The Scottish Naturalist. . 231 



LEGUMINIFERyE. 



Gaelic : ///is fcidhlcagach^ pod-bearing plants. Bar guc, papil- 

 ionaceous flowers (Armstrong). Por-cochullach, leguminous. 



^^ Bar guc air mheuiaibh nosara." — M'Intyre. 

 Blossoms on sappy branches. 



Sarothamnus scoparius — Broom. Gaelic : bealaidh or beal- 

 uidh (probably from bcal, Baal, and uidh^ favour), the plant 

 that Belus favoured, it being yellow-flowered (see Caltha paliistris). 

 Yellow was the favourite colour of the Druids (who were wor- 

 shippers of Belus), and also of the bards. Ossian describes the 

 sun ^^ grian bhiiidhe,^' the yellow sun ; M'lntyre, his Isabel, as 



'• Iseabel og 



An or fhuilt bhuidh.'" 



Young Isabel with the golden-yellow hair. 



Irish: bniin ; and Welsh : j'^^''//<^. Gaelic: squab, ^ brush made 

 from the broom. Latin : scoparius. Giolcach sleibhe {giolc, a 

 reed, a cane, a leafless twig ; sleibhe, of the hill). 



The badge of the Clan Forbes. 



Cytisus laburnum — Laburnum. Gaelic : bealuidh frangach 

 (in Breadalbane), in some parts sasu?iach, French or English 

 broom (Ferguson). Frangach is very often afiixed to names of 

 plants of foreign origin. This tree was introduced from Switzer- 

 land in 1596. Craobh obrjm, a corruption of laburnum. 



Ulex — Name from the Celtic ec or ac, a prickle (Jones). 



U. europseus — Furze, whin, gorse. Gaelic and Irish : co/iasg, 

 from Irish couas, war, because of its armed or prickly appearance. 

 Welsh : eithin, prickles. 



" Lan conasg is phreasaibh." — Old Song. 

 Full of furze and bushes. 



Not common in the Highlands, but plentiful about Fortingall, 



Perthshire. 



Ononis arvensis — Rest - harrow. Gaelic and Irish : sreang 

 bogha, bowstring. Y'elsh : tagadr, stop the plough ; cithi?i yr eir, 

 ground prickles. Scotch : cammock, from Gaelic cam, crooked. 



Trigonella ornithopodioides — Fenugreek, Greek hay. Gaelic : 

 ionntag-greu^ach (Armstrong), Greek nettle ; crubh-eoi?i, Birds' 

 shoe. Welsh: y grog-tvryan. 



Trifolium repens — White or Dutch clover. Gaelic and Irish : 

 scamar bhdn, the fair gentle one (see Oxalis) ; written also saincir, 

 siomrag, seamrag, scanirog. Wood-sorrel and clover are often con- 



