In My Vicarage Garden 



that one is phoewn^ or dark-flowered, while another 

 is sanguineum with red flowers ; one is sylvaticum, 

 of the woods, another pratense of the meadows, a 

 third maritimum of the seashore, and a fourth 

 Pyrenaeum, having its headquarters in the Pyrenees, 

 while the structure is shown in one, being Nodosum, 

 with knotty joints, and another Rotundifolium 

 with round leaves, and so on. This will show 

 what I mean from our native plants ; in exotic 

 plants the scientific names often tell us a great 

 deal of the geography or discovery of the plant, 

 and so often give valuable help to the cultivator. 

 If he gets a plant having for its specific name 

 Javanicun, Brasiliensis, Benghalensis, Madagas- 

 carensis, Aethiopica, etc., he knows at once that it 

 is a tropical plant, which can only be grown in 

 a hothouse ; if it is labelled Chilensis, Chiloensis, 

 Magellanica, Mexicana, Capensis, or Novae Zea- 

 landiae, he knows at once that it is probably half 

 hardy, and may be worth trying as a hardy plant ; 

 if the specific name is Japonica, Siberica^ Tartarica, 

 CanadensiS) borealis, or Arctica, he has little scruple 

 in trusting it out-of-doors, being well assured of 

 its hardness, though for some mysterious reason it 

 may defy cultivation in England ; if the name 

 is Htmalaica ^Atlantica^ Caucasica^ Alpina, or mon- 

 tana, he knows at once that it comes from a high 

 elevation, and must be treated accordingly to the 

 best of his powers ; while on the other hand he 

 will reject a plant which reveals its low level 

 nature by the names paludosus, lacustris, aquatica, 



102 



