384 WILD FLOWERS. 



for any bruises, burns, cuts, or sores, he may have 

 received in the course of his travel. Hence the 

 Gaelic name of slan-lus, or " healing-plant/' 

 The P. lanceoldta, which is astringent and 

 slightly bitter, and esteemed by Dioscorides 

 as a specific in many diseases, is, I believe, 

 the only one of our British species whose 

 seeds are covered with a mucilaginous coat- 

 ing, which causes it to be sometimes used 

 by manufacturers for stiffening the finer 

 kind of linen. It abounds to an unfortu- 

 nate extent in our pastures ; but may be 

 employed for making paper which now 

 requires some new supply of materials for 

 its manufacture its leaves also yield a 

 strong and serviceable fibre, as is apparent 

 on their being broken. 



The P. marUima is a most invaluable 

 plant, especially for sheep ; on which account 

 probably, it is called in Welsh, bara can y 

 daf aid, i.e., "white bread of the sheep;" Llys 

 COMMON y da/aid, "sheep's herb;" sampier ddafaid, 

 pia o " snee P >s samphire ;" gwerog, " the suet pro- 

 major, ducing;" from the extraordinary improve- 

 ment seen in sheep and cattle when pastured on this 

 plant. It is remarkable that the Arabic name of 

 the P. major, lissdn el hdmal " the sheep's tongue '' 

 has a similar meaning ; and the P. albicans is 

 called in Arabic lokmet orlogmet e'ndga, " the ewe's 

 morsel. The names of Llyriad mwyaf, " tender or 

 emollient creeper/' and man y don, or "dwarf over- 

 spreader/' are also given it in Welsh. 



