246 JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY, Vol. XXIV. 



interest in this group are Carica, Citrus, Iberis, Medicago, Moringa, Sapin- 

 dus and Tamarindvis. We referred above to Sapindus when speaking of 

 ' property names.' We come across it again under ' geographical names ' as 

 it means the soap of India. Many plant names are thus compounded and 

 convey more than one idea. Dendrochilum is another name of this type. 

 We gather from this name that here is an epiphyte bearing lipped flowers. 

 The first part of the name refers to the habitat ; the second part is 

 morphological . 



We now come to the very large class of commemorative names. These 

 names tell us less about the plants themselves than those that we have 

 noticed so far, but they unfold before us a chapter in the history of botany. 

 Thus, the very name tells vis that " Victoria regia " was named while 

 Queen Victoria was ruling. Gribsonia recalls to our minds our local bota- 

 nists,* Dalzell and Gibson. Wight named a new Orchrid Josephia to do 

 honour to Sir Joseph Dalton Hooker, when he probably found that Hooker 

 already enters into several names both by itself and in combination — 

 Hookera, Hookerella Hookerina, and Hookerisideroxylon. Sir Bartle 

 Frere, one of the Governors of Bombay,! is immortalised in " Frerea." When 

 persons are commemorated it is but natural to find that personalities in 

 every sense are referred to. These names not only serve to do honour but 

 also to express satire. Thus Bufionia tenuifolia is a well known satire on 

 the slender botanical pretentions of the great French Zoologist. Bauhinia 

 is expressive in yet another way. Here plants with two-lobed leaves are 

 selected to commemorate two botanists, the brothers Bauhin, John and 

 Caspar. Any one who has seen the " Apta " or " Jinji " leaves can well 

 realise how apt the name is. In ' mythological names ' such a connection 

 between the name and the plant is yet more interesting. In Baccauria 

 after Baccus the apt allusion is to the golden coloured berries. We are 

 reminded of the sea-god by an aquatic plant, Neptunia. The lovely 

 Nympheea of our tanks could not have a more appropriate name. Is it not 

 befitting that Oberon should live in the orchid " Oberonia " ? Lastly, a 

 whole mythological incident may be recalled by a short botanical name. 

 Thus " Centauria " is said to have cured a wound in the foot of Centaur 

 Chiron caused by an arrow of Hercules. 



A large group of names still remains to be discussed before we have done 

 with the generic names of Bombay plants. This is built up of common 

 names of plants that are latinised to acquire the scientific form. They are 

 ancient as well as modern, belong to all languages, dead and living, and 

 come from every quarter of the globe. Considerable scholarship must be 

 expended before we can get the full import of the names in this group. 

 Here are some of them. Ficus, Gossypium, Vitis and Zea — thes^ are old 

 Greek or Latin names. Carissa, Datura, and Putranjiva are Sanskrit. 

 Aloe, Calamus (kalam) Cinnamomum, Jasminum, Limonia (Limboo), Santa- 

 lum (Sandalwood), and Senna are Arabic or Persian. Bambusa, Cajanus 

 and Canavalia are Malay names. Ananas, Batatas and Petunia are 

 American names. Occasionally translations of vernacular names of plants 

 are adopted as generic names. Pithecolobium and Ophiopogon are trans- 

 lations of Malabar and Japanese names, respectively. 



Other processes of manufacturing botanical names are illustrated by 

 the following. Anagrams have been occasionally availed of by botanists.. 

 Galphimia is an anagram of Malpighia and Pycreus is of Oyperus. The 

 name Quisqualis (Rangoon-creeper) points to the uncertainty as to what 



* For an account of Bombay botanists, see Vol. XVII, p. 562 and ff . of the 

 Journal of the Bombay Natural History Society ; for Indian botanists, see the 

 " Introductory Essay to the Flora Indica" by Hooker and Thomson. 



t Born 1815, died 1884 ; aovernor of Bombay, 1862—1867. 



