NO. 42. — 1891.] SINHALESE PLANT LORE. 



117 



next name, Agamula-neti-wela, used for Cassytha, at once 

 marks its character, the Sinhalese word literally meaning 

 creeper without end or roots " ; so it is with the 

 Cassytha, — it is a parasitic creeper devoid of leaves and 

 made of thin thread-like stems. The plant, though portions 

 are found on the ground, has no roots, so to speak, but 

 obtains its food from its host, the cinnamon, through the 

 suckers which it sends out. In the above-quoted instances 

 the names disclose to the student almost the whole history 

 of these particular plants. 



. Properties. 



We have terms in the names which denote certain pro- 

 perties possessed by different plants, either showing their 

 economic value or their characteristic taste, &c. Among the 

 former we have the terms tel, "oily," and patta, "fibrous" : 

 as Tel-kekuna {Aleurites moluccana), the seeds of which 

 produce a large quantity of oil, and Patta-beli {Paritium 

 tillieaceum), a common hedge plant which produces a very 

 fine fibre. 



In the other class, which distinguishes certain plants, 

 we have titta, pent, lunu, kahata — "bitter," "sweet," 

 "salt," "astringent," respectively: Titta-kinda {Tinospora 

 >crispa), Peni-warakd (sweet jak), Lunu-midella {Melt a 

 dubia), Kahata-gaha {Carey a arborea). 



Before concluding the consideration of the names of plants 

 I will mention another class which have terms prefixed 

 to them, such as yak, nayi, et, uru, &c. — " devil," " serpent," 

 " elephant," " pig," respectively. These terms are prefixed to 

 the names to represent certain ideas about them . For instance, 

 it is well known that the devil is something evil, a serpent is 

 venomous, a pig is ugly-looking, and an elephant is huge in 

 size. So, when any of these occur along with the names of 

 plants an idea is at once formed of certain characters possessed 

 by them. Thus, Yak ndran {Atalantia zeylanica), Nayi- 

 miris {Capsicum fastigiatum), Et-demata {Gmelina arborea), 

 Urugenda {Portulaca tuber osa). 



