542 NOTES. 



show that he liad distingviished between 0. violacea and the 

 second species, which he thought might be 0. latifolia. 



Though these weeds have been in the Island for many years, 

 they have occasionally been re-introduced under other names. 

 0. violacea was received at Hakgala in 1908 under the name 

 of 0. hrasiliensis, while in 1879 it was advertised for sale at 

 Hakgala as a vegetable, under the name of Oxalis Deppei. 



Both species appear to be gradually spreading to lower 

 elevations in Ceylon, but neither has been kno\Mi to produce 

 seed in this country. — ^T. P. 



A Note on Plant Names. — Lycopodium cernuum, commonly 

 called Stags' Horn Moss, and a, favourite decorative material, 

 is known to the Sinhalese as " Badal Wanasa." The origin 

 of this name is found in a story -u'hich tells of a King of Lanka 

 who set his goldsmiths the impossible task of reproducing the 

 dehcate tracery of the foliage of the lycopod. The hteral 

 meaning of the name is the " Goldsmiths' despair." 



" Adatodai," the Tamil name of Adhatoda Vasica, signifies 

 " what goats will not touch." The generic term is clearly 

 derived from the native name, as is also " Mussaenda." 



There is a pretty story which accounts for the origin of the 

 white bracts of M. Jfbndosa, relating how when Buddha was 

 once benighted in a forest the Mussenda plants " blossomed " 

 forth their white petal-like bracts in order to show the way out. 



It is curious how the expression " black mouth " is per- 

 petuated in the name of a plant whose berries leave a dark 

 stain on the hps and tongue. Compare the Greek Melastoma, 

 the Sinhalese " Katakalua," and the Portuguese " Bocha 

 •pretu."— C. D. 



