36 



Dipsace.í;. 



Dipsacus sylvestris \ Teasel, 



,, fullonum j Teasel, or fuller's teasel. Gaelic : 

 Icadan, — liodaii ; liodaii an fhncadair {lea dan or lioda/i, a head 

 of \vx\r, fiicadair, a fuller of cloth); used for raising the nap 

 upon woollen cloth, by means of the hooked scales upon the 

 heads of the fuller's teasel. Irish: /aga. Welsh: llysic y cribef, 

 carding plant, from crib^ a comb, card. 



Scabiosa succisa — Devil's bit scabious. Gaelic and Irish: 

 lira bJiallach [ur, fresh, new ; ba/lach, from ball, a globular body, 

 from its globular-shaped flower-heads, or ballach, spotted. This 

 old Celtic word is found in many languages. Greek : ftaXXw. 

 German : ball.) Urach mhtdlaich, bottle-topped (tirach, a bottle, 

 from the form of the flower-head ; viidlach, top). Odharach 

 inhiiUaich, a corruption of tirach. {Od/iar means dun or yel- 

 lowish, but the flower is blue). G?eim an diabhail (O'Reilly), 

 devil's bit, from its praemorse root, the roots appearing as if 

 bitten off. According to the old superstition, the devil, envy- 

 ing the benefits this plant might confer on mankind, bit away 

 a part of the root, hence the name. Welsh : y glafrllys, from 

 clafr, clazcr, scab, mange, itch ; translation of scabiosa, from 

 scabies, the itch, which disorder it is said to cure. 



Knautia arvensis — ^Corn-field knautia (so named in honour 

 of C. Knaut, a German botanist) or field scabious. Gaelic : gille 

 guirniein, the blue lad. Irisli : caba deasain, the elegant cap ; 

 caba, a cap or hood ; and dcas, neat, ])retty, elegant. Bodach 

 gonn, the blue old man. 



CoMPusrn-E. 



Helminthia echioides — Ox-tongue. Gaelic : bogltis (Arm- 

 strong), a corruption from the Irish ; bolglns, ox-weed, from bolg, 

 a cow, an ox. A name also given to Lycopsis arvensis. Bog 

 liiib/i, same meaning. 



Lactuca sativa— Lettuce. Gaelic and Irish : liains, lettuce, 

 a corruption from lactuca (Latin : lac, milk), on account of the 

 milky sap which flows coi)iously when the i)lant is cut ; liiibh 

 inite, the eatable plant. Irish : billeog math, the good leaf. 

 \Velsh : g%oylath, g7vyjluid, lact/i, milk. 



Sonchus oleraceus — Common sow - thistle, milk - thistle. 

 Gaelic and Irish : bog g/iioglian, the soft thistle. Irish : g/ogan, 

 a thistle Baine niiiic, sow's milk. 



