jor January, 1920 



397 



Plant Names and Their Meanings 



By WILLARD N. CLUTE 



Till', names of planls have ever formed an important 

 part of Botany. The collecting of plants and the 

 running down of their names hy the use of a "'Key" 

 was long considered the end and aim of plant studies and 

 even now this amusement has not entirely ceased to in- 

 terest the botanizer. The question as to the exact name 

 each plant should bear, originated shortly after the Chris- 

 tian Era and still forms the subject for numerous acri- 

 monious debates among the devotees of "the Amiable 

 Science." 



Meanwhile the meanings that lie in plant names have 

 received scant attention. To be sure, nearly all botanical 

 Manuals attempt to give the derivations of the generic 

 names but apparently with only indifferent success, if we 

 may judge from the diversity of derivations suggested. 

 Since the generic names are usually taken from the Latin 

 and Greek, a correct derivation ought ordinarily to be 

 easy, but frequently it is far from being so. In the case 

 of the common or vernacular names, the difficulties in- 

 crease. There is no recognized authority upon which we 

 may depend. Common names have been derived from all 

 countries and from all languages. They have been given 

 by philosopher and peasant, physician and farmer, civil- 

 ian and savage, soldier and statesman. Learning has 

 given us names derived from classic sources ; ignorance 

 has nuspronounced and misapplied these names and 

 coined others. .\s a result, the vernacular names present 

 many puzzling problems which stand -is a challenge to 

 our ability, but the possibility of their solution adds zest 

 to the study. Moreover, a wealth of tradition, poetry, 

 folklore, fancy, custom, religion and other phases of 

 life lie embedded in these names like jewels in the mine, 

 and any extensive investigation is sure to be rewarded. 

 Some of these names are older than the science of Bot- 

 any itself ; others are even now in the making. 



It is manifestly impossible for any single individual to 

 satisfactorily cover the whole field of plant names, but if 

 any progress is to ensue, a beginning must be made, and 

 it is purposed to set down here some observations on the 

 subject which we trust will call out from others the ad- 

 ditions, corrections, and further suggestions that the sub- 

 ject merits. 



.\ good place to begin our studies is at that group of 

 common, showy, and often poisonous species that long 

 stood first in the botanical Manuals and is known as the 

 Rammcitlaceae. This word is only part of the title of 

 the group. It should really be Plantac Rammcitlaceae ; 

 that is, Ranunculus-Wkii plants. .\s usually written, how- 

 ever, the names of plant families leave oft' the first word. 

 Inquiring into the meaning of Rainniciilits, we find that 

 the word is derived from an animal rather than from a 

 plant. Rana is the Latin word for a little frog and. be- 

 cause many plants of this group grow in marshy places 

 where frogs abound, the old naturalist Pliny gave the 

 name Ranuuculus to one of the typical genera. From 

 this name came the designation for the family and also 

 for the order Raiialcs which includes, besides the Ranitn- 

 culaccac. the MagnoUaccac. the Anonaccac. the Hcrheri- 

 daccae. the Lauraccac, and several others. 



In anv discussion of plant names it is unnecessary to 

 devote I'nuch attention to the specific names. These are 

 usuallv descriptive of plant parts and such other char- 

 acters' as size, habitat, color, abundance, and the like. 

 A'arious proper names used are also self-explanatory. 

 Some s])ecific names, however, deserve mention, as for in- 

 stance in Clematis lionia where the specific name comes 



from two Latin words meaning ornament of the wayside. 

 Raiiiuiciiliis sceleratus is of interest from an occasional 

 mistranslation which makes it celery-leaved. The real 

 meaning of sceleratus is acrid or biting. Zanthoxylum 

 apiifoUum may be properly translated celery-leaved for 

 that is what the name really means. 



Turning to the generic names, we hnd many of them 

 dating back to periods earlier than the Christian Era. 

 Some have been given in honor of heathen deities, others 

 are the names of ancient plants entirely unrelated to the 

 plants which now bear them, the titles having been mis- 

 placed through the vicissitudes of time or the careless- 

 ness of early writers, and still others are of such ob- 

 scure derivation that the translations are at best mere 

 guesses. 



Pacouia, the genus of plants we now call peonies, was 

 named for a mythological personage, the physician 

 Paeon, who is reported to have used the plant in medicine 

 and to have cured the god Pluto with it. Old fashioned 

 folk call the plant, piny, perhaps with better authority 

 than we have for calling it peony, for properly pro- 

 nounced the generic name is Pi-o-ne-a, easily shortened 

 to piny. The larkspur genus Dclphiiiimn is named for 

 a fancied resemblance of the flowers to the classic fig- 

 ure of the dolphin (Dclpin). 



Anemone is usually supposed to be derived from the 

 Greek anemos. meaning the wind, but the latest editions 

 of Gray's Manual say it is a corruption of na-nian the 

 Semitic name for Adonis "from whose blood the crim- 

 son-flowered Anemone of the ancients is said to have 

 sprung." Our first derivation seems to be more in favor 

 lor it has given the vernacular name of windflower to 

 several species. Wood's "Class-book of Botany" says 

 that these plants were called anemones because many 

 species love windy places. Whatever the derivation, it 

 mav be mentioned in passing that the accent should be 

 ])laced on the third syllable making the word sound 

 exactly like .Annie Mon}-. Thus far this has been 

 overlooked by those sticklers for the new way of 

 jircnouncing Arbutus and Gladiolus. Ancmonclla, 

 the generic name for the true anemone, is a diminutive 

 of Aiieuioiie. 



The authorities also fail to agree as to the deri\ation 

 of Clematis. Wood says it is from the Greek klenia a 

 vine or tendril ; Gray says it is a name given by Dioscori- 

 des to a climbing plant with long and lithe branches. As 

 to .idonis, Wood says "Feigned to have sprung from the 

 blood of Adonis when wounded by the boar" but Gray 

 opines that "Adonis was a favorite oi' ^'enus and after 

 death was changed to this flower." 



The globe flower genus, TroUius. is another lioiie of 

 contention, .'\ccording to Wood it is derived from Trol- 

 len meaning golden. Britton's Manual derives it from 

 Trol. round. Webster's Dictionary says it is from Torolyn, 

 the Hungarian name for the plant, and Gray explains it 

 as irnm Trollhluine, the German common name. Troll, 

 it will be remembered, is the German name for a 

 mischievous dwarf or fairy. Perhaps the flower is 

 named for the troll ! .Vnybody is at liberty to adopt 

 whichever derivation seems to him most correct or to 

 make one of his own. In any event, one can hardly look 

 for accuracy in lesser writers when the authorities dift'er 

 so markedly. 



Dioscorides is responsible for the generic name Tlialic- 

 Iruin apjilied to the meadow rue. which Wood says nieans 

 "to be green." Hcllehonis. usually regarded as of un- 



