138 FAMILIAR WILD FLO WEES. 



and other classic writers by a very similar name a 

 name, it has been suggested, probably corrupted from 

 abiya, a word itself in turn derived from the Latin verb 

 abigo, to drive away. Like almost all common herbs, a 

 considerable amount of medicinal power was ascribed to 

 it in earlier times, a fact indicated in this derivation, the 

 thing driven away through its potent efficacy being 

 some one or other of the ailments of humanity. The 

 specific term reptans is derived from the Latin word for 

 creeping, and merely refers to one feature of its growth. 

 We find the word used again in the Potent Ilia reptans, or 

 cinquefoil, a plant having long trailing stems. The early 

 writers, with that variation of spelling that is so marked a 

 feature in old authors, speak of the plant as the abija, 

 ajuga, abuga, and bugula, and the common English name 

 bugle is clearly a corruption springing from these. 



The root-st< ck of the bugle throws off several creeping 

 stems, and from these rise the erect flowering-stems. These 

 flowering- stems vary a good deal in height; where cir- 

 cumstances have been unusually propitious, or where a 

 tangled undergrowth of coarse grass has made the plant 

 draw up towards the air and sunshine, they may be 

 found almost a foot in length, but ordinarily the half of 

 this may be considered a fairly typical size. The leaves 

 are very simple in form, and always grow in pairs; the 

 latter feature is common, not only to all the plants of the 

 genus, but to those of all the other genera included in the 

 great family of labiate plants. The sage, mint, thyme, 

 marjoram, ground ivy, betony, and dead-nettle are other 

 familiar plants of the same great natural group. The 

 flowers of the labiates are always only bi-symmetrical in 

 form, not multi-symmetrical as in the buttercup or daisy, 



