NOMENCLATURE OF PLANTS. 443 



9.— A PLEA FOR A RATIONAL POPULAR NOMEN- 

 CLATURE FOR AUSTRALIAN PLANTS. 



By MAURICE HOLTZE. F.L.S., F.R.G.S. 



The following few lines are intended to draw tlie attention of 

 the Association to the desirability of providing our native flora 

 with vernacular names which would at the same time be adequately 

 euphonious and not misleading. Whether vernacular names are 

 desirable or not can hardly be a question. Man, from the earliest 

 times, has called his beloved flowers by names of his own language, 

 and even universal knowledge of botany will hardly change a 

 buttercup to a Ranunculus. Granted, then, that local names are 

 necessary here as in every other country, the question arises. What 

 names should rationally be given to our Australian plants ? First 

 of all, aboriginal names of plants, if known, should be retained as 

 much as possible. What coidd be more euphonious than such 

 names as waratah, quandong, bunya, yarrah, brigalow, kurrajong, 

 &c. If settlers throughout the colonies would, in every case where 

 they can, ascertain the native name of any plant, take the tioxible 

 to collect specimens, and mark them with the name or names so 

 ascertained, many of our native plants could doubtless be supplied 

 with native names. Good work has already been done by Maiden 

 in Sydney, and Bailey in Brisbane, and others, but much more 

 remains yet to be done. Many other plants would be rationally 

 accommodated by names suggested by their properties; so, for 

 instance, the name of glory pea for Clicmthus punlceus, poison pea 

 for iSicainsonia, green bird flower for Crotolaria Cuntiinghami, 

 umbrella tree for Brassaia acfinophylla, nettle tree for Laportea 

 giyas, flame tree for Stf-rculia acerifolia, &c., should be retained. 

 At the same time every eSbrt should be made to relinquish such 

 English names as are misleading. So, for instance, take our 

 Banksia, which, in consequence of the large amount of honej^ 

 which the flowers contain, has unfortunately been named by the 

 early settlers " honeysuckle,'' a name by which is Avidely known 

 that slender climber, the Lonlcera. Not long ago I saw, in an 

 English publication, that plants grow in some parts of Australia so 

 vigorously that the honeysuckles were known to attain the size of 

 trees. Not a few of our native plants have been provided by 

 our early settlers with the names of English plants to which they 

 were thought to bear some resemblance. Most of these names are 

 also objectionable, as bein^ misleading, and in many cases it is 

 hard to say where the likeness to their English namesakes comes 

 in. For instance, what likeness bears an Exocarjms to a cherry, 

 a Dodonaa to a hop, or a Bursaria to a box ? Is not quandong a 

 better name than native peach, and would it not be better to 

 replace those objectionable names by native names, or, where such 

 names cannot be found, to use the botanical names instead? So 

 many Australian plants are already popidarly known by their 



