PLANT NAMES 53 



LIKENESS TO ANIMALS 



Quite a number of plants have derived their names 

 from fancied resemblance to parts of animals. 

 Antholyza means " the raging flower," because it 

 reminds us of the face of an angry beast. Antir- 

 rhinum is from anti, like, and rhis, a nose, from the 

 likeness of the flower to a snout. We have this 

 word in rhinoceros, which means a snout of horn. 

 Snapdragon, its English name, has the same idea. 

 Bugloss is the tongue of an ox. Bupleurum is the 

 rib of an ox, referring perhaps to the ribbed leaves 

 of some species. Columbine, Erodium, Geranium, 

 and Pelargonium have been explained (p. 3). 

 Cranberry, too, is said to refer to the crane, I know 

 not how. Celandine is from chelidon, a swallow; 

 the reason is equally mysterious. Pliny suggested 

 two reasons, neither very convincing. He says: 

 " The brute animals have been the discoverers of 

 certain plants; among them we will name Chelidonia 

 first of all. It is by the aid of this plant that the 

 swallow restores the sight of the young birds in the 

 nest, and even, as some people will have it, when 

 their eyes have been plucked out." And again: 

 " These plants (the Greater and the Lesser Celandine) 

 blossom both of them at the arrival of the swallow, 

 and wither at the time of its departure." The 

 appropriateness of Cockscomb is obvious. Colts- 

 foot refers to the shape of the leaves. So do Hart's 

 Tongue and Cynoglossum, reproduced in its Enghsh 



