OF BRITISH PLANTS. 185 



POMPION, see PUMPKIN. 



PONDWEED, from its growing in ponds, 



Potamogeton, L. 



HORNED-, Zannichellia, L. 



POOR-MAN'S PARMACETTY, L. sperma ceti, whale's sperm, 

 " the sovereignst remedy for bruises," a joke on the Latin 

 name Bursa, a purse, which to a poor man is always the 

 best remedy for his bruises ; a\\a 0-1*76 ircnnws TO 

 lacrai,, fjuicpov eTrnraoras rov 'xpv&iov, Seiixos yap l 

 e'errt TO (frapfjuiKov. Lucian, Timon, c. 15. 



Capsella Bursa pastoris, L. 



POOR-MAN'S PEPPER, Lepidium latifolium, L. 



POOR-MAN'S TREACLE, garlick, a translation of Lat. 

 Theriaca rusticorum, the Gr. Oypiatcov ayporwv of Galen, 

 so called because it was supposed to be an antidote to 

 animal poisons (Plin. 1. xx. c. 23). See TREACLE 

 MUSTARD. In Arund. MS. 42, f. 15&, as quoted in Pr. 

 Pm. (Way), p. 501, we read that juice of garlick " fordo]? 

 venym and poyson mygtily, and )>at is }>e skyle why it is 

 called Triacle of uppelonde, or ellys homly folkys Triacle." 



Allium sativum, L. 



POOR-MAN'S-WEATHER-GLASS, the red pimpernel, from its 

 closing its flowers before rain, whence the proverb : 

 "No ear hath heard, no tongue can tell 

 The virtues of the Pimpernell." 



Anagallis arvensis, L. 



POPLAR, Fr. peuplier, from L. popularia, adj. ofpoptilus, 

 a word that seems to be identical with pepul, the name of 

 the Indian Ficus religiosa, the leaves of which so closely 

 resemble those of the poplar, as in the varnished and 

 pictured specimens to be very commonly taken for poplar 

 leaves ; a name that was probably brought westward to 

 Europe by the early Asiatic colonists, and carried eastward 

 into India, in connexion with some religious observances, 



Populus, L. 



