64 
Notes on Pronuncia- 
tion of Plant Names. 
BY FRANK B. MEYER. (Ohio.) 
[ Written expressly for The Flower Grower. ] 
I N THESE DAYS the gardener and 
his art and the nurseryman and his 
business are becoming more prop- 
erly appreciated. Therefore, what- 
ever may tend to augment the dignity 
that they deserve and to increase the 
respect that is due them should be wel- 
comed. With this thought, even at 
the risk of seeming to some persons to 
be pedantic, the writer offers the fol- 
lowing notes : 
Gladiolus*— According to the dic- 
tionaries in common use the i in this 
word should sound as in ice and should 
have the accent. But Webster’s dic- 
tionary recognizes the popular pro- 
nunciation that puts the accent on the 
o. The plural would then be Gladio- 
luses. Yet, even those persons who use 
this form in speech should in writing 
or in print use the form Gladioli, which 
is really the Latin plural. The accent, 
when the word is spoken should, of 
course be upon the first i, both i’s be- 
ing pronounced as in ice. 
Iris — This word also, like Gladiolus, 
has a Latin plural, irides, with the s 
usually sounded like 2 . But it, though 
still admitted by Webster, the Century 
and the Standard Dictionary, has prac- 
tically gone out of use in English. Yet, 
why should one hesitate to speak of 
Irises or to write of them ? This an- 
glicized form is given by all the dic- 
tionaries. 
It is strange that so many growers 
and dealers are reluctant to refer to 
more than one Gladiolus or Iris. To 
state that “we have one of the finest 
collections of new and rare Peonies, 
Iris and Gladiolus,” is just as bad as it 
would be to declare that “ we have one 
of the finest collections of Peony and 
other herbaceous perennial.” 
Narcissus.— Webster gives, as the 
plural, Narcissuses and Narcissi. The 
first of the two forms is the one used 
by people who dislike the Latin form. 
(The Standard and the Century, strange 
to say, seem to omit the plural form. 
This may be due to the editors’ atten- 
tion being absorbed by telling about 
the man Narcissus whose name was 
given to the plant.) 
Peony. — This word in Latin is Pceonia 
and for this reason many persons still 
write it Pceony. But if the word is 
anglicized to the extent of dropping 
the final a of the Latin it is better to 
go farther and to leave out the first a 
also. The Standard seems to be the 
only dictionary that sanctions the pro- 
nounciation Piony or Piny. This is a 
close approximation to the sound of 
the word in Latin. It is still rather 
common, but would better go out of 
use altogether. The plural presents 
no difficulty. 
*Note by the Editor: 
We must disagree with Mr. Meyer that the accent 
should be on the letter "i.” It should be on the syl- 
lable “di” as we understand it, and then the pro- 
nunciation would be Gla-di-o-lus rather than Glad-i- 
o-lus. 
Slower (Brower 
The Aspedistra. 
I have just read Mrs. Austin’s com- 
ment on the article which had made 
its appearance in a previous number of 
The Flower Grower on the culture 
of Aspedistra. She also mentions that 
she has two plants of this magnificent 
subject. I chance to own twenty and 
have found them the most satisfactory 
of any house plant (either kept in or 
out in the shade.) If planted in the 
sun, in time, those dark, glossy, var- 
nished plants will be as worthless as a 
ripened hill or bunch of corn leaves. 
Aspedistra Lurida Variegala is very 
pretty but for my part the palm effect 
of the dark green suits me best. I am 
trying to plant in water, and to date it 
has been in the urn a week and shows 
no sign of decay. 
Since the roots multiply on the order 
of the large flowering Cannas, they can 
be divided down to one or two and in 
another year’s time will be a fine clump 
again. We separate no lower than 12. 
Jessie E. Lundburg. 
Fifty Years Acquaint- 
ance with the Gladiolus. 
[ Written expressly for The Flower Grower. ] 
BY HENRY C. ECKERT. 
( Continued from June issue . ) 
As stated in the May issue, the va- 
rieties did not increase much up to 1890, 
and this resulted in a reaction unfavor- 
able to the Gladiolus and the popularity 
of this beautiful flower was on the 
wane. This condition brought forth 
the champions of mixed collections, 
the most prominent being Mr. H. H. 
Groff of Canada, and Mr. Arthur 
Cowee of Berlin, N. Y. I think it was 
about the year 1902 that I wrote a let- 
ter to Mr. Cowee that I did not be- 
lieve the mixed varieties would make 
the Gladiolus popular with the pro- 
fessional grower and the public. It 
took only a few years to demonstrate 
that I was correct in my opinion. 
Two varieties were introduced that 
revolutionized the cut flower trade in 
Gladioli. These two were America, 
introduced by Mr. Frank Banning, and 
Mrs. Francis King, by P. O. Coblentz, 
and the greatest glory is, that they are 
American productions. A good many 
new varieties have appeared and dis- 
appeared since the advent of these two 
kinds, which have stood the test of 
time, and they are just as popular to- 
day as they were twelve or more years 
ago. Many new varieties were intro- 
duced during the last fifteen years and 
the introducer claimed they would 
supersede America and Mrs. Francis 
King as a cut flower for the trade, but 
up to date none have done so. About 
the great impulse Gladiolus culture re- 
ceived from these two varieties I will 
have something to say in my next 
article. 
Please remember that up to 1914 I 
was an amateur and bought only in 
small quantities; if other growers have 
had the same poor experience I had, 
there would not be much demand for 
July, 1919 
mixed varieties today. The first one 
hundred corms I received from Mat- 
thew Crawford in 1890. It was not an 
extra fine mixture and had only a few 
large flowers, the greater number had 
small flowers. In particular a small 
Lemoine of cream yellow color with 
dark blotches in the throat ; this va- 
riety increased so much that I started 
pulling it up the second season and by 
the fourth year they were all pulled 
out, but of the good ones none were 
left also. For increasing, that little 
Lemoine beat anything in the Gladiolus 
line I ever saw, it had no bulblets, but 
the old corms divided each season to 
three or more corms. My next venture 
was with 100 corms received from Mr. 
Groff, Canada, and the result was no 
better ; there were some extra fine va- 
rieties in this mixture, but they de- 
creased and the poor ones increased so 
much that after planting them four 
years I threw the balance away. 
[ To be Continued. ] 
La France Rose from garden of H. M. Marshall, 
Mississippi. It had about 100 blooms on it April 15, 
1919. Mr. Marshall had an interesting article en- 
titled, “ A Rose Garden,” in the April, 1918, issue of 
The Flower Grower. 
Hyacinths from Seed. 
A subscriber wants to know about i 
growing Hyacinths from seed. He re- 
ports that some Hyacinths which he 
has planted in pots and boxes have de- 
veloped large seed pods, and would like 
to know how to handle the seed for 1 
germination. It is suggested that j 
naturally the seed should be planted l 
soon after ripening or attaining full 
size. Are the seedlings likely to be 
true color of parents? Doubtless some ! 
of our friends with experience in Hy- 
acinths can answer this question fully. 
Have you done your share toward 
the prize list of the A. G. S. for the 
show in August? The list is not as 
large as it should be. 
