THE BULBOUS CROWFOOT. 51 



name being derived from the form of the leaf, and so 

 marked is this resemblance that the generic and specific 

 names also enforce it, the Latin word for an arrow being 

 sagitta, and the botanical name of the plant Sagittaria 

 sagittifolia ; the five fingers, as the cinquefoil, from its 

 spreading leaflets, was at one time called; the adderV 

 tongue, ox-tongue, Iambus-tongue, pheasantVeye, ox-eye, 

 cat's-tail, horse-tail, coitus-foot, birdVfoot, goose-foot, 

 larkVspur, stork's-bill, mouse-ear, hareVear, shepherdV 

 purse, skull-cap, Turk's-cap, monk's-hood, maiden-hair, 

 rattle, snow-flake, snapdragon, and many other examples 

 might also be cited. Amongst specific names we may 

 meet with the following : serrata, dentifera^ filiformis, 

 lanceolatum, cordatus, peltatus, flalellifolia, apifera, 

 ensifolia, reticulata saws, teeth, threads, lance-heads, 

 hearts, shields, fans, bees, swords, and network being 

 respectively called upon to furnish a comparison or bestow 

 a name. In the same way we find amongst generic names 

 such words as the following : campanula, signifying a little 

 bell; stellar ia } like a star; lycopsis, from two Greek 

 words signifying wolf-face ; delphinium, Lat. delphinus, a 

 dolphin, on account of the shape of the upper petal of the 

 flower ; lomaria, from loma, a fringe. The bulbous crow- 

 foot bears some slight resemblance to two of its congeners, 

 the upright crowfoot and the creeping crowfoot, but the 

 resemblance is only superficial, the botanical characters 

 that mark the differences being really very distinct; a 

 clear feature for popular use will be found in the sepals, 

 the parts that form the green calyx that holds the cup of 

 the flower. In the present species the sepals are so far 

 reflexed that they almost or quite touch the stem that 

 supports the blossom, while in the other two species this is 



