30 PLANT NAMES 



NAMES WHOSE MEANINGS ARE NOT 

 KNOWN 



Many plant names come down to us from a dim 

 antiquity, and no one now can say why they were 

 originally given. No doubt the people who gave 

 them had some reason for doing so, but it is lost for 

 ever. Often we can tell in which language a name 

 arose. We know that Syringa was Persian, Jessa- 

 mine Arabic, and Lily Celtic. But what those 

 names meant thousands of years ago we shall never 

 discover. In the following list I give in some cases 

 conjectural explanations based on the root of the 

 word being found in some cognate language in a 

 known word. But these must be taken as mere 

 guesses. 



Arabic. — Ahutilon, Artichoke, Aloe, Berberis, 

 Cinnamon, Datura, Doronicum, Myrrh, Ribes, 

 Saffron, Sumach. 



Persian. — Asparagus, Lilac, Mezereum, Musk,* 

 Myrtle (perhaps cognate with Myrrh, the wood being 

 fragrant), Orange (originally naranj ; the initial n 

 was lost in passing through the Italian). 



Egyptian. — Arum, Papyrus (from which our 

 word " paper "). 



Greek. — Aloe, Balm, Blechnum, Cactus, Canna, 

 Carrot, Ceanothus, Cedar, Celery, Cercis, Clethra, 



* Nutmeg is the Musk nut. The meg is from old French 

 muge, from Latin muscus, from Persian musk. 



