NAMES OF PLANTS. 153 



that of Pliny seems by his description very different 

 from all these, as well as from what Dioscorides 

 intended. ... It seems to me that the name in 

 question was applied by the ancients to various plants 

 whose roots were crowned with radiating depressed 

 leaves." 

 LanceoWta. L., lanceolate, or tapering to each end; in 

 allusion to the leaves. Lanceola, or Lanceolata, was 

 the old officinal name for this plant, as may be found 

 in the works of Fuchs, Lonicer, &c. It was not spelt 

 with a capital letter by Linneus, or any one after 

 him, so far as I know, nor is it a name that is worth 

 commemoration in that wa3^ Still it should be 

 mentioned. 

 Po'a, Theophrastus. G. for Grass. 



Polemo'nium, Dioscorides. G. and L. name for Greek 

 Valerian, or Jacob's Ladder ; after Polemon, a king 

 of Pontus, who died at an advanced age, about 270 

 years before Christ ; or according to Pliny from 

 2)olemos, war, the plant having caused a war between 

 two kings, who each of them claimed its discovery ! 

 Polycar'pon, Dalechamps. From G., poll/, manj^, and 



carpos, fruit ; our English name is Allseed. 

 Polyg'ala, Dioscorides. From G. poly, much, and gala, 

 milk; from its reputed property of promoting the 

 secretion of milk. 

 Polygon'atum, Dioscorides. From G. 2^oly, man}-, and 

 gonat, knee, or joint ; on account of the numerous 

 knots, or swellings, of the root, according to Fuchs ; 

 or perhaps on account of the many nodes, or joints, 

 of the stem. 

 Polygonum, Dioscorides. From G. 2^olg, many, and gon, 

 knee, corner, or joint; from the numerous joints of 

 the stem, — as we say Knot-grass. 



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