86 ERIGERON BELLIDIFOLIUM.—POOR ROBIN’S PLANTAIN, 
plants. We see that the mere accident of some general appear- 
ance in the flower led some botanists into calling that species 
“Blue Flea-bane ;” and our botanists, with far less excuse, left 
the “ Blue” off. and gave the common name of the Conyza, Flea- 
bane, to the whole genus Ey7geron. So far 2s the writer of 
this can learn, the name of “Flea-bane” was never used by 
the people of the United States for these plants until it was 
employed in botanical works, and very rarely if at all now, 
which renders the introduction of the misleading name into our 
literature the more unpardonable. Even the common name 
for this species, “Poor Robin's Plantain,’ has been modified 
by botanists in various ways. Sims, in the “ Botanical Magazine,” 
many years ago, figured it, and says: “It grows from North 
Carolina to Canada, where it is known as ‘Poor Robin’s 
Plantain.’” Dr. Gray, in “School Botany,” cuts it down to 
“Robin’s Plantain,” Prof. Wood to “Robins’ Plantain,’ and Dr. 
Darlington “Poor Robert's Plantain.” The origin of the com- 
mon name is not clear; but if ever the occasion should arise 
to make an investigation important, the student would prob- 
ably be misled by these careless alterations in the orthography 
of the names. 
The specific name, dc//rdifolium, was suggested by Dr. Muh- 
lenberg in a letter to Willdenow, who adopted it in the de- 
scription of the plant in his “Species Plantarum.” It signifies 
having a leaf like the Lelis perennis or English daisy, though 
there is no very close resemblance. The best that can be said 
is that it is perhaps more nearly like the leaf of that popular 
English flower than the leaves of other species are. A 
peculiarity of the genus Zrigeron is to have a large number of 
ray florets, and in this respect the whole family has a resemblance 
to the daisy, and our present species may carry the association 
closer to this great national favorite, because like it the earliest 
spring meets its opening flowers. It is the first of all the Ameri- 
can Exigerons to bloom. We may say of it as Burns said to his 
“ Mountain daisy:” 
