NAMES OF PLANTS. 135 



El'ymus, Dioscorides. Name given by the Greeks to Panic- 

 grass. 



Em'petrum, Dioscorides. G., en, in, and jpeiro, rock; growing 

 in rocky places. 



Epilo'bium, Gesner. G., epi, upon, and lob, pod ; from the 

 flower growing upon the pod-like ovary. 



Epi]me'dium, Dioscorides. " Analogous to medium, a plant 

 which was supposed to grow only in Media, from 

 which it obtained its name. See Dios. b. 4, c. 18. He 

 speaks of Epimedium next after Medium." — Theis. 



Epipac'tis, Dioscorides. A name given by the Greeks to 

 some sort of Hellebore. It was applied by Haller to 

 this genus of Orchids. Derivation doubtful. 



Epipo'gium, or Epipo'gum. *' From G. epi, upon (or upper- 

 most), and pogon, a beard ; an appellation given by 

 Gmelin,* because the lip (called by him the beard) is 

 uppermost." — Hooker and Arnott. 



Equise'tum, Pliny. L., equi, horse, and setum, hair ; horse- 

 tail, as we say. 

 TelmateVa. G., pertaining to a marsh or swamp. 



Eran'this. G., er, spring, and anthis, flower. 



Eri'ca, Dioscorides. G., ereice. The derivation is said 

 to be from ereico, I break; because it was for- 

 merly supposed to have the ]30w^er of destroying 

 calculi of the bladder. Yet the old botanists give 

 but little prominence to this supposed property. 

 Matthiolus mentions it, but from Dioscorides down- 

 wards the chief virtue ascribed to the genus is as an 

 application to the bites of snakes. It puzzles me 

 where the}^ got so many snakes in Europe, especially 

 in England, for we have only one venomous kind, 

 and its bite is seldom a very serious affair. 



Erig'eron, Theophrastus. From G., eri, early, and geron, an 

 " A German botanist of the last century. 



