hypogymnia
H-Y-P-O-G-Y-M-N-I-A
Said hy-poh-JIM-nee-uh. In full, Hypogymnia physodes.
The grey, hollow-lobed lichen on birch twigs and fence rails, sooty black underneath. Two y's and a soft g between them make it one of the hardest lichen names to write down from hearing it said.
Why the sound and the spelling disagree
Greek hypo, under, and gymnos, naked, for the bare underside: this lichen has none of the root-like hairs that other leafy lichens carry beneath them. Both halves are spelled with y in English because both have a Greek upsilon, and the g goes soft in front of it.
A genus of leafy lichens with inflated, hollow lobes and a smooth black underside, common on trees, wood and rock.
Spellings people type after hearing it
- hypojymniag going soft before a front vowel
- hiepogymniay standing in for i
- hiepojymniatwo sound decisions at once
- hypagymniaan unstressed vowel blurring
- hipogymniay standing in for i
- hypogimniay standing in for i
- hypogiemniay standing in for i
- hypojimniag going soft before a front vowel
- hiepojimniatwo sound decisions at once
- hypugymniaan unstressed vowel blurring
- hipojymniatwo sound decisions at once
- hipojimniatwo sound decisions at once
More in Lichens: cladonia, pseudevernia.