BARBAROUS PLANT NAMES 117 



The name of Hooker has been so conspicuous for 

 two generations in plant lore, that it were un- 

 generous to carp at its frequent use as a specific 

 title. Unluckily, it is not musical, and the hand- 

 some yellow African lily-wort suffers under the 

 uncouth designation Chrysdbactron Hodkeri. 



Descriptive plant-names are sometimes very happy. 

 Information could hardly be more concisely conveyed 

 than by such a name as Dictamnus fraxinella, the 

 ash-leaved dittany. Gladiolus (gladiolus, ma'am, 

 not gladiolus, as some use, nor gladiolus, as others) is 

 perfect the little sword-bearer ; it exactly describes 

 the foliage. But what sense can man discern in the 

 name given to a nearly allied lily-wort Watsonia "? 

 Commemorative names are seldom pleasant to use till 

 all has been forgotten about those whom they com- 

 memorate, as Fuchsia and Dahlia ; ' though exception 

 may be made for the pardonable fervour which, while 

 it inspired our countrymen to name the greatest 

 of conifers PFellingtonia, has induced American 

 botanists to class it as Washingtonia. But, after 

 all, the best names, even for scientific precision, 

 are those invented by the poets, as Anemone, the 

 wind-flower, Agapanthus, the love-blossom, and the 

 like. 



