ON THE POPULAR 



NAMES OF BRITISH PLANTS. 



AARON, a corruption of L. arum, Gr. apov, into a more 

 familiar word, A. maculatum, L. 



ABELE, Du. abeel, in Pr. Pm. awbel or ebelle, from Fr. 

 aubel, M.Lat. albellus, whitish, a word that occurs as the 

 name of the tree in Lambertus Ardensis, p. 79 : " Albellus 

 cum tilia juxta crucem, ubi plantata est ad peregrinatorum 

 requiem et presidium," and which refers to the white 

 colour of the twigs and leaves. Our Abele is this Dutch 

 name, abeel, with which it was introduced from Holland 

 in Evelyn's time (Silva, 1, 207). Populus alba, L. 



ACACIA, Gr. afcarcia, guilelessness, good nature ; a name 

 given by Dioscorides (b. i. ch. 130) to a small Egyptian 

 tree, but now transferred in popular language to an Ameri- 

 can Robinia, R. Pseudacacia, L. 



ACH, Fr. ache, the old name of parsley, from L. apium, 

 formed by the change of pi to ch t as in sapiam to sache, 

 propius to proche, etc., now only retained in Smallage, the 

 small ach, Fr. ache de marais, ache rustique, ache femelle, 

 as contrasted with the Alexander, Fr. ache large, grande 

 ache, Apium, L. 



ACONITE, derived by Theophrastus from the village 

 'A/covat, but by Ovid (Met. vii. 419) from growing upon 

 rock, a/covrj, 



" Quse quia nascuntur dura vivacia caute, 

 Agrestes aconita vocant." 



