polytrichum
P-O-L-Y-T-R-I-C-H-U-M
Said pol-ee-TRIK-um. In full, Polytrichum commune.
Haircap moss grows in dark tufts on acid heath and bog, tall enough that a patch looks like a miniature conifer plantation. The name has two traps in it: a y where the ear wants an i, and a ch that says k.
Why the sound and the spelling disagree
Greek polys, many, and trichos, hair. The hair is real: the cap over the young capsule is covered in a felt of golden threads, which is why the English name is haircap moss. Greek chi came into botanical Latin as ch and kept its k sound, so the middle of the word is said trik and written trich.
A genus of tall, stiff-leaved mosses of heath, moor and open woodland, with a hairy hood over the spore capsule.
Spellings people type after hearing it
- politrichumy standing in for i
- palytrichuman unstressed vowel blurring
- polytrikumc holding its k sound
- polietrishumtwo sound decisions at once
- polietrikumtwo sound decisions at once
- politrikumtwo sound decisions at once
- poleetrichumtwo sound decisions at once
- politrishumtwo sound decisions at once
- polytrichaman unstressed vowel blurring
- polietrichumy standing in for i
- polytrishuma ch heard as sh
- pollytrichuma doubled consonant under the stress
More in Mosses: leucobryum, rhytidiadelphus.