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root being suspended from its small egg-shaped leaf, and not 

 affixed to the ground. Grafi-lac/ia?i, — gra?i, seed, grain, and 

 lack, a duck. The roundish leaves, and the fact that ducks are 

 voraciously fond of feeding on them, have suggested this and the 

 following names : Ros lachain, the ducks' rose or flower. Irish : 

 abhran donog {0''i^t\\\y),—abhran is the plural of abhra, an eyelid, 

 and donog, a kind of fish, a young ling. The fish's eyelids ; 

 more likely a corruption of a7-an timnaig, duck's bread or meat. 



It was used by our Celtic ancestors as a cure for headaches 

 and inflammations. 



Arace^. 



Arum, formerly aron, probably from the ancient Celtic root 

 ar, land, earth ; hence Latin, aro, to plough, and Gaelic, aran, 

 bread, sustenance. The roots of many of the species are used 

 both for food and medicine. 



A. maculatum — Wake-robin, lords and ladies. Gaelic : cluas 

 chaoin, the soft ear {caoin, soft, smooth, gentle, &c., and duas, 

 ear). The ear-shaped spathe would probably suggest the name. 

 Cuthaidh, from cuth, a head, a bulb — hence ciit/iarlan, any bulb- 

 ous-rooted plant, Cuthaidh means also wild, savage. Gachar 

 and gaoicin cuthigh are given in O'Reilly's Dictionary as names 

 for the Arum, from cai, a cuckoo. Old English : cuckoo's pint. 



Orontiace/e. 

 Acorus calamus — Sweet-flag. Gaelic : cni/c-mhiJis, sweet-rush ; 

 " Cicilc mhilis agus canal." 

 Calamus and cinnamon. 



cuilc, a reed, a cane. Greek : KaXa/xo's, applied to reeds, bul- 

 rush canes, e.g., ciiilc na Léig, the reeds of Lego. Cobhan 

 cuilc, an ark of bulrushes. Ctiilc-chrann, cane \ mi/is (Greek : 

 fjiekicra-a, a bee), sweet. Before the days of carpets, this plant is 

 said to have supplied the " rushes " with which it was customary 

 to strew the floors of houses, churches, and monasteries. 



Typhace^. 



Typha, from Greek, tw^o?, a marsh in which all the species 

 naturally grow. 



T. latifolia — Great reed-mace or cat's-tail. Gaelic and Irish : 

 bodan dub/i, from bod, a tail, and dub/i, large, or dark. Cuigeal 

 nam bàn-sìth, the fairy-woman's spindle. It is often, but incorrectly, 

 called bog bhuine or bulrush (see Scirpiis lacustris). The downy 

 seeds were used for stuffing pillows, and the leaves for making 



