iog 



possibly from la, a day. The Greek name hemera, a day. Manx : 

 laa like, day-lilie. 



Asparagus officinalis. — Commn asparagus. Gaelic : creamh- 

 mac-fiadh. Manx : croan muck feie, wild pigs' food. Irish : 

 creamh-muic-fiadh, wild boar's leek or garlic. The same name is 

 given to hart's tongue fern. Asparag, ■ from the generic name 

 a-vapaxra-io, to tear, on account of the strong prickles with which 

 some of the species are armed. 



Ruscus — Latin: ruscum. 



R. aculeatus — Butcher's broom. Gaelic: calg-bhrudhainn 

 (Armstrong). Irish : calg-bhrudhan (Shaw) — calg, a prickle, from 

 its prickly leaves ; and bruth, bruid, a thorn, anything pointed ; 

 brudhan, generally spelled brughan, a faggot. Or it may only be 

 a corruption from brum, broom. Calg bhealaidh, the prickly 

 broom. It was formerly used by butchers to clean their blocks, 

 hence the English name "butchers' broom." Bealaidh Chataoibh 

 (Logan), butchers' broom; the Clan Chattan or Sutherland broom. 

 It is difficult to know where the northern clans would get it. It 

 is not indigenous to the Highlands or to Scotland. It has been 

 naturalised only in gardens and shrubberies in the north. Five 

 hundred years ago, when the famous clan was powerful, it is 

 questionable if a single plant was to be found in the Highlands. 

 A similar objection applies to the mistletoe, given in the same list 

 as the badge of the Hays. The clan would have to go south as 

 far as York before they would get a plant ! 



Said to be the badge of the Sutherlands. 



Naiadace^e. 



Potamogeton — Greek : TrorafiSs, a river, and \drov, near. 



P. natans — Broad-leaved pondweed. Gaelic : duileasg na 

 h-aibhne, the river dulse. Manx : dullish far ushteg, fresh water dulse. 

 Most of the species grow immersed in ponds and rivers, but 

 flower above the surface. Liobhag, from liobk, smooth, polish, 

 from the smooth, pellucid texture of the leaves, their surface 

 being destitute of down or hair of any kind. Irish : liachroda — 

 Hack, a spoon, rod, a water-weed, sea-weed ; liach-Brighide, 

 Bridget's spoon. Probably these names were also given to the 

 other species of pondweeds (such as P. polygonifolius) as well as 



