** Soblirach a's eala bin 's baira neoinean. " — M'Intyrk. 

 Primrose, St Johns wort^ and daisies. 



Alias Mhuire (M/wire, the Virgin Mary; allas^ perhaps another 

 form of the preceding names) — Mary's image, which would agree 

 with the word hypericum. According to Linnaeus it is derived 

 from Greek vTrep, iij>er, over, and eiKwv, eikotij an image — that is 

 to say, the superior part of the flower represents an image. 



Caod aslachan Chohim chille, from Coliim and cill (church, cell), 

 St Columba's flower, the saint of Iona,.who reverenced it and 

 carried it in his arms {caod, — (Irish) caodam, to come, and aslachan, 

 arms), it being dedicated to his favourite evangelist St John.^ "For- 

 merly it was carried about by the people of Scotland as a charm 

 against witchcraft and enchantment " (Don). Welsh : y fendigaid, 

 the blessed plant. French : la toute-same. English : tutsa^i. 



The badge of Clan M'Kinnon. 



ACERACE^E. 



(" Acer, in Latin meaning sharp, from ac, a point, in Celtic." — 

 Du Theis.) 



Acer campestris — Common maple. Gaelic and Irish : craobh 

 mhalip or malpais \ origin of name uncertain, but very likely 

 from mal, a satchel or a husk, from the form of its samara. Some 

 think the name is only a corruption of maple — Anglo-Saxon, 

 fnapaL Welsh : masarnen. Gothic : masloenn (from mas, fat), 

 from its abundance of saccharine juice. 



A. pseudo-platanus — Sycamore. Gaelic and Irish : craobh sice, 

 a corruption from Greek sycaminos. The old botanists errone- 

 ously believed it to be identical with the sycamine or mulberry-fig 

 of Palestine. 



" Nam biodh agaidh creidimh, theiradh sibh ris a ckraobh shicamin so, 

 bi air do spionadh as do fhreumhaibh." — Stuart. 



If ye had faith ye might say to this sycamore tree, Be thou plucked up by 

 the root. — St Luke xvii. 6, 



Craobh pleantrinn, corruption of platanus or plane-tree. Irish : 

 crann ban, white tree. Fir chrann, same meaning. 

 The badge of Clan Oliphant. 



ViNIFER/E. 



Vitis (from the Celtic gwyd, a tree, a shrub. Spanish : vid. 

 French : vigne). 



^ Similar ideas occur in other Irish names respecting this plant : Beach- 

 nuadh Coliancille, beachnuadh beinionn, beachmiadh firionn, — beach, to em- 

 brace ; nuadh, new ; beinionn^ a little woman ; firiomiy a little man. 



