[ganong] identity OF ANIMALS AND PLANTS 233 



Plaise. — See Plie de Mer. 



Plie de Mer. — French name for the European Flounder, extended to the 

 American representatives. Used by Lescarbot as Plie, and by Denys 

 as Plaise ou Plie de Mer, applied apparently to the Flounders in general, 

 of which there are two species common in Acadia, the Sand Dab and 

 the Winter Flounder. 



Plongeon. — French name for the Great Northern Diver or Loon, in which 

 sense it was used by Denys. But Champlain called the loon Huat or 

 Huart, and hence his name PloiKjeon must have applied in the other 

 sense in which it is used in Europe, viz., as a general term for such 

 diving birds as Grebes and the like. See Addenda. 



Plums. — See Pruniers. 



Pluvier. — French name for the European Plover, used generically, transferred 

 to the American species. Used by Denys apparently as equivalent to 

 Alouette. 



Poire. — French name for Pears, which do not occur wild in Eastern Canada. 

 Champlain, in 1603, mentions them along the Saint Lawrence, and Les- 

 carbot speaks of " little pears which are very delicate " in Acadia. 

 There is no doubt, I believe, that they refer to the fruit of the Shad- 

 bush, Amelanchier canadensis, which may well be thus described, and 

 which, indeed, in some places is called " Swamp Sugar Pear." Probably 

 the pear-trees of Hakluyt's translation of Alphonse, in 1542,, and of 

 Parkhurst in 1578 were these, as possibly were the poires dried by the 

 Indians, as mentioned by Cartier in 1534. 



Pois or Poys, or Pois sauvages. — French name for Peas, transferred to a 

 wild plant of eastern Canada. Mentioned by several voyagers as found 

 on the sea-shore, and therefore without doubt the abundant and con- 

 spicuous Beach Pea (Lathyrus maritimus). Mentioned first by Cartier 

 in 1534, then by Lescarbot and others later. The peason of Hakluyt's 

 translation of Alphonse of 1542, and the pease of Haie in 1583 are, of 

 course, the same. 



Poisson blanc. — French descriptive phrase, meaning White Fish, applied to 

 the well-known Whitefish of Eastern Canada. Used in Champlain's 

 list of 1632. The Acadian French, however, are said to call White- 

 fish poisson pointu. 



Poisson doré. — French name, meaning Gold Fish, mentioned in Champlain's 

 list of 1632. No true Gold Fish occurs in Eastern Canada, but the 

 Canadian French, according to Montpetit and Others, apply the name 

 to the Pickerel. Considering the persistence of these old names, it is 

 wholly likely that this was the usage of Champlain, as well as of Le 

 Jeune in 1635. Baxter says the Jesuit Missionaries applied the name 

 of Goldfish to the Yellow Perch, but I have found no other evidence of 

 this. 



Poisson de Saint Pierre. — See Goberge. 



