"Sue & Bob Hobden" wrote in message
...
(with some edits):
all from The Collingridge Dictionary of Plant Names written by Allen.J
.Coombes ex Head of Latin at Eton. He's sorted out many a dispute in our
household. :-)

He says in his introduction that it all depends on where the name came
from,
i.e. if it's from a town, person etc then it's pronounced that way if it's
from the Latin then it should be pronounced the Latin way, i.e. all "C's"
are hard as in cat.

Is there really 'correct' pronunciation ? More common pronunciation maybe.
For grass I say gr'arse, others say gr'ass. And being a southerner, I know
gr'arse is the 'correct' pronunctiation ) It's the joy of accents IMO.
But then my mother always wanted me to have elocution lessons; dropped
aitches are the real sin you know ...

Diane
PS. For the record, it's clem-a-tis, red hot poker, and those evergreen
plants with lots of berries on it but without the prickles, got one in the
garden, you know, birds love it...