NAMES OF PLANTS. 161 



Sagitta'ria, Lobel. From L. sagitta, an arrow; on account 

 of the shape of the leaves. 



Salicor'nia, Dodon^eus. From L. sal, salt, and cornu, a 

 horn ; from the horn -like stems of the plant and its 

 saline nature, it being one of those sea- shore plants 

 the ashes of which consist chiefly of soda. Before 

 soda was prepared from salt, the ashes of this and 

 other sea- shore plants were an important article of 

 commerce, suppljdng what is called Barilla. 



Sa'lix, Pliny. L. for a Willow-tree. 

 Arbus'cula, Linneus. L., a small tree, diminutive of 

 arbor, or arhus, a tree. I do not know why it is 

 generally spelt v^ith a capital letter, or whether it 

 should be. Linneus (' Species of Plants,' 2nd ed.) 

 spells it with a small letter, Willdenow with a capital, 

 Smith with a capital, and among his authorities the 

 first is Linneus ('Lapland Flora '), Withering has a 

 small letter ; the later authorities use the capital. I 

 cannot trace the name further back than Linneus, 

 and I do not understand on what principle it is spelt 

 with a capital letter. 

 Cap'rea or Capre'a, Linneus. From L. caper, a goat. This 

 is not an old substantive name, so far as I can make out, 

 nor is it spelt with a capital letter by Linneus, Will- 

 denow, Smith, Withering, or Lindley. Why it should 

 be by Babington, Hooker and Arnott, Bentham, in the 

 last edition of 'English Botany,' and by Dr. Hooker 

 C Student's Man.'), I cannot say. " The name caprea 

 seems to have originated in the reputed fondness of 

 goats for the catkins, as exemplified in the wooden 

 cut of the venerable Tragus, their namesake."— (Smith, 

 Eng. Fl.) This cut represents a goat standing on its 

 hind legs, with its fore feet on the trunk of a Sallow, 



Q 



