ENDOGENS. 1 

 Palm^e. 

 Phoenix dactylifera — The date palm. Gaelic and Irish : crann 

 jxiilm. Dailiog (O'Reilly). 



" Mar chrann-pailme, thig am firean fo bhlath." — Ps. xcii. 12. 

 The righteous shall flourish like the palm tree. 



The tree is so named from its flat spreading leaves like the palm 

 of the hand. Greek : 7raAa/tij, the palm of the hand. 



Orchidace^e. 

 Orchis — Greek : opx's, a plant with roots in the shape of 

 testicles. " Mirabilis est orchis herba, sive serapias, gemina radice 

 testiculis simili." — Pliny. 



maculata — The spotted orchis. Gaelic and Irish : iirach 

 bhallach ; iirach, likely an alteration of orchis, and ballach, spotted. 



0. masculata — Early orchis. Gaelic : moth iirach, from moth, 

 the male of any animal. Irish : magairlin meireach (magairle, the 

 testicles); meireach (Greek, meiro), joyful, glad. Clachan gadhair 

 (gadhar, a hound, clach, a stone. Manx : bwoid Saggart (penis 

 Sacerdotis). The name, cuigeal nan losgunn, the frogs' distaff, is 

 applied to many of the orchis ; and frequently the various names 

 are given to both maculata and mascula. 



0. conopsea — Fragrant orchis. Gaelic : lus taghta, the chosen 

 or select weed. 



Ophrys — Greek : o<j>pvs (Gaelic, abhra), the eyelash, to which 

 the delicate fringe of the inner sepals may be well compared. "A 

 plant with two leaves." — Freund. 



0. or Listera ovata — Tway blade. Gaelic: da-dhuilkach, two- 

 leaved ; da-bhileach, same meaning. 



1 De Candolle divides plants into three classes — Exogens, Endogens, and 

 Cryptogamic plants or Acrogens. Exogens have the veins of the leaves like 

 net work, and the growth gradually increases by the thickness of the stem, by 

 forming new wood over the old, beneath the bark. Endogens have the veins 

 of the leaves parallel, as in grasses, palms, &c. The stem grows little in 

 thickness, and by forming new woody bundles in its interior. Cryptogamic 

 plants, or AcROGKNS, have no flowers. The leaves are fork veined, and some- 

 times none. Ferns, lickens, &c. , are examples. 



