COLOURS OF FLOWERS 227 



Dublin, to which he had given the excellently descrip- 

 tive name, " Old Murrey." 



Sage-green is a good colour-word, for, winter or 

 summer, the sage-leaves change but little. Olive- 

 green is not so clear, though it has come by use to 

 stand for a brownish green, like the glass of a wiae- 

 bottle held up to the light, but perhaps bottle-green is 

 the better word. And it is not clear what part or 

 condition of the olive is meant, for the ripe fruit is 

 nearly black, and the tree in general, and the leaf in 

 detail, are of a cool-grey colour. Perhaps the colour- 

 word is taken from the colour of the unripe fruit 

 pickled in brine, as we see them on the table. Grass- 

 green any one may understand, but I am always puzzled 

 by apple-green. Apples are of so many different greens, 

 to say nothing of red and yellow ; and as for pea-green, 

 I have no idea what it means. 



I notice in plant-Hsts the most reckless and indis- 

 criminate use of the words purple, violet, mauve, lilac, 

 and lavender, and as they are all related, I think they 

 should be used with the greater caution. I should say 

 that mauve and lilac cover the same ground ; the word 

 mauve came into use within my recollection. It is 

 French for mallow, and the flower of the wild plant 

 may stand as the type of what the word means. 

 Lavender stands for a colder or bluer range of pale 

 purples, with an inclination to grey ; it is a useful word, 

 because the whole colour of the flower spike varies so 

 little. Yiolet stands for the dark garden violet, and I 



