LESSON 29.] 



BOTANICAL NAMES. 



179 



Beech, Corylus, the Hazel, and the like. But as more genera be- 

 came known, botanists had new names to make or borrow. Many 

 are named from some appearance or property of the flowers, leaves, 

 or other parts of the plant. To take a few examples from tne early 

 pages of the Manual of the Botany of the Northern United States, 

 in which the derivation of the generic names is explained. The 

 genus Hepatica, p. 6, comes from the shape of the leaf resembling 

 that of the liver. Myosurus, p. 10, means mouse-tail. Jjeipldn- 

 ium, p. 12, is from delphin, a dolphin, and alludes to the shape of 

 the flower, which was thought to resemble the classical figures of the 

 dolphin. Zanthorhiza, p. 13, is from two Greek words meaning 

 yellow-root, the common name of the plant. Cimicifuga, p. 14, is 

 formed of two Latin words, meaning, to drive away bugs, the same 

 as its common name of Bugbane, the Siberian species being used to 

 keep away such vermin. Sanguinaria, p. 26, is named from the 

 blood-like color of its juice. 



515. Other genera are dedicated to distinguished botanists or pro- 

 moters of natural science, and bear their names : such are Magnolia, 

 p. 15, which commemorates the early French botanist, Magnol, and 

 Jejfersonia, p. 20, named after President Jefferson, who sent the first 

 exploring expedition over the Rocky Mountains. Others bear the 

 name of the discoverer of the plant in question ; as, Sarracenia, p. 

 23, dedicated to Dr. Sarrazin of Quebec, who was one of the first 

 to send our common Pitcher-plant to the botanists of Europe ; and 

 Claytonia, p. 65, first made known by the early Virginian botanist 

 Clayton. 



516. Specific Names, The name of the species is also a single 

 word, appended to that of the genus. It is commonly an adjective, 

 and therefore agrees with the generic name in case, gender, &c. 

 Sometimes it relates to the country the species inhabits ; as, Clay- 

 Ionia Virginica, first made known from Virginia ; Sanguinaria 

 Canadensis, from Canada, &c. More commonly it denotes some 

 obvious or characteristic trait of the species; as, for example, in 

 Sarracenia, our northern species is named purpurea, from the pur- 

 ple blossoms, while a more southern one is named flava, because 

 its petals are yellow ; the species of Jeffersonia is called diphytta, 

 meaning two-leaved, because its leaf is divided into two leaflets. 

 Some species are named after the discoverer, or in compliment to a 

 botanist who has made them known ; as, Magnolia Fraseri, named 

 after the botanist Fraser, one of the first to find this species ; Ra- 



