The Scoilish N'aturalist. 171 



graminea, iursarranin^ the lesser stitchwort. Welsh : y wenn- 

 7i>lydd, the fair soft-stemmed plant, from givenn and givlydd^ soft 

 tender stem. 



Cherleria sedoides — Mossy cyphel, found plentifully on Ben 

 Lawers. No Gaelic name, but seorsa chinich, a kind of moss. 



Cerastium alpinum — Mouse-ear chickweed. Gaelic : duas an 

 Inch, mouse-ear. 



Linages. 



Linum usitatissimum — Flax. Gaelic : lion, gen. singular Ihi. 

 Welsh : ///;/. '' Greek Xivov and Latin linum, a thread, are derived 

 from the Celtic." — Loudon-. 



" larraidh i olan agus lion." — Stuart (Job). 

 She will desire wool and flax. 



L. catharticum — Fairy flax. Gaelic : l\on 71a bhean she, fairy 

 woman's flax ; 7niosach, monthly, from a medicinal virtue it 

 was supposed to possess ; mionach, bowels ; Ins caolach, slender 

 weed : compare also caola?i, intestine (Latin : colon, the large 

 intestine). Both names probably allude to its cathartic effects. 

 Stuart, in Lightfoot's ' Flora,' gives these names in a combined 

 form, — an caol niiosacha7i, the slender monthly one. Irish : ceo- 

 lagh. 



Malvace^. 



Latin : 77ialvcB, mallows. Gaelic : 77ialoi77ih, from Greek 

 [LoXayy], 7nalache, soft, in allusion to the soft mucilaginous pro- 

 perties of the plants. 



*' A' gearradh sios inaloimh laimh ris na preasaibh, agus freumhan aiteil 

 mar bhiadh." — Stuart (Job xxx. 4). 



"Who cut up mallozvs by the bushes, and juniper roots for their meat." 



Welsh : 77ieddalai, what softens. Gaelic : i7iil 7nheaca7i, honey- 

 plant ; gropais or g7vbais (M'Donald) from Gothic, g7vb, English, 

 grub, to dig. The roots were dug, and boiled to obtain mucilage. 



Malva rotundifolia — Dwarf mallow. Gaelic and Irish : ucas 

 f7'a7igach, — ucas from Irish uc, need, whence uchd, a breast (Greek, 

 oxOrj) — the mucilage being used as an emollient for breasts — 

 zx\d frangach, French — i.e., the French mallow. 



M. sylvestris — Common mallow. Gaelic : ucas fhcadhai7', wild 

 mallow. 



Althaea officinalis — Marsh-mallow. Gaelic and Irish : leainhad, 

 perhaps from leanihach, insipid ; fochas, itch, a remedy for the itch 

 {pchas, itch). Welsh : 7/iorhocys, — 77ior, the sea, and hocys, phlegm- 

 producer, it being used for various pulmonary complaints. 



