The Scottish Naturalist. 29 



O'Reilly gives another Irish name, bolgan beic (diminutive of bo/g, 

 a sack, a bag. Greek, BoAyo?, beic, bobbing, curtseying). And 

 frequently in the Highlands the plant is known by the familiar 

 name, an /us mbr, the big plant. Lus a bkalgair (Aberfeldy), 

 the fox-weed. 



Orobanchace^. 



(From Greek, opofios, orobos, a vetch, and ayx^v, to strangle, in 

 allusion to the effect of these parasites in smothering and de- 

 stroying the plants on which they grow.) The name muchog (from 

 ///////^■smother, extinguish, suffocate) is applied to all the species. 

 0. major and minor — Broom-rape. Irish and Gaelic: siorra- 

 lach, (Shaw) — sior, vetches, being frequently parasitical on legu- 

 minous plants ; or siorrachd, rape. 



Verbenace^e. 



Verbena officinalis — Vervain. Gaelic and Irish : trombhod, — 

 from, a corruption of drum, from Sanskrit dru, wood ; hence Latin, 

 drus, an oak, and bod or bbid, a vow. Welsh : dderwen fendigaid, 

 literally, blessed oak, — the " herba sacra " of the ancients. Ver- 

 vain was employed in the religious ceremonies of the Druids. 

 Vows were made and treaties were ratified by its means. "After- 

 wards all sacred evergreens, and aromatic herbs, such as holly, 

 rosemary, &c, used to adorn the altars, were included under the 

 term verbena " (Brockie). This will account for the name from- 

 bhod being given by O'Reilly as "vervain mallow;" M'Kenzie, 

 "ladies' mantle;" and Armstrong, "vervain." 



Labiate. 



(From Latin, labium, a lip, plants with lipped corollae.) Gaelic : 

 lus an lipeach, or bi leach. 



Mentha — (From Greek Miv^t/, minthe. A nymph of that name 

 who was changed into mint by Prosperine, in a fit of jealousy, 

 from whom the Gaelic name mionnt has been derived.) Welsh : 

 myntys. 



Mentha sylvestris — Horse-mint. Gaelic : mionnt each, horse- 

 mint ; mionnt Jiadhai?i, wild mint ; and if growing in woods, 

 mionnt choil/e, wood- mint. 



M. arvensis — Gorn-mint. Gaelic: mionnt an arbhair, corn- 

 mint. 



M. aquatica — Water - mint. Gaelic : cairteal. Irish : cartal, 

 cartloin, probably meaning the water - purifier, from the verb 

 cartam, to cleanse, and loin, a rivulet, or Ion, a marsh or swampy 



