74 Keble, Aboriginal Plant Names. \ 



Vict. Nat. 

 Vol. XXXIV. 



from mer, within, rim or rum, life, nger, after, vi7ein(g), warmth, 

 or " life within after warmth " ; moo dee nger wein, antnmn, 

 means " seed after heat " ; and per rig nger wein, winter, 

 " cold (per ring) after heat." This grasp of the plant economy 

 has for the most part arisen by force of circumstances, those 

 plants and their products which constituted staple articles 

 of food compelling attention. The fru'ts of some Epacridae 

 were eaten. 



A psychological word dis]-)laying observational powers of 

 some order is er rie nel lam (yar ra nil am), Tall Sundew, Droscra 

 auriculata* Backhouse. Er rie or yar ra, hair, and nel lam or 

 nil am, ensnaring (a somewhat free rendering), refer to the 

 sticky fluid exuded by the glandular hairs on the leaves of 

 this insect-eating plant. 



The monosyllabic Morr, Prickly Coprosma, Coprosma 

 Billardieri, Hooker f., signifies fruit, seed, &c., &c. It occurs 

 as mortt, scrotum, and in moodee e ram, spring, and moodee 

 nger wein, autumn. The fruits of the Prickly Coprosma are 

 edible. Mor i yoke or miirr e yuke (mer yuk), " Bidgee-widgee," 

 is derived from mer, inside, and yuk, a covering — a reference 

 to the Bidgee-widgec's burry test. Mer, mur, mir, mourr, 

 &c., have undoubtedly come from moort, a seed, and, by 

 association, inside, behind, deep, below. &c. (cf. morr, supra). 

 Compare mur ri kle from mer, beneath, kul, das mannliche 

 glied, a dress made of strips of possum skin ; mur mm, human 

 body, from mur, within, and rum, life ; mourr ut, bladder, 

 from mourr, within, and yuk, skin ; merri wan (mer yang), a 

 throwing stick, from mer, out of, and wan, to throw. Yuk 

 means generally a protection, covering, skin, shell, &c., and 

 occurs in mur yoke, a cockle ; morr uk, skin ; ber yuke, 

 kangaroo rat (pouch) ; binn uk, a basket ; bo ut, a basket ; 

 tarn uk, a water vessel ; mourr ut, bladder, &c., &c. Mer 

 wan. Snake Orchid, Diiiris pednncnlata, R. Brown, comes from 

 the same roots as merr i wan (supra), the reference in this case 

 being to the edible tuber " from below." 



Ngarn, karn, konrn, &c., means long. It occurs in karn, 

 the general name for snake ; kourn, the neck ; and innumerable 

 instances ; long, however, seems to have been one of the first 

 meanings, if not the original one. Ngaring, as a name for the 

 Snake Orchid, Diiiris pcditiicitlata, R. Brown, is apt in having 

 as a synonym karn, a snake. Buncc records several words with 

 the guttural ng, the same words elsewhere being recorded with k. 

 Naring gam ik (ngarn ngarn uk). Tall Diuris. Diiiris longifolia, 

 R. Brown, comes from ngarn, long, " very long " being implied 

 by the repetition ; uk, a tuber. The tubers of both of the 

 preceding orchids were eaten. 



