illlllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllll^ 
I GARDENERS' CHRONICLE | 
I OF AMERICA | 
I Devoted to the Science of Floriculture and Horticulture I 
\'(,1, XXI 
iiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii 
SEPTEMBER, 1917 
MlllllllllllllllllilllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllillllllllllllH^^^^ 
No. 9 1 
Things and Thoughts of the Garden 
By the Onlooker 
SO.ME one said to me that it made the study of flowers 
much more interesting when one knew the meaning 
of the names. The statement needs no arguing. 
And in looking over the list of words with their mean- 
ings, that is given at the end of Johnson's Gardeners' 
Dictionary, it is seen that there is only one way to get at 
the meaning of the names, and that is, to learn them, 
memorize tliem. We who have gradually accumulated 
a knowledge of the Latin and Greek names, roots, 
derivatives, are apt to forget that the uninitiated can 
hardly be expected offhand, unless he or she has been well 
grounded in the classical languages at school, to asso- 
ciate the name l^ratensis with meadow, in allusion to the 
natural habitat of the plant ; or the name rk'tilaris 
attached to a plant betokening that it hails from the banks 
of a stream or river; or alpcstris referring to a mountain 
plant, and so on. The nouns alba, rubra, nigra, flava, 
meaning respectively white, red, black, yellow, or their 
masuline form, album, rubrum, nigrum, are soon learned. 
Likewise we understand (juickly that geographical names 
are an index of at least the country from which the plant 
comes, as chinensis, japonica, europaeus, americana. 
Then again a lot of names, generic names, have been 
given in honor of botanists, plant collectors or famous 
gardeners and herbatists. Among these are Cattleya, 
after Mr. Cattley, an amateur of this genus of orchids; 
I'uchsia, after the old-time botanist Fuchs ; Robinia, after 
Robin, a French botanist ; Rivinia, the pretty berry-bear- 
ing plant of Christmas, after a tierman botanist named 
Rivinus. A large percentage of generic names that end 
in a are men's names Latinized 
* :'; ^. 
Of course, many names have come down from ancient 
times, and just why Pliny and the others gave them these 
names is not apparent. The meaning is obscure. In- 
stances are these : liallota, Lantana, \'eronica. Solanum, 
\'accinium, Emilia, A'alariana, Ruta, Hypericum and 
many more. The combination of Greek or Latin words, 
or the translation of a name from Arabic, gives us an- 
other long series. Here are a few: Chrysanthemum, 
meaning "golden flower"; Helianthus, meaning Sun- 
llower; Heliotropium (Heliotrope), meaning "turning 
10 the sun" : Phlox, Greek for "flame," the first named 
i;])ecies doubtless having brilliant flowers ; Primula, from 
"primus," spring, the flowering time of the true Primrose. 
It should be noted that anthiis always means "flower." 
It occurs in Polyanthus, Chionanthus, Osmanthus. 
Phyllanthus, Dianthus, Bryanthus. Poly signifies "many" ; 
cliion, snow ; phyll from phyllton, a leaf. The di in 
Dimthus is from dios, God, so that the meaning is the 
( lod-flower or Divine Flower. And so one might pro- 
ceed. Some of the names are pretty or interesting from 
their mythological foundation or their historical allusion. 
Thus, take the names Narcissus and Hyacinthus, boy 
myths who were converted into these flowers ; Teucrium 
( Teucer, a Trojan prince); Romulea (from Romulus, 
founder of Rome); Protea (Proteus, a sea-god); 
I'hoenix (a character in Homer's Iliad). Many names, 
indeed the majority, originated, however, like some of 
those already given, e. g., Helianthus. as an expression 
of their character, the Suit flower, the sun-loving flower; 
or Odontoglossum, from odoiis, a tooth, and glossa. a 
tongue, alluding to the tooth-like processes on the lip 
of some of the flowers. At one time the wdiole character 
of the plant was given in Latin, and this formed the 
name. We still get fearfully long names in some of the 
ferns, such as Polystichum angulare divisilobum proli- 
ferum, and others still longer. But Linnaeus revolution- 
ized nomenclature when he caused the adoption of a 
binomial system, that is, two names only, the generic and 
specific. This has been discussed previously in this 
department. At the present day the florists and nursery- 
men are anxious to get down to a binomial system for 
varietal names, and to a great extent have succeeded. 
The whole subject of names and naming is so interesting 
and valuable for discussion that we may well return to 
it again and again. 
* * * 
The Scarlet Sage is the cynosure of the garden in 
September. Without it we would be distinctly poorer. 
The Sages are a well-marked family and comprise some 
excellent garden plants. Fifty-five dififerent kinds have 
been described or grown, but only eight or ten are well 
known, among them being the one we have mentioned, 
which is Salvia splendens, others comprising Greggii, 
with carmine flowers, a plant that came to the front a 
coujile of years ago when some firm advertised it well ; 
])ratensis (also called virgata). a notablv fine violet 
colored border jjlant ; azurea, a pretty bright clear blue, 
good as a pot subject ; farinacea, sometimes employed for 
bedding and of which John Canning, of Ardsley, N. Y., 
has, I think, a white form. Salvia uliginosa is one of the 
later introductions, and is 5 ft. to 6 ft. tall. S. Horminum. 
with violet bracts, is also hahndsome. It makes a good 
border plant for summer. In English gardens, but not 
here, to any extent, we find S. patens grown, one of the 
finest of blue flowers. .Vs most of the Salvias are from 
warm countries or regions, they are not hardy in our 
northern gardens, but can be carried over in the green- 
house or in pits. A fine old outdoor plant of old country 
gardens is the Clary (S. Sclarea), with big greyish 
327 
