Dear John I put the 'x' in upper case thus X This distinguishes it from the letter. Cheers, John E. Bryan johngrimshaw@tiscali.co.uk wrote: > > The mathematical multiplication symbol should be used, and not italicised, > before the name of a hybrid genus, and in any case where a hybrid is > implied. Think of it as a 'cross' or 'times' and the appropriateness is > apparent. It should be placed adjacent to the capitalised first letter of > the name in a nothogenus, or lower case first letter of a nothospecies, but > is never italicised. According to Stearn's Botanical Latin, the root of > notho- is the Latin word nothus: false, not genuine, mongrel, hybrid. So > false as a definition is correct for e.g. Nothofagus, the false beech, or > Notholirion, 'not quite a lily,' but nothogenus simply means hybrid genus, > and should not impy anything phoney about it. > > In speaking, a nothogeneric name is best rendered 'times Amarygia' or 'times > Crinodonna'. > > The x of normal fonts is used for convenience because of the difficulty of > coaxing most computers to provide the multiplication sign! If anyone can > tell me what combination of keys will produce it in Microsoft Word 2000 I > should be immensely grateful! > > John Grimshaw > > Dr John M. Grimshaw > Garden Manager, Colesbourne Gardens > > Sycamore Cottage > Colesbourne > Nr Cheltenham > Gloucestershire GL53 9NP > > Tel. 01242 870567 > Mobile 07 919 840 063 > Fax (Estate Office) 01242 870541 > > Website: http://www.colesbournegardens.org.uk/ > ----- Original Message ----- > From: "Jim McKenney" <jimmckenney@starpower.net> > To: "Pacific Bulb Society" <pbs@lists.ibiblio.org> > Sent: Wednesday, June 09, 2004 4:28 AM > Subject: Re: [pbs] Intergeneric Hybrids > > > The technical term used (in , for instance, the International Rules) for > > these "hybrid genera" is nothogenera. > > > > This word nothogenera is a sly dig at the nature of these combinations: > the > > word nothogenera can be translated into plain English, somewhat freely, as > > phoney genera. And that is apparently what many botanists think of them. > > > > Was Jane McGary pulling our legs when she said that the x used with these > > names is the multiplication sign rather than the letter x? Is there a > > difference? Are the other mathematical symbols which superficially look > > like letters really something else? Inquiring minds want to know! > > > > Here's an editorial question: does one write "the nothogenus xAmarygia" or > > "the nothogenus Amarygia"? The former strikes me as redundant. > > > > Jim McKenney > > jimmckenney@starpower.net > > Montgomery County, Maryland, USA, zone 7, where I'm beginning to wonder if > > I'm becoming a nothobotanist or a nothophilologist - in either case, high > > aspirations for a gadfly!. > > > > > > _______________________________________________ > > pbs mailing list > > pbs@lists.ibiblio.org > > http://www.pacificbulbsociety.org/list.php > > > > _______________________________________________ > pbs mailing list > pbs@lists.ibiblio.org > http://www.pacificbulbsociety.org/list.php