216 HOME AND GARDEN 



Nobody now says Gilliflower, though, it is a 

 much better name than the vague Carnation ; and 

 the pretty Eglantine, though the sound of it is 

 still known, is put away in the lumber-room of 

 things not used or wanted ; and most people have 

 even forgotten that it was the older name for Sweet- 

 brier. And as for all that rollicking company of 

 Bobbing Joan and Blooming Sally and Bouncing 

 Bet, they have long been lost, reappearing only 

 in the more dull and decorous guise of Wild Arum 

 and French Willow and Soapwort. 



But let us treasure the best of our old plant- 

 names. Sweet Sultan and Bachelors' Buttons, Eye- 

 bright, Foxglove, Nightshade, and London Pride, 

 and especially those that have about them a flavour 

 of poetical feeling or old country romance, such as 

 Travellers' Joy, Meadowsweet, Speedwell, Forget-me- 

 not, Lads'-love, Sweet Cicely, Love-in-a-mist. 



Some of our popular names, as indeed are most 

 of the botanical ones, are descriptive of the appear- 

 ance of the flower or whole plant, or of some 

 prominent form of the seed-vessel. A few examples 

 are Monkshood, Snap-dragon, Pennywort, Shepherd's 

 Purse, Grape Hyacinth, Cockscomb, Marestail, Dutch- 

 man's Pipe, Hose-in-hose, Gardeners' Garters, Cotton- 

 grass, Hartstongue, Snowdrop, Woodbine. 



Some derive names from their economic uses — 

 as Broom, Spindle-tree, and Butcher's Broom — while 

 others are among the oldest words of our language; 



