NAMES OF PLANTS. 109 



Gaul" (the Betonica Alopecuros of Linneus, Foxtail 

 Betony, a European species). Theis says that the 

 name is altered from Beiitonic, in Keltic ; hen, 

 meaning head, and ton, good, or tonic. 



Bet'ula, Pliny. L., a birch tree. 



Bi'dens, Linneus. L., hi, double, and dens, a tooth; from 

 the two teeth which crown the fruit. 



Blech'num, Dioscorides. G., a fern. 



Sin'cant. A name formerly given to the Hard Fern, but 

 we have no satisfactory explanation of it. Bauhin 

 attributes it to the Germans, and suggests that per- 

 haps it is from Spica indica (Spikenard), on account 

 of some resemblance. Linneus treated it as an old 

 substantive name in writing Osmunda Spicant ; but 

 in his ' Species of Plants,' he gives the name Blech- 

 num boreale. The name Spicant was re -applied by 

 Koth, and, notwithstanding the unusual termination, 

 it is generally accepted by botanists as correct, on the 

 score of priority. 



Blys'mus. From G., hlysmos, a spring ; because they grow 

 in wet places. 



Boea'go, or Borra'go,* Apuleius. From L., cor, the heart, 

 and ago, I move. "Pliny calleth it Euphrosinum, 

 because it maketh a man merrie and joyfull: which 

 thing also the olde verse concerning Borago doth 

 testifie : — 



* Ego Borago gaudia semper ago.' 

 In English — 



' I Borage bring alwaies courage.' "— 



Gerard. 



'■' A spelling used by many writers, and adopted by Dr. Hooker in 

 * The Student's Flora of the British Islands.' 



