THE VULGAR OR ENGLISH NAMES OF PLANTS. 163 



Rose, Pixie and Eryngo. Such names are certainly admissible and 

 have the great advantage of being- entirely free from ambiguity; they 

 would be very attractive to many laymen who are confused and re- 

 pelled by Latin terminations. To this may be objected that Latin 

 names are about as easy to pronounce and remember as their English 

 translation, that we already have many in current popular use, such as 

 Clematis, Chyrsanthemum, Lobelia, Aster, Oxalis, Rhododendron, 

 Geranium, Phlox, Magnolia, &c., and that more are steadily finding 

 their way into English literature. Considering that so many of our 

 genus names are awkward compounds, the propriety of vulgarizing 

 more of the easier Latin names seems obvious; thus Sonchiis seems 

 preferable to Sowthistle, Cicuta to Water Hemlock, Parnassia to Grass 

 of Parnassus, Teplirosia to Hoary Pea, Rhammis to Buckthorn, Hibiscus 

 to Rose Mallow, Kalmia to American Laurel, Polemoniiim to Greek 

 Valerian, Pentstcmon to Beardtongue, Mimulus to Monkeyflower. The 

 only merit of these compound English designations is that they are 

 somewhat descriptive of the affinities and qualities of the plants, but 

 this is more than counterbalanced by the confusion they cause and the 

 erroneous ideas they convey. 



Regarding the specific name, if an acceptable one does not alread}^ 

 exist, it is best, of course, to make it an equivalent of the Latin one, 

 provided the latter expresses a correct fact and is sufficiently simple ; 

 for instance, LatJiyrus maritinnis naturally becomes Beach Vetchling, 

 L. palustris Marsh Vetchling, Acer rubruvi Red Maple, RJiammis 

 lanceolata Lanceleaf Buckthorn. Hard technical names, such as 

 oligocarpa, adsurgens, pentagyna, hcterophylla, are generally to be 

 avoided; and so should geographical names, such as Pennsylvanica, 

 Canadensis, lUinoensis, which too often convey a very confusing notion 

 of the range of the plants concerned. Names of individual persons, 

 like Watson Plum, Hooker Sandwort, Elliott Gentian, are unobjec- 

 tionable and often desirable. 



{To be Concluded.) 



Dr. Walter Hough has just published a valuable contribution to 

 the ethnobotany of the Moki Indians, under the title of "Environ- 

 mental Interrelations in Arizona {American Anthropologist for May). 

 He gives a carefully annotated list of 173 species of plants that are 

 used either as food or in architecture, dress and adornment, domestic 

 life, agriculture, medicine, religion and folk-lore. The scientific and 

 native names of the plants are given in all cases. Dr. Hough remarks: 

 ''Curiously enough, every Moki [Indian] is a botanist; not a bot- 

 anist, of course, in the scientific way: one for practical purposes 

 rather, who had given descriptive names to his plants long before 

 Linnaeus had dressed them out in high-sounding Latin." 



