77 



as in Greek. Seilcastar, therefore, means the plant of hght- 

 Fieur lie luce. Other forms of the word occur. Siol instead 

 oi sell, as siolsirach ; siol ox sil, to distil, to drop — an alteration 

 probably suggested by the medicinal use made of the roots of 

 the plant, which were dried, and made into powder or snuff, 

 to produce salivation by its action on the mucous membrane. 

 ^^ Feileasirom^ feleaslrom, feleastar. Here /is the affected or di- 

 gammated form. When eleastar (another form of the word) lost 

 the 'i-,' then, for sound's sake, it took the digammated form 

 {f)eleastar. Strom (the last syllable) is a diminutive termina- 

 tion. Seilistear, diminutive form seilistri?i, and corrupted into 

 seilistrojn " — Bourke. 



Crocus — Greek : KpoKos. Much employed amongst the an- 

 cients for seasonings, essences, and for dyeing purposes. 



saivus I — 3af^Yon crocus, meadow saffron. 



Colchicum autumnale f ' 



Gaelic and Irish : c?'b, crbd/i, crock — crodh chorcar?- 



" 'Se labhair Fionn nan chro-shnuaidh." — CoNN Mac Dearg. 

 Thus spake Fingal the saffron-hued. 



*• Spiocnard agus croch." — Dana Sholhim, iv. 14. 

 Spikenard and saffron. 



Saffron was much cultivated anciently for various purposes, but 

 above all for dyeing. " The first habit worn by persons of dis- 

 tinction in the Hebrides was the lei7i croich, or saffron shirt, so 

 called from its being dyed with saffron."— Walker. The Romans 

 had their crocota, and the Greeks 6 KpoKOJTos, a saffron-coloured 

 court dress. Welsh : saffrwm, saffron, from the Arabic name, 

 ' z'afardn, which indicates that the name of the plant is of Asiatic 

 origin. 



Amaryllidace^. 



Narcissus pseudo-narcissus V_DaffodiI. G^e^x<i:lusachrom- 

 ,, jonQLuilla J 



chinn, the plant having a bent or drooping head. 



Galanthus nivalis — Snowdrop. Gaelic and Irish : gealag 

 lair, — gealag, white as milk; Idr, the ground. Galant/ms. 

 Greek : yoXa, milk, and avBo<i, a flower. 



Aloe — Hebrew, m^ns*, ahaloth. Gaelic and Irish : aloe. 



" Leis na h-uile chraobhaibh tuise, mirr agus £7/^6'." 



With all trees of frankincense ; myrrh, and aloes.— Song of Solomon, 

 iv. 14. 



^ For corcu7\ see Lecanora tartarea. 



