INTRODUCTION xiii 



words. If the words are compounded from Greek 

 words or word-stems, the parts are often joined by 

 the use of the vowel "o," often, but not necessarily, 

 sounded as a shortened long "o" and marked <( o." 

 Thus we have ornithopteris from the Greek stem 

 ornithos, a bird, joined by the use of "o" to the 

 word pteris, a wing. This connecting vowel "o" is 

 also used in constructing some Latin compounds 

 but the usual joining vowel in Latin compounds is 

 "i." This we see in the trivial name alnifolia from 

 the Latin stem alnus, the alder, and folium, a leaf. 



Transliterated Word- Endings 



Greek words ending in -on {-ov) and -os (os), 

 when made over into Latin words, appear with the 

 endings -um and -us, while those ending in long 

 e (-rj) usually have their Latin derivatives ending 

 in -a. Thus Greek petalon (ireraXop) becomes the 

 Latin petalum, a leaf, and Greek cyamos (/cuajuos) 

 becomes the Latin generic name Cyamus, a bean. 



In the case of commemorative names ending in 

 -ia, -iana, or occasionally in -ella, given to honor 

 discoverers, eminent scholars, or patrons of science, 

 every effort should be made to preserve in their pro- 

 nunciation as near as possible the original sounds; 

 only thus can the names be readily associated with 

 the persons in whose memory they were originally 

 given. Certainly Dahlia, given to commemorate 

 the Swedish botanist Dahl, should be pronounced 

 Da'-li-a and not Da'-li-a as is so commonly done, 

 and Camellia, given in honor of the botanical con- 

 tributions of George Joseph Kamel (Latinized 



