222 HOME AND GARDEN 



apprehension of botanical names was soniewliat vague, 

 but whose use of them was entirely without restraint, 

 who asked me if I had got any of that beautiful 

 " speciosum," Putting my mind into a suitable atti- 

 tude I answered, " Oh yes, and any amount of the still 

 more glorious ' spectabile ' " ! 



Considering how much of our language and civi- 

 lisation came many centuries ago from France, it 

 seems strange how few names of French origin remain 

 among our flowers. There are no doubt others, but 

 I can only think of Dandelion {Dent de Lion), aptly 

 named after the toothed edge of the leaf. The much 

 more modern " Mignonette " has a French sound but 

 at any rate now is purely an English name, for the 

 French for Mignonette is always the botanical name 

 B4s(^da. I often ask cottage folk what they call the 

 familiar garden flowers. The answers are not always 

 satisfactory, as, except in the case of those that cannot 

 be mistaken, such as Rose, Lily, Pansy, and Violet, 

 they are apt to apply well-known names rather in- 

 discriminately. 



Indeed I have known several cases in which 

 all garden flowers were called " Lilies," and all 

 weeds " Docks." An old woman that we had some 

 years ago to weed the lawn was one of those who 

 held to this broad and simple distinction in 

 botanical nomenclature, for though there was not 

 a Dock in the grass, and her work was to fork 

 up Daisies and Dandelions, Plantains and Hawk- 



