8? 



are scarcely touched by cattle. According to Dr Hooker, carex 

 is derived from Greek, «cipw, from the cutting foliage. The 

 Sanscrit root is kar^ to cut, shear, divide. 



C. vulgaris, and many of the other large species — Common 

 sedge. Gaelic : gaitinisg (Stewart), — gainne, a sedge, reed, 

 cane, arrow ; and seasg. 



Gramine.í:. 



Agrostis alba— Fiorin-grass. Gaelic and Irish : fioran, feor- 

 ine, or fioi'-thati ; derived from Gaelic : feiu; feoi?; grass, herb- 

 age, fodder. Latin: vireo, I grow green, — ver, s-pring ; /cerium, 

 fodder — r and n being interchangeable. This name is applied 

 in the dictionaries to the common couch-grass, because, like it, 

 it retains a long time its vital power, and propagates itself by 

 extending its roots. 



Alopecurus — Foxtail-grass. Gaelic : fiteag,—fit, food, refresh- 

 ment. Latin : vita. 



A. geniculatus. — Gaelic : fitcag c/iàm, — 



"A chuiseag dheireach's ^nfhiteagckam.'" — M'Intyre. 



cam, bent, from the knee-like bend in the stalk. A valuable 

 grass for hay and pasture. 



Arundo Phragmites — Reed-grass. Gaelic: seasgan; seasg, a. 

 reed. Lachan, the common reed. Irish : cruisgiornach, C7'uisighy 

 music, song ; from its stem reeds for pipes were manufactured. 

 Welsh : cazi'ti wellt, cane-grass ; qwellt, grass. 



Anthoxanthum odoratum — Sweet meadow-grass. Gaelic : 

 mislean, from milis, sweet. 



"'San canach min geal 's misUan ann." — M'Intyre. 

 The soft white cotton-grass and the sweet grass are there. 



Borrach {boiradh, scent, smell). — In some places this name is 

 given to the Nardus stricta, which see. This is the grass that 

 gives the peculiar smell to meadow hay. Though common in 

 meadows, it grows nearly to the top of the Grampians (3400 

 feet) ; hence the names are given as " a species of mountain 

 grass " in some dictionaries. 



Milium effasum — Millet -grass. Gaelic: f/iiieid. Welsh: 

 miled. The name derived from the true j?iiliet misapplied. Mil- 

 let is translated in the Gaelic Bible Jiieatibh pheasair, small peas 

 (see Faba vidgaris). — Ezekiel iv. 9. 



Phleum pratense — Timothy grass, cat's-tail grass. Gaelic : 

 bodan, a little tail ; the same name for Typha a/igustifolia. " This 



