﻿THE FERN BULLETIN 



87 



as vul-ga-re, O-nei-dcn-se ; and when the c is followed 

 by ^ it has the long sound as in the familiar word 

 Andes. 



In words that end in ides the i is long as in eb-en- 

 o-ides, while a at the end of a word has the sound of 

 a in father as bulb-if-cr-a. I ending a final syllable has 

 the long sound, but ending an unaccented syllable has 

 the sound of e; as in Boottii pronounced Boott-e-i. 



Among consonants c and g are soft before e i and y 

 and hard before a o and u. The soft sound of c is like 

 s as in in-ci-snm, and the hard sound is like k as cau- 

 da-ta- The soft sound of g is like / as in frag-il-is 

 and the hard sound like g in an-gus-ta-ta. 



The letters ch are hard like k as in the familiar or- 

 chid; and initial p before t is silent as in Pteris pro- 

 nounced te-ris. 



Words of two syllables always have the accent on 

 the first. If the syllable end with a vowel it is long as 

 fra-grans; while if it end with a consonant the vowel 

 has the short sound as in sim-plex. I do not consider 

 this rule of much importance as very few botanical 

 names are so short. As at least one vowel is essential 

 to every syllable in every word there will be as many 

 syllables as there are single vowels or single vowels 

 and diphthongs. 



In conclusion let me say : Never pass a new word 

 till you have established a "speaking acquaintance" 

 with it, (which is quite a difficult thing from simply 

 knowing it "by sight") and ere long you will find 

 the combinations of many syllabled words slipping 

 smoothly from your tongue to the envy of the uniti- 

 ated who think "polystichun acrostichoides" is a rare 

 exotic 'though in its every day guise of "Christmas 

 fern" is may be a familiar friend! 



New Hartford, N. Y. 



