18 POPULAR NAMES 



BEDSTRAW, or OUR LADY'S BEDSTRAW, L. Sfa. Marice 

 stramen, G. unser liebenfrauen bettstro, from its soft, puffy, 

 flocculent stems and golden flowers, a name that refers to 

 straw having formerly been used for bedding, even by 

 ladies of rank, whence the expression of their being " in 

 the straw." Thus in the Latin hymn, No. 128 in Easier' s 

 Altchristliche Lieder, Mary sings : 



"Dormi nate bellule, Stravi lectum/oewo molli: Dormi mi 



animule." 



The name may allude more particularly to her having 

 given birth to her son in a stable, with nothing but wild 

 flowers for her bedding. Galium, L. 



WHITE-, G. Mollugo, L. 



YELLOW-, G. verum, L. 



In old writers its Latin and German synonyms are given 

 equally to the wild thyme. See C. Bauhin de plantis 

 sanctis, p. 71. 



BEE-LARKSPUR, " from the resemblance of its petals 

 studded with yellow hairs to a bumble bee whose head is 

 buried in the recesses of the flower." Treas. of Bot. 



Delphinium grandiflorum, L. 



-NETTLE, from its nettle-like leaves, and the supposed 

 fondness of bees for its flowers, 



Galeopsis Tetrahit, L. 



-ORCHIS or BEE-FLOWER, from the resemblance of its 

 flower to a bee, Ophrys apifera, L. 



BEE'S-NEST, from the nest-like compact growth of its 

 inflorescence, Daucus Carota, L. 



BEECH, A.S. boc, bece, beoce, Go. boka, M.H.G. buoc/ie, 

 O.H.G. puocha, G. buck, Du. beuk, O.N. beyki, Da. bog, 

 Sw. bok, words which, in their several dialects, mean, with 

 difference of gender only, a book and a beech-tree, from 

 Runic tablets, the books of our ancestors, having been made 

 of this wood. Fagus sylvatica, L. 



BEET, L. beta, from the resemblance of the seed to the 



