PLANT NAMES 57 



HABITAT 



I MAY give a few examples of plants which are named 

 after their habitat, or the natural conditions which 

 they love. Arenaria grows well in sandy soil. 

 Arena is the Latin for sand, and so it was applied to 

 the sanded place where the gladiators fought and 

 wrestlers struggled. The Anemone, sometimes 

 called the Wind/lower, because it thrives on windy 

 hillsides, comes from the Greek anemos, wind. 

 From this came the Latin anima, which signified air 

 in motion, then a breath, and in the masculine form 

 animus, the rational soul, then the spiritual Hfe in 

 man. It is most remarkable that in Hebrew, 

 Greek, and Latin the same word stands for wind and 

 spirit (John iii. 8), and possibly in Anglo-Saxon 

 ghost and gust are related. Convallaria, the Lily 

 of the Valley, is from convallis, a valley, and perhaps 

 rica, a mantle, as clothing the sheltered vale. Den- 

 drohium, a large genus of orchids, is called from 

 dendron, a tree, and bias, life, being a tree epiphyte. 

 Another large orchid genus is Epidendron, epi 

 meaning upon. Philodendron, which means loving 

 a tree, is also a tree epiphyte, but of another order. 

 Gypsophila means loving chalk — that tells us its 

 habitat. Ranunculus means a little frog, perhaps 

 because it loves marshy places. Sedum is from 

 sedeo, to sit, because it sits on rocks and walls. 

 And so in Enghsh it is called Stonecrop, because it 



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