Dear all, if there is one that should make complains for the pronunciation of Latin names, then it's me !! In fact, those rules you refer for the correct pronunces are mainly based on the sounds of modern Italian alphabet. Last October I met several people from US visiting some botanical gardens around the Mediterranean (they were mainly interested in palms) and althought I had already met people from UK before, I had a bit of trouble to understand them. But after some minutes I set my ears on their way to speak and all turned to be a funny experience :-) Angelo Porcelli Italy