THE ^^ERICP BOTPIST. 
Vol. IX. BINGHAMTON, N. Y., DECEMBErTio oS. No. 6^ 
OLD GARDEN FLOWERS AND THEIR NAMES. 
BY GRACE GREYLOCK NILES. 
O^HE fantastic forms of flowers, the strange shapes their 
-L leaves and roots assume, as well as the fragrance and 
heahng virtues they possess had much to do with the 
common names given them by the ancients. In Greece 
and Rome nearly every god had a leaf, flower, bird or rep- 
tile sacred to his temple, and it was the custom of the ear- 
ly ])oets and natualists to honor these symbols with ap- 
propriate designations. Many flowers were dedicated to 
gods, goddesses and nymphs, while kings, queens, phvsi- 
cians and philosophtrs were honored in later davs. The 
lark's-claw, dragon wort, paeonia, hyacinth, and Our 
Lady's slippers are among the common names suggestive 
of their origins. In order to grasp the meaning of the 
Greek and Latin derivations it is necessarv to remember 
Pliny, the greatest naturalist in Christ's dav, wrote 
that our garden Pa^nias were among the most ancient 
flowers known, and were named in remembrance of that 
good old man Paeon,— a physician of Paeonia in Mace- 
donia. He was the discoverer and recorder of these blos- 
soms and used their seed as a remedy for nightmare and 
melancholy dreams. Undoubtedly pre-historic people had 
means of distinguishing the flowers and fruits upon which 
they subsisted. The knowledge of savages and also wild 
animals has been proven to be keen and accurate in regard 
to the values and medicinal virtues of plants. 
What a wealth of fragrance falls to the earth in Mav 
in the shower of rosy petals when the orchards, the briar- 
rose and hawthorn blossoms drift down to the roadside 
