one pronunciation, but does it with much more advanced and intelligent sounding language than me. Ha ha!
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Saxicola
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Post by Saxicola »

I agree that for the most part that there few hard and fast rules that dictate one way to say a Latin name. Keep in mind that the truest way to pronounce the name would be like the ancient Romans or Greeks, however aside from a small number of classical Greek and Latin specialists, no one can speak the language like the ancients. Where you come from has an effect on the way you say a name. For instance, the suffix "-aceae" denotes a plant family (e.g. Cactaceae, Aiozaceae, Apocynaceae). In the US most botanists pronounce that ending as "A-C-EE", however in Europe they tend to say "EE-C-EE". From what I understand, the Romans would have said something closer to "Ahk-EE-I"

However, a rule of thumb I learned from several taxonomists I've known and worked with is to pronounce all the vowels. For example, while most people pronounce Aloe as "Al-O" I and other taxonomists I know tend to pronounce it "Al-O-EE". There is nothing wrong with saying Aloe, it might be a little more correct to pronounce the E.

The most important rule is to pronounce it in a way that people around you can understand. Communication takes precedence over everything else!
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Post by daiv »

Yep, good points... By the way, I pronounce "aceae" as " A-SEE-A" - with "A" pronounced as in the word "say". Pronouncing every letter would be "A-SEE-EE-A-EE" or at least "A-SEE-A-EE"
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Re: CactiGuide.com Big Picture Project

Post by Peterthecactusguy »

Cact a c I is how I would say that, ae = I in Latin, at least that is what I remember from 5 years of Latin, and I still can't pronounce most of the cacti names. ](*,)
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Cactus76
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Re: CactiGuide.com Big Picture Project

Post by Cactus76 »

Two flowers on my 44 year old Cereus jamacaru.
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arturo conan
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turbinicarpus pseudomacrochele

Post by arturo conan »

turbinicarpus pseudomacrochele
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