f-. 



318 The Scottish Naturalist. 



thalmhaifm, — cno, a nut, thalmhainii, earth, — ploughed land, 

 ground. (Hebrew : D'''?r, ////;;/, ridges, heaps ; d'pd, talajn, break, 

 as into ridges or furrows, — heap up. I^atin : tellus. Arabic : 

 tel). Irish : caor thabnhaiiin., earth-berry ; coirearan miiic, pig- 

 berries, or pig-nuts. Ctithai'lan, a plant with a bulbous root. 



Foeniculum vulgare — Fennel. Gaelic : Ins an fsaiodh, the 

 hay weed. Fineal, from Latin, /<^v/?//;/, hay, — the smell of the 

 plant resembling that of hay. Irish : fineal chuDihthra {cumhra, 

 sweet, fragrant). Welsh : ffenigl. 



Ligusticum, from Liguria, where one species is common. 

 Ligusticum scoticum — Lovage. Gaelic : siujtas, from siofi, 

 a blast, a storm, — growing in exposed situations. In the Western 

 Isles, where it is frequent on the rocks at the sea-side, it is some- 

 times eaten raw as a salad, or boiled as greens. 



Levisticum officinale ^ — Common lovage. Gaelic : litibh an 

 liiigair, the cajoler's weed. It was supposed to soothe patients 

 subject to hysterics and other complaints. Irish : Ins an 

 liagaire, the physician's plant, from which the Gaelic name is a 

 corruption. Welsh : dulys, the dusky plant. 



Meum athamanticum — Meu, spignel, baldmoney. Gaelic: 

 vmilceann. Scotch : inickc7i^ — viuilccann,'^ possibly from ;;/////, 

 a scent ; muleideachd., a bad smell (Shaw) ; cea?in, a head or 

 top. The whole plant is highly aromatic, with a hot flavour like 

 lovage. Highlanders are very fond of chewing its roots. 



Angelica — (So named from the supposed angelic virtues of 

 some of the species). 



A. sylvestris — Wood angelica. Gaelic : lus nam bi/adha, the 

 plant having virtues or powers. Ciiinneog inhighc, the wliey 

 bucket. Gallu?'an, perhaps from gall (Greek : gala), milk, from 

 its power of curdling milk ; for this reason, hay containing it 

 is considered unsuitable for cattle. Irish : contran. Aingcalag: 

 angelica. 



Crithmum maritimum — Sampliire. Gaelic : sai?nbhir, a cor- 

 ruption of the French name St Pierre (St Peter), from Greek, 

 Trerpa, a rock or crag. (The samphire grows on cliffs on the 

 shore). Gaelic : lus nan cntunJi^ the digesting weed ; cnamh 



^ Levisticum, from Latin, Icvo, I assuage. 



^ In Invernesshire, bricin or bricin diibh, perhaps from bri, juice ; or, as 

 mentioned in Lightfoot, vol. i. p, 158, as Sibbald says it grows on the banks 

 of the Ijreick Water in West Lothian, may not some native of tlie banks of 

 the Breick have given it this local name in remembrance of seeing it growing 

 on the banks of his native IJreick ?— Fergusson. 



