68 



hooker's students' flora. 



many cases where we should have thought it was sufficiently evident to have given 

 the generally accepted derivation — as, for example, in the case of Daphne, which, so 

 far from being at all uncertain, is simply the old Greek name for Laurel, very like 

 unto which are the coriaceous leaves of several of the species.* We notice that the 

 softer sounding Prunella is restored to the earlier Brtmella, without, however, any 

 hint that in that form it was connected with the German Brdime — the word for 

 Quinsy, for which ailment an infusion of Bnaiella was in very early times esteemed 

 almost a specific. Examples might be multiplied, but we will only instance one 

 other : the derivation of Trichoviartes is scarcely ' obscure ' — surely it comes from 

 thrix (hair) and mainoviai (passion or desire, fury), because the Roman girls 

 had (or were said to have had) a passion or a penchant for displaying in their 

 hair this or some other species of 'Maidenhair Ferns.' (In an article on the 

 Etymology of Plant Names we hope, later, to return to this subject.) 



We are glad to note that the Decandollean genus Ficaria has been adopted for 

 our single British species Raniinaihis Ficaria L., and that Mr. Thomas Hick's 

 observations thereon have not passed unheeded (although not referred to), 

 since we find for the first time in a British Flora ' leaves opposite ' forming 

 part of the generic limitation. 



A certain amount of ' resurrectioning ' has been indulged in, in comforming 

 the species-names to those of Nyman, &c., albeit the earliest has not invariably 

 been adopted. It will doubtless provoke research on the part of students, but at 

 first it will seem not a little strange and awkward to have to call Carex vulgaris Fr. 

 by Gay's not-in-many-respects-preferable name of Goodejiovii. In like manner we 

 we have Brassica sinapis Visiani, in place of the familiar Smapis arvensis L. ; 

 and Viola persiccefolia Roth, superseding V. stag7iina Kit. Polygalse austriaca 

 and ziliginosa are referred, without doubt, to P. ajuara L., but, singularly 

 enough, the Kent plant is stated to have blue and the Teesdale plant rosy 

 flowers, whereas the reverse is the case in all the specimens we have seen ; 

 Silene injlata Sm. becomes S. Ciiaibalus Wibel. ; Withering's Stellaria 

 glanca is rejected in favour of Ehrhart's palusiris', Sagina saxatilis Wimm. 

 becomes .5". LinncBi Presl., with S. nivalis as a subordinate form; Hypericum 

 dubiiivi Leers, becomes ' H. tjicadranguhan L. (in part). Fries.' — objectionable 

 because the restriction is hard to remember. Gcraniitm pyrenaician L. is replaced 

 by G. perenne Huds. ; Melilotics officitialis W. is suppressed in favour of M. altissima 

 Thuill. ; Blysmiis co7npressus Panz. becomes Scirpus Caj-icis Retz., the Lincolnshire 

 coast being recorded for S. rufus ; the aptly named Carex stellulaia Good, is changed 

 for C. echinata Murr. ; Calamagrostis stricta is accorded a genus to itself as 

 Deyetixia neglecta Kunth. ; whilst the order Empetrace^ follows that of the 

 Holly in place of preceding the Spurges. Under Tilia platyphyllos Scop. — the 

 old title of grandifolia Ehrh. — we are told that the late H. C. Watson con- 

 sidered it ' indigenous ' in ' Hereford, Radnor, and W. York.,' a mistake that would 

 be serious if it were not an absurdity ; Mr. Watson, in Top. Bot. 2., quoting 

 Babington, Ley, and the late James Ward (for North- West, not West York) saying, 

 ' These are the only three counties known to me as resting on good authority in 

 support of the true nativity of this Lime. It is reported for many other 

 counties .... usually with indications in distrust of its being really an 

 indigenous tree. In Surrey its leaves are much more damaged by spring frosts 

 than are those of the T. intermedia! Surely one can read between the lines grave 

 doubts here, especially when even Tilia parvifolia (for which many more counties 

 are given as having it native, including an express dictum to that effect from J. G. 

 Baker), was considered by Watson 'a dovibtful native.' Babington himself, too, 

 in the last two editions of his Manual, places the mark (f) against the larger-leaved 

 Lime, as 'possibly introduced' at any rate. Many more examples of changes of 

 name might be given did space permit, but we trust enough have been cited 

 to rouse the curiosity of students and send them to the work itself : it will well 

 repay the closest study, marking as it does (along with the completion of Genera 

 Plantarum and of Nyman's Conspectus) an epoch in the progress of Field Botany. 

 To say that we could like to go on quoting from almost every page to the last is 

 the most significant tribute we can pay to its general excellence. 



For some unexplained reason, we have anything but a strict adherence to the 

 now generally admitted wholesome rule of priority ; the eai-liest specific name has, 



■ In other cases, as in this, we cannot well get further back, the root, probably of Aryan origin, 



having become lost. \ — 



Naturalist, 



