TORREYA 



Vol. 29 ,, , ^ u KOQ No- ^ 



November-December, 1929 



Colloquial Names of Maine Plants 



Anne E. Perkins 



As all my early life was spent in Maine, I grew up to hear 

 constantly certain folk-lore names of plants, and while Britton 

 and Brown mention many in foot-notes, some I have never seen 

 nor heard elsewhere. From early childhood I was always asking 

 the names of plants. 



The curious Equisetum arvense might not attract every 

 child's attention, but it did mine, and its universal name was 

 "Gunbrighf* because it was used to brighten the metal parts 

 of guns, as well as pewter. Not until many years later did I 

 know it as "Scouring Rush." 



All the Lycopodia were "Evergreen," clavatum, complana- 

 tum, obscurum, being the most common. Abies balsamea was 

 never Balsam Fir, but always "Fir Balsam." 



Picea canadensis was called "Skunk Spruce," and many a 

 Christmas celebration in a hot school-house was marred by its 

 odor. The Sagittaria in the brook (variabilis in those days) , was 

 never called anything but "Waxfiower."* Andropogon scopar- 

 ius, a grass growing in thin, sterile soil was thought to "run out" 

 and impoverish the soil, hence the name "Wolf grass,"* "Poverty 

 Grass."* Agropyron repens was "Witch Grass," {Wire Grass less 

 commonly); Lemna minor, Frog-spit; Veratrum viride, "Poke 

 root"; Lilium Philadelphicum, "Freckled Lily,"* and children 

 were warned not to look into them lest they also freckle. Clin- 

 tonia borealis was "Wild Lily of the Valley,"* as were Pyrola 

 elliptica and rotundifolia, and Dwarf Solomon's Seal and Spi- 

 ranthes cernua. Smilacina herbacea, always "Jacob's Ladder" ; 

 Sisyrinchium, "Blue Grass," (not Blue-eyed"). Cypripedium 

 acaule, "Valerian"* and "Nerve-root," and much esteemed as a 



* The names so indicated, are those which I never heard elsewhere, nor 

 do I find the name occurring elsewhere except as noted. 



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