NAMES OF PLANTS. 16"^ 



He was thirteen years Consul at Smyrna, and died 

 1728, at Eltham, in Kent, a place remarkable for the 

 celebrated garden of his brother James, the choice 

 plants of which are pictured and described in the 

 *Hortus Elthamensis' (Eltham Garden) of Dil' 

 lenius. See p. 60. 

 Sibbal'dia, Linneus. Named in honour of Eobert Sibbald, 

 an Edinburgh professor, who published a book on 

 the Natural History of Scotland in 1684, with a 

 figure of the only British species of this genus. He 

 died in 1720. 

 SiBTHOKP'iA, Linneus. In honour of Dr. Humphrey Sib- 

 thorp, the successor of Dillenius in the botanical 

 chair at Oxford. 

 Sila'us, Pliny. A name used by Pliny, but its meaning is 

 unknown, and there is great uncertainty as to the 

 particular plant alluded to. 

 Sile'ne, Theophrastus. Supposed to arise from G. slaloiiy 

 saliva, in allusion ^to the viscid moisture on the 

 stalks of many species: whence, too, the English 

 name " Catch-fly." 

 Arme'ria. See the genus. 



Oti'tes, Smith. From G. ot, ear, on account of the shape 

 of the leaves. As a trivial name Otites was used by 

 several authorities before Smith, but under a different 

 generic name than Silene. Silene Otites is now the 

 generally received name for the plant, but Otites is 

 scarcely a substantive name, though spelt with a 

 capital letter. 

 Sil'ybum, Dioscorides. G. name of a kind of Thistle which 

 was considered edible. Pliny tells us :— " In Cilicia, 

 Syria, and Phoenicia, the countries where it grows, it 

 is not thought worth while to boil it, the cooking of 

 it being so exceedingly troublesome, it is said." 



