leucobryum
L-E-U-C-O-B-R-Y-U-M
Said loo-koh-BRY-um. In full, Leucobryum glaucum.
The pincushion moss, a pale grey-green dome on woodland floors that can be lifted off the ground in one piece. Its name asks the reader to know two Greek conventions and one English exception.
Why the sound and the spelling disagree
Greek leukos, white, and bryon, moss. Both halves are transliterated rather than translated, so the k of leukos is written c and the u of bryon is written y. The eu at the front is the trap: in eucalyptus it says yoo, here it says oo.
A genus of cushion-forming mosses whose leaves are packed with large empty cells, which fill with air and give the plant its whitish cast when dry.
Spellings people type after hearing it
- lyoocobriumtwo sound decisions at once
- leucubryuman unstressed vowel blurring
- leucobriumy standing in for i
- lukobryumtwo sound decisions at once
- lyoocobryuma Latin or Greek vowel pair
- lucobryuma Latin or Greek vowel pair
- lucobriumtwo sound decisions at once
- leucabryuman unstressed vowel blurring
- lyoucobryuma Latin or Greek vowel pair
More in Mosses: polytrichum, rhytidiadelphus.