i66 THE STORY OF PLANT LIFE 



lies at the bottom of the spur. The stigma is not 

 sensitive in this case, as in the Bladderwort, but is 

 pushed back by an insect visitor. The floral mech- 

 anism shows the plant is adapted to small bees. 



The seeds are blown by the wind out of the cap- 

 sule, which, when it is ripe, bursts irregularly. 



Messrs. Britten and Holland cite the following 

 names for the Common Butterwort : Beanweed, 

 Bog Violet, Butter Plant, Butter-root, Butterwort, 

 Clowns, Earning-grass, Eccle Grass, Rot Grass, Steep 

 Grass, Thickening Grass, Yorkshire Sanicle, Sheep- 

 root, Sheep-rot, Steep-grass, Marsh Violet, White Rot. 



Speaking of the greasy feel of the leaves of the 

 Butterwort, Coles remarks that they appear " as if 

 melted butter had been poured upon them." In 

 regard to Earning Grass, Jamieson says " Earning is 

 a north-country word for Cheese rennet." The same 

 writer says it is called Sheep-root, and " said to 

 receive the name because when turned up by the 

 plough the sheep greedily feed on it." 



Britten and Holland aptly remark as to the name 

 Sheep-rot, " It is now ascertained that the liver fluke, 

 which always accompanies rot in sheep, exists in one 

 of its stages, as a parasite in the bodies of small water 

 snails (Limnaea), which, in wet weather, creep upon 

 the leaves of marsh plants and are eaten by the sheep 

 with the herbage. It is therefore with some reason that 

 such names as Flowkwort, Sheep-killing, Penny Grass, 

 and Sheep- rot have been given to these marsh plants." 

 According to Linnaeus, milk, warm from the cow. 



