CHAPTER XVIII 



SOME NAMES OF PLANTS 



It is interesting to try and trace some of the ways 

 by which famiUar garden plants come by their popular 

 names. 



Many of our oldest favourites have names only 

 slightly altered from the Latin ; in this way we get 

 Rose, Lily, Tulip, Pseony, Lavender, Rosemary, Violet, 

 and numbers of others. Some of the most familiar 

 names of the sweet-herbs of the kitchen garden 

 come to us in the same way ; hence we have Mint, 

 Borage, Fennel, Coriander, Thyme, and Chervil, and 

 the vegetables. Carrot, Cauliflower, and Beet,, and 

 some trees, as Elm, Poplar, Juniper, Tamarisk, and 

 Cypress. And all these names are so famiUar and 

 have become such good English that we forget how 

 we came by them, and that they are only the Latin 

 names with the corners rounded off. And of the 

 older names these seem to be the most permanent, 

 for though we may retain many of what one may 

 call old English names, such as Canterbury Bell 

 and Snowdrop, Hollyhock, Honeysuckle, and Sweet- 

 William, yet a great number, though still kno^vn, 

 have gone out of use. 



