Avon Resting Bulb List

[Maggi Young]

I've begun to forget what the point was in the first place  -
John Grimshaw wrote about this - and the article by Matt which put forward the case for "inverse poculiform" - in his blog here : http://johngrimshawsgardendiary.blogspot.co.uk/2011/11/for-galanthophiles-and-daffodil.html

Not sure why the name for flowers shaped like Trym etc is not the simple "campanulate " - as used for so many other  flowers of similar shape? Perhaps that would be too easy?  (sorry Matt!)

[johnralphcarpenter]

What you need is a tartan snowdrop so you can describe it as "kilt-like". And what is the Latin for that?

[Ding Dong]

Is this what you mean??

[Maggi Young]

Crikey, Maxine, I nearly fell off the chair laughing!  The dogs think I've finally lost the plot!!

[David Nicholson]

Big lad

[mark smyth]

What's not available on Ebay? http://www.ebay.com/sch/?&_nkw=Pteruges

[mark smyth]

I have no idea how to say the word and have forgotten how it was said to me the other night

From the web site romanarmytalk.com ...
"Can I also impart one last prononciation piece of advice that I had insanely wrong for 3 years? The strands and material called pterigues are pronounce "terr-ree-gaes" not "pet-tridge-es" as I read it."

"No.. it is pteruges (πτέρυγες) and it is pronounced pteri-yes (stress on the first "e", "-yes" like the word, just do not stress the consonants like Anglosaxons do). In classical times, it was supposedly pronounced more like pterue(ue like the german u umlaut) -yes. As a Greek this sounds "Greek" to me and it is pretty sure that at least since the late Hellenistic times the various i-volwels were being pronounced i (as in pit), what you barbarians (hehe ) call iotakismos, that is the Greek practice to have 5 different letters and dipthongs sound like "i" (iota)(ι, η, υ, οι, ει, we have a sixth υι, but it is pronounced like a double i (i-i), not a single one), which should not seem that strange to you... (pit, keep, leap, phoebe, lyrics, niece, be..., you actually have many more "ee" letters and dipthongs than the iotakizontes ancient Greeks). The υ sounding like u (put), ew (new) or sth like that may have lasted more, maybe into the early Byzatine years. Yet, I would stick with the i-sound, sounds more Greek... Yet, interestingly enough, another version of the word πτέρυγες is πτερούγες (pteru (ου=u like in put)-yes, stressed on the u) which means the exact same thing... "wings"."

[mark smyth]

So it's said either, and assuming the p is silent, terry-yes or terr-oo-yes

[johnralphcarpenter]

Is this what you mean??

That would work if snowdrops were dioecious, this being the male flower!

[Alan_b]

Not sure why the name for flowers shaped like Trym etc is not the simple "campanulate " - as used for so many other  flowers of similar shape?

A fundamental problem arises because nobody is quite sure if the descriptive term should apply to the shape of the flower or its character.  "Poculiform" (which sets a long-established precedent), "Pterugiform" and "Campanulate" all refer to flower shape.  Emma's catchy coinage "Illo" (Inners look like outers) and "Olli" (Outers look like inners) make reference to the character of the flowers.  A problem with "Inverse Poculiform" is that "inverse" really refers to character whilst "poculiform" refers to shape so we end up with the botanical equivalent of a mixed metaphor.    Not everyone in the wider galanthophile community likes this and a passing reference to that fact lead on to the little debate we had here. 

[johnralphcarpenter]

Big lad

Not as big as this chap!