58 THE AMERICAN BOTANIST 



in the name, anyway, for Britton some time ago discarded 

 Gillenia and named the group Porteranthus ior Dr. T. C. 

 Porter who was not born when the genus was first named ! 



There is some obscurity invoh-ed in the name of Aiuclan- 

 cJiicr. Wood derives the name from auiclancicr, the French 

 name of A. vulgaris. Gray says the name is barbaric and not 

 satisfactorily explained, while Brittoii says it is the Savoy 

 name of the medlar. The generic name Spiraea is also in 

 question. According to Wood it is Greek for a cord or gar- 

 land, but Gray says it means to twist, and refers to the twisted 

 pods of some species. Bailey agrees with Wood and says the 

 word was first used by Clusius. 



Geographical names serve to distinguish \ arious other 

 genera of the roseworts. Cerasus, the name of the cherry, is 

 from a town in Ponttis whence came the garden cherry. The 

 French, cerise, meaning cherry-colored, is evidently from the 

 same source. The quince genus, Cydouia, is from Cydonia in 

 Crete where the common species is native, while Cotoncastcr 

 is literally "(juince-star" in New Latin and was given to the 

 group from the reseml^lance of the species to the (juince. 

 Cotojicum was the Roman name for ([uince, l)Ut according to 

 Gray the tise of tlie term here alludes to the cottony coxering 

 of twigs and leaves. 



The name of the hawthorn genus is from the Greek 

 krateos, meaning strength, given, apparently, to lliis group 

 because of its strong wood. Those who have attempted to 

 identify the many forms' into which modern taxonomists have 

 divided the species might reasonably insist lliat the name is 

 deserved for other reasons. Potentilla \> from the Latin, 

 being a diminutive of potcns, meaning power. The name ap- 

 pears to have been given to these plants from their supposed 

 medicinal properties. GciDii is said to be from the Greek, sig- 



