THE HERB-ROBERT. 99 



and one ordinarily with which they are in some way con- 

 nected. The fuchsia and camellia are names given in 

 honour of the introducers, the fuchsia, a native of Chili, 

 being- brought to Europe in 1788 by Leonard Fuchs, a 

 celebrated German botanist; while the camellia, a native 

 of Japan and China, derives its name from Jacob Kamel, a 

 Jesuit missionary, who brought it with him to Europe in 

 1739. In scientific nomenclature we find the same prin- 

 ciple observed, the Goodyera being so called from John 

 Goodyer, a botanist in the reign of Queen Elizabeth, the 

 Koeleria from Louis Koeler, the Molinia from Ignatio 

 Molina : all men famous in their day as naturalists. 



The Herb-Robert is sometimes called the Herb-Robin, 

 though this is probably only a corruption of the more 

 common name ; it is also called Ragged Robin, Robin- 

 flower, and Red Robin. The first of these names is 

 more ordinarily bestowed on another flower, the meadow 

 lychnis, or Lychnis Flos-cuculi. The name in any of 

 these flowers is possibly a corruption of rob-wort, the red 

 plant, as in the autumn the whole plant turns brilliant 

 crimson, and then becomes especially noticeable. All the 

 plants of the genus to which this belongs are called crane's- 

 bills, a name bestowed upon them from the peculiar form 

 of the seed-vessel or fruit. The generic name geranium 

 carries the same meaning, being derived from the Greek 

 word for a crane, gevanos. 



The Herb-Robert is an annual plant. The stems 

 fork a good deal, hence the plant spreads considerably 

 from this branching out of the parts, and becomes con- 

 spicuous amongst the taller plants of the hedge-row or 

 waste ground, not by rivalling them in height, but by- 

 dispossessing them in the somewhat considerable area of 



