42 FAMILIAR WILL FLOWERS. 



a name bestowed on the genus from one very characteristic 

 feature found in all the species the long, narrow seed- 

 vessel, crowned by the blossom, a feature that may be very 

 clearly seen in our illustration, and that will greatly tend 

 to aid in the identification of the other species, so far, at 

 least, as to make it highly probable that the unknown 

 plant found is, if it has anything resembling this arrange- 

 ment, some kind of willow-herb. The specific title is from 

 the Latin word for rough or hairy, and is applied to the 

 plant because the stems and leaves are covered with soft, 

 short hairs; it therefore is, on this account, also known 

 as the great hairy willow-herb. The plant is in some 

 country districts called " codlins-and-cream; " why so named 

 we are unable to say. It is suggested by some writers 

 that the name is given from the odour of the flowers or 

 of its fresh shoots, or, again, from the smell of the leaves 

 when bruised, but none of these suggestions appear par- 

 ticularly satisfactory. The more common name, willow- 

 herb, is clearly applied from the resemblance of the leaves 

 of all the species to the foliage of the willow. Many of 

 the older names of our plants are based on the comparison 

 of the plant named with some other plant, ordinarily one 

 that was better known and readily available for reference and 

 observation, though this was not necessarily so. We may 

 instance the ivy-leaved speedwell, carnation-grass, grape- 

 hyacinth, and grass-vetch, or the maritime plant which, 

 from its resemblance to the holly of the gardens, is known 

 as sea-holly, though botanically it has no affinity to it. In 

 the same way the Alisma plantago, or great water-plantain, 

 bears an allusion, both in its specific and vulgar names, to 

 a plant which it somewhat resembles, but which is in no 

 way connected with it. 



