158 NAMES OF PLANTS. 



flame ; a little flame. The reference is to the red- 

 ness or inflammation caused by the application of 

 the leaves to the skin, a property possessed by most 

 of the Crowfoots. Some remarks of Gerard in 

 reference to this property are quaint and amusing. 

 This he says of Crowfoots in general: — "Many do 

 Yse to tie a little of the herbe stamped with salt vnto 

 any of the fingers against the paine of the teeth, 

 which medicine seldome faileth; for it causeth 

 greater paine in the finger than was in the tooth, by 

 the meanes whereof, the greater paine taketh away 

 the lesser." The name Flammula is also given to a 

 species of Clematis. 

 Ling'ua, Pliny. L., a tongue, from the shape of the leaf; 

 so called on the supposition that it is the " Lingua " 

 of Pliny. " There is a herb called ' lingua ' which 

 grows in the vicinity of fountains " (Pliny's Nat. 

 Hist.) "Fee identifies it with Scolopendrium ofiici- 

 narum of Willdenow, the Lingua cervina of other 

 botanists " (note in Bohn's Ed. of Pliny) — or the 

 Hart's-tongue Fern, which seems to be more pro- 

 bably the plant alluded to b}^ the author. 



Kaph'anus, Theophrastus. G. raiohanis, L. raplianus, a 

 radish ; from G. rapJiainein, to appear quickly, 

 according to Fuchs, on account of its rapid germi- 

 nation. 

 Mcqjhanis'trum, Kay. The same derivation as the last. 

 " The repetition of a generic name, with the addition 

 of ' istrum ' or ' astrum ' applied to a species, 

 indicates that it is a useless or contemptible member 

 of that genus, or bears a false resemblance to the 

 species which comprise it." — E. B. 



Bese'da, Pliny. From L. resedo^ I calm ; from its supposed 

 sedative qualities. 



