2 THE AMERICAN BOTANIST 



specimens could not have been planted by man, and after 

 speculating a great deal as to their origin, we concluded that 

 the seeds must have been brought to the locality in the tousled 

 fur of a herd of buffaloes which was maintained for a time 

 by the eccentric Farnum. 



The colony is twenty or thirty feet in circumference and 

 has survived nicely, for on our third visit we again found an 

 abundance of the beautiful yellow blossoms. 



PLANT NAMES AND THEIR MEANINGS.-II. 



RANUNCULACEAE 

 By WiLLARD N. CluTE. 

 FTER publishing the first article in this series. I am 



A 



convinced of the truth of the observation by a subscrib- 

 er that "You have certainly tackled a thorny subject when 

 you take up the etymology of botanical names." This fact, 

 however, is far from discouraging. Enough new information 

 has already been brought out to justify a continuance of the 

 subject, and in any event, if readers will set me right when 

 a mistake is made, we shall get nearer to the truth than any- 

 body else has yet done. Not infrequently the mistakes made 

 are not original, but arc due to an unsuspicious following of 

 those commonly regarded as authorities. Take scclcralus. 

 for instance, which in the former article was rendered as 

 "acrid or biting." Prof. j. C. Nelson points out that the real 

 meaning is "cursed" and the common name, therefore is a 

 correct translation of the scientific. I had previously published 

 this identical translation in the American Botanist, but on 

 consulting Zimmer's "Dictionary of Plant Names" found it 

 rendered "acrid or biting" and so fell into the error. With 

 reference to other names, it may be noted that Rana means 

 simply a frog, as every biologist ought to know; it is Raiiun- 



