original sound of many, . . . ignorance is responsible for a num- 

 ber of curious errors and for the bestowal of plant names on 

 species to which they do not belong and other changes have 

 occurred until the task of discovering the original meaning is 

 far from easy, and in some cases quite impossible."^ 



In our floras and manuals there are often found "common" 

 names that never have been, and possibly never will be, used 

 commonly. These are often literal translations of the scientific 

 names. When the specific name is derived from the name of a 

 person or a region the resulting "common" name is often too 

 clumsy for use. 



A few of many names interesting because of their connection 

 or derivation are listed alphabetically. 



ADDERS TONGUE, the fem OpJiioglossum (Greek meaning 

 serpent's tongue), also the dog-tooth violet, Erythronium, sup- 

 posedly from the tongue-shaped leaf. The name dog-tooth may 

 refer to the recurved, sharp pointed perianth parts of the flower. 



ALFALFA, from the Spanish, derived from the Arabic al-fac- 

 facah, the best feed. 



ALSIKE CLOVER, from Alsike, near Upsala in Sweden, men- 

 tioned by Linnaeus as a habitat of the plant. 



AMARANTH, from a Greek word meaning unfading, because 

 the dry calyx and bracts do not wither in drying. 



ANEMONE, from the Greek, meaning daughter of the wind, 

 because the flowers were supposed to open in the wind. This is 

 the derivation given in the dictionaries, but in Gray's Manual 

 the name is said to be a corruption of Naman, the Semitic name 

 for Adonis, from whose blood the crimson-flowered anemone of 

 the Orient was said to have sprung. 



AZALEA, from the Greek, dry, because the plant will grow in 

 dry places. 



bachelor's button, several species of buttercup. Ranun- 

 culus, with double flowers, the corn flower, Centaurea, and the 

 globe amaranth, Gomphrena. The name given "for their simili- 

 tude to the jagged cloathe buttons anciently worn in this king- 

 dom, according to Johnson's Gerarde; but to other writers as- 

 cribed to a habit of country fellows to carry them in their 

 pockets to divine their success with their sweethearts." Dr. 

 Pryor. 



^Willard N. Clute. Common Names of Plants, 1931. 



