>If what he means is that Latin and Greek are of no use in learning to >pronounce botanical nomenclature as if it were English, then we are in >complete agreement. No, they're of no use in pronouncing botanical nomenclature correctly. For English speakers, the pronunciation is in English. Any pronunciation other than Latin and Greek would be acceptable. You can't pronounce "rzedowskii" in either Latin or Greek. You can pronounce it in the standard English way of rendering botanical nomenclature. >I think there is an unstated ethnocentricity agenda embedded in parts of >this discussion. Just the opposite. When you have native speakers of English and Czech, for instance, you will find two different pronunciations of botanical nomenclature, neither of which is a "Latin" pronunciation, and both of which are correct for the respective language. Bob Nold