Plant Names 



or hydrophilon, unless he can give it a pond or a 

 bog. He will get the same help when a plant 

 bears the name of its discoverers if he has any 

 knowledge of the travellers ; a plant named 

 Douglassii is sure to come from California, 

 Wallichei from the Himalayas, Sieboldi or 

 Fortuni from Japan or China. In these different 

 ways I contend that a knowledge of the scientific 

 names will tell much that is useful to know, and 

 so will add largely to the interest and pleasure of 

 the garden. 



Nor is this all. Many of the scientific names, 

 especially the older names, contain much of 

 history and folk-lore. A large number still 

 preserve their old medical names, which pointed 

 out to the student for what complaint he was to 

 use them, though they may no longer be so used 

 now. The paronychia was a cure for the whitlow, 

 and Herniaria for ruptures ; aegopodium podagraria 

 would be administered for the gout, and Campanula 

 trachelium for a sore throat. Old folk-lore is 

 preserved in a large number of names, but two or 

 three will suffice. Morsus diaboli preserves the 

 old legend that to destroy the wonderful effects 

 of the plant the Evil One bit off the root ; 

 Carduus benedictus claims by its name to have 

 received a special blessing which gave it the 

 virtues of a heal-all ; while the passiflora, or flos 

 passionis, recalls the story of the old missionary's 

 joy in finding in heathen lands a beautiful flower 

 in which he could discover all the emblems of the 

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