THE NATURALIST. 



DERIVATIONS OF THE LATIN NAMES OF BRITISH PLANTS. 

 By Mr. T. B. Hall. 



(Continued from page 26.) 



Aceras. — From «, without, and xtgxs, a horn, in allusion to the absence of 

 a spur. 



Aceras onthropophora, Green-man Orchis, or Twayblade. — It is difficult to 

 cultivate, and can only be propagated by seeds, which thrive best in a mixture 

 of sand, loam, and chalk. The English name is given on account of the supposed 

 resemblance of the flower to a naked human figure, with its hands and legs 

 cut off. 



Acinos. — Loudon spells it Acynos, and states it to be the Greek name of a 

 balsamic plant, which probably was related to Thymus. Withering states 

 that under an erroneous notion that this plant produces no seeds, the ancients 

 applied to it the name acxwos {Acynos), sine semine, sterilis. 



Acinos vulgaris, Basil Thyme. — This plant has a fragrant aromatic smell, and 

 is rare in Scotland. 



Aconitum. — From xxoi-n, a rock or stone, because it is found in barren or rocky 

 places ; or from axowu, to sharpen, because it was used in medicines intended to 

 quicken the sight ; or from axwv, ax*i, a dart, savage nations poisoning their mis- 

 siles with a preparation from certain species. Theophrastus derives it from 

 Akovis, a city of Bithynia, near which it is said to abound. 



Aconitum napellus, Common Wolfsbane, Monkshood, Helmet-flower, Friar's- 

 cap„ — It is not unfrequently met with in rustic gardens, with white, rose-coloured, 

 and variegated flowers ; nor can our island longer claim entire exemption from it 

 as a native, notwithstanding Dryden recounts among our blessings, that 



" Our land is from the rage of tigers freed, 



Nor nourishes the lion's angry seed, 



Nor poisonous Aconite is here produced, 



Or grows unknown ; or is, when known, refus'd." 



That this herb is one of the most powerful of vegetable poisons cannot be doubted. 

 " The force and facultie of Woolfe's-bane is deadly, both to man and all kinds of 

 beasts," says Gerarde, who records several instances of its fatal effects ; but it 

 appears that various plants of somewhat similar names have been confounded by 

 ancient writers, and are scarcely to be discriminated by the moderns. The 

 flowers sometimes communicate, in a degree, their noxious quality even by their 



VOL. III. — NO. XVII. K 



