Re: [Aroid-l] Amorphophallus titanum

From: "Marek Argent" <abri1973 at wp.pl> on 2011.02.06 at 03:50:15 Dear Eduardo,   A good point.   The suffix -um is neutral and it fits to all grammatic genera: Also feminine botanical genera species epithet can end with -um, the examples are: Arisaema triphyllum, Alocasia scalprum, Aglaonema commutatum, Syngonium auritum... But indeed, I have never heard another construction like Amorphophallus titanum.   I always wondered why Alocasia macrorrhizos is a proper name, the epithet is of Greek origin, and I don't know why it is named so. The suffix -os is masculine in Greek, and Alocasia is feminine. And what do you think about the name Synandrospadix vermitoxicus? I can't find anywhere what is the gender of the word "spadix". Isn't it feminine?   There is also one important note, many people erroneously take genera ending with -is as masculine, but it is feminine, Ariopsis peltata or in other families Iris pumila, Clematis lanuginosa etc.  Also the genera ending with -as are feminine: Anubias gigantea, Zamioculcas zamiifolia, Cycas revoluta. But... the pine tree, Pinus seems to be a masculine word, and we have Pinus sylvestris, P. excelsa, P. nigra, while some other species of pine end usually with -us: like Pinus strobus.   Strange things... Marek ----- Original Message ----- From: Eduardo Gomes Goncalves To: Discussion of aroids Sent: Thursday, February 03, 2011 4:34 PM Subject: [Aroid-l] Amorphophallus titanum Dear fellows,  I have a silly (but important) question for you. As far as I know, Amophophallus is a masculine word, am I correct? In Latin, except for the name of traditional trees (Malus, Pyrus, etc), all names ended in -us are male names. So it is correct to say that all adjective epithets in Amorphophallus species  end with -us (A. gomboczianus, A. hirsutus, A lunatus, A. glaucophyllus, etc).  Why Amophophallus titanum is not A. titanus? Other species with a similar epithet (I don't remember none in plant kingdom, but I know Dorcus titanus - a beetle)...  Wilbert, do you have any reason for this? Very best wishes, Eduardo.  INHOTIM  Dr. EDUARDO G. GON=C7ALVES Curador Bot=E2nico Jardim Bot=E2nico Rua B, 20  35460-000 | Brumadinho | MG | Brasil +55 31 3571.6638  Ramal Fixo 107         +55 31 9604.8618  Ramal 380 Rua Ant=F4nio de Albuquerque, 215 | Funcion=E1rios 30112-010 | Belo Horizonte | MG | Brasil  +55 31 3223.8224           Antes de imprimir, pense em sua responsabilidade com o Meio Ambiente.   _______________________________________________ Aroid-L mailing list Aroid-L@www.gizmoworks.com http://www.gizmoworks.com/mailman/listinfo/aroid-l No virus found in the message. Checked by AVG - www.avg.com Version: 10.0.1204 / Virus Database: 1435/3423 - Release Date: 02/04/11 ------=_NextPart_000_00A7_01CBC5B9.58959210-- --===============0017477806683325145==

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