94 EPIPHEGUS VIRGINIANA. BEECH-DROPS. 



of the stem in the English Broom-Rapes is about the size of a 

 large marble, and scaly like a lily-root. It is far more likely that 

 the word " rape " refers to the parasitic habits of the plant. For- 

 merly this word had a much wider significance than at present. 

 "To commit rape" and "to commit robbery" were interchange- 

 able terms, and it is quite natural, therefore, that a plant which 

 makes its living by rapine on the broom should be called the 

 " Broom-Rape." 



Epiphcgus Virginiana was among the earliest known of 

 American plants, and is to be found under various names in 

 the works of Walter, Gronovius, Morrison, and others of the 

 older botanists. It was, however, thought to be a true Oro- 

 banche, and the authors just named, and even Linnaeus himself, 

 called it Orobanche Virginiana. Nuttall was the first to point 

 out the differences which separate our species from Orobanche, 

 and in his "Genera," published in 1818, he described it under 

 the name of Epifagns. It is not often that Nuttall gives his 

 reasons for the names selected by him, but in the present case 

 he has departed from his usual custom. Epi/agus, he tells us, 

 is "nearly similar to its {i.e., the plant's) common and appropriate 

 name of ' Beech-Drops,' by which this plant is universally known, 

 from being commonly parasitic upon the roots of the beech, 

 Eagus sylvatica and F. ferruginea." Epi being Greek for 

 "upon," and fagus Latin for "beech," the meaning of the name 

 is obvious enough. It has, therefore, been retained by suc- 

 ceeding botanists, but the last constituent of the compound has 

 been changed to its Greek form phegns, as it is not considered 

 proper in botany to coin one name from words belonging to 

 two different languages. Nuttall called our species Epiphcgtis 

 Americanus, while Barton, in his "Compendium of the Flora 

 of Philadelphia," which appeared almost simultaneously with 

 Nuttall's "Genera," called it E. Virginiana. Barton's name 

 has been adopted by most American botanists, as it is more in 

 accordance with the name by which the plant was previously 

 known. 



