anthoceros
A-N-T-H-O-C-E-R-O-S
Said an-THOSS-er-oss. In full, Anthoceros agrestis.
Field hornwort grows on damp stubble and bare arable ground, sending up narrow horns a few centimetres tall. The name ends the Greek way rather than the Latin way, which catches out even people who know what the horns are called.
Why the sound and the spelling disagree
Greek anthos, flower, and keras, horn, for the slender green horns that rise out of the thallus and split open to release spores. The k of keras became c in Latin, and English then softened that c to an s because it stands in front of an e. The sound changed twice and the letter stayed put.
A genus of hornworts, flat green thalloid plants that carry upright horn-shaped spore capsules.
Spellings people type after hearing it
- anthoceresan unstressed vowel blurring
- anthocerusan unstressed vowel blurring
- anthacerosan unstressed vowel blurring
- anthucerosan unstressed vowel blurring
- anthocerrosa doubled consonant under the stress
- antoserostwo sound decisions at once
- anthecerosan unstressed vowel blurring
- annthocerosa doubled consonant under the stress
- anthocerasan unstressed vowel blurring
- anthoserosc going soft before a front vowel
- antocerosth flattened to t
More in Liverworts and hornworts: marchantia, lunularia.