Interesting post. Actually, I never knew where heuchera got the name. After seeing this post I looked it up. Sure enough, heuchera got the name from the botanist Johan Heinrich Von Heucher.

I don't know why every bit of info on "correct pronunciation" points us toward saying it "hew-kera". Unfortunately, if I pronounced it "hoychera", no one at the nurseries would know what I was referring to. Lol

I found an interesting article on Latin names of a bunch of different plants, including heuchera. I've included a link in case anyone is interested.

Here is a link that might be useful: Plant names in Latin

My local nursery seems to hire uninformed folk for their sales floor and keep the educated ones back in the staff-only area never to be seen by customers, so on the rare occasion I have shopped there (they have a huge selection of Heuchera), I have to ask for Coral Bells. (I mostly take the 45 minute drive three towns over to their wonderful nursery with a well-versed staff because, after all, these plants are going to be part of my family for a LOT of years and I want to start with the best, grown by folk who know what they're doing and perhaps even know how to pronounce plant names!)

Amen!

Amen to what? To chance that if Heucheras were called Pinocchios the right pronunciation would be with "k"?

Amen to the fact that someone knows how to pronounce "ch" in Italian. Simple as that.

Auf Deutch, isn't the -ch following eu (or a, for that matter as in ach) pronounce more like "k" than say following an i as in ich?

tj

And what about "character", "Michael", some scientific terms like "brachycephalic', "brachytricha"? Ch is pronounced like a k often.

Hi

keep in mind that the official language of the binomial system is Latin so German pronunciation is irrelevant as is Swahili lol

try saying Johanneistjsmannia without reverting to Angla Saxon another is Shombergkia.. Have to really careful with the sharp K sound for Fuchsia ?? lol

generally the names are not Latin but latinized Try sayin Orchid without the K lol gary

This is very interesting. I am german, so I had to comment. German names are pronounced different all the time. A name should be said in the correct way but people from other countries simply have a hard time with the correct pronounciation, the "ch" for example. Personally, I prefer to call heuchera coral bells. Some names aren't only pronounced different, but spelled different. Take Muenchen for example, which is Munich in english. Koeln is Cologne.

For me, it is unnatural to pronounce a german word or name the english way. I try to learn correct latin names for plants, and match them with their common names. I am also working on learning their german names. My mom is also a gardener and we talk about plants often. Trying to match their names in the different languages is often challenging.

"For me, it is unnatural to pronounce a german word or name the english way" exactly: or a german word the martian way.There is only one correct way to pronounce german and,not surprisingly: it is gernan way. French should not be pronounced Italian and Italian the French way. You may think I am just making it up but most Americans seeing "g" in Italian word pronounce it as in French "Jean".This way we hear "jovanni" instead of "Djovanni". To be perverse the Spanish "don Juan" becomes even on radio "dan Djuan".

By the way: coral bells is far more fable-like and poetical than heuchera.Sometimes these "discoveries" are not much of a real discovery. Coral bells were very familiar to Americans and the German botanist instead of bestowing magnanimously his not very mellifluous name on coral bells should have asked how we call them.

Otherwise it seems as if an American botanist,say prof.Puffington found in Alps edelweiss and felt entitled to give it his name and the world would be obliged to call edelweiss puffingtonia ........Happy Spring Lovers of Nature!

Flower_frenzy you are correct to pronounce it "hoy" no one would know what you are asking for. :) I just ask for coral bell.