How do you pronouce the genus name Anthurium?
I received an interesting request that asked how to properly pronounce the genus name Anthurium. The writer noted several websites that offered different pronunciations. Like all names in botany the word is Latin based and as a result is pronounced “an-THUR-eh-um”. Some were saying the emphasis should be put on the first “A” and others were indicating it should be put on the “i” by pronouncing it as a strong “E”. One article on the internet claims there is no correct or incorrect way to pronounce any scientific name! It says basically to say it any way you like! The world’s top aroid botanist Dr. Tom Croat at the Missouri Botanical Garden would certainly disagree! Everytime I see him he corrects some Latin world I spoke incorrectly! Oh well, I guess anything goes in America today and we should all just forget how the real world works. Botanical names are based in Latin and there are a variety of Latin forms. The traditional system approximates the way ancient Romans spoke but there is
