196 
Ol)e Slower (Brower 
December, 1920 
Plant Names and Their Meanings. 
T HE NAMES of plants have ever formed an 
important part in Botany. The collect- 
ing of plants and the running down of 
their names by the use of a “Key” was long 
considered the end and aim of plant studies 
and even now this amusement has not en- 
tirely ceased to interest the botanizer. The 
question as to the exact name each plant 
should bear, originated shortly after the Chris- 
tian Era and still forms the subject for nu- 
merous acrimonious debates among the dev- 
otees of “ the Amiable Science.” 
Meanwhile the meanings that lie in plant 
names have received scant attention. To be 
sure, nearly all botanical Manuals attempt to 
give the derivations of the generic names but 
apparently with only indifferent success, if we 
may judge from the diversity of derivations 
suggested. Since the generic names are 
usually taken from the Latin and Greek, a 
correct derivation ought ordinarily to be easy, 
but frequently it is far from being so. In the 
case of the common or vernacular names, the 
difficulties increase. There is no recognized 
authority upon which we may depend. Com- 
mon names have been derived from all coun- 
tries and from all languages. They have 
been given by philosopher and peasant, physi- 
cian and farmer, civilian and savage, soldier 
and statesman. Learning has given us names 
derived from classic sources; ignorance has 
mispronounced and misapplied these names 
and coined others. As a result, the vernac- 
ular names present many puzzling problems 
which stand as a challenge to our ability, but 
the possibility of their solution adds zest to 
the study. Moreover, a wealth of tradition, 
poetry, folklore, fancy, custom, religion and 
other phases of life lie embedded in these 
names like jewels in the mine, and any exten- 
sive investigation is sure to be rewarded. 
Some of these names are older than the 
science of Botany itself ; others are even now 
in the making. 
It is manifestly impossible for any single 
individual to satisfactorily cover the whole 
field of plant names, but if any progress is to 
ensue, a beginning must be made, and it is 
purposed to set down here some observations 
on the subject which we trust will call out 
from others the additions, corrections, and 
further suggestions that the subject merits. 
A good place to begin our studies is at that 
group of common, showy, and often poisonous 
species that long stood first in the botanical 
Manuals and is known as the Ranunculaceae. 
This word is only part of the title of the group. 
It should really be Plantae Ranunculaceae; 
that is, Ranunculus- like plants. As usually 
written, however, the names of plant families 
leave off the first word. Inquiring into the 
meaning of Ranunculus, we find that the word 
is derived from an animal rather than from a 
plant. Rana is the Latin word for a little 
frog and, because many plants of this group 
grow in marshy places where frogs abound, 
the old naturalist Pliny gave the name Ranun- 
culus to one of the typical genera. From this 
name came the designation for the family 
and also for the order Ranales which includes, 
besides the Ranunculaceae, the Magnoliaceae, 
the Anonaceae, the Berberidaceae, the Lau- 
raceae, and several others. 
In any discussion of plant names it is un- 
necessary to devote much attention to the 
specific names. These are usually descriptive 
of plant parts and such other characters as 
size, habitat, color, abundance, and the like. 
Various proper names used are also self- 
explanatory. Some specific names, however, 
deserve mention, as for instance in Clematis 
viorna where the specific name comes from 
two Latin words meaning ornament of the 
wayside. Ranunculus sceleratus is of interest 
from an occasional mistranslation which 
By WILLARD N. CLUTE in American Botanist. 
makes it celery-leaved. The real meaning of 
sceleartus is acrid or biting. Zanthoxylum 
apiifulium may be properly translated celery- 
leaved for that is what the name really means. 
Turning to the generic names, we find 
many of them dating back to periods earlier 
than the Christian Era. Some have been 
given in honor of heathen deities, others are 
the namesof ancient plants entirely unrelated 
to the plants which now bear them, the titles 
having been misplaced through the vicissitudes 
of time or the carelessness of early writers, 
and still others are of such obscure derivation 
that the translations are at best mere guesses. 
Paeonia, the genus of plants we now call Peo- 
nies, was named for a mythological personage, 
the physician Paeon, who is reported to have 
used the plant in medicine and to have cured 
the god Pluto with it. Old fashioned folk call 
the plant. Piny, perhaps with better authority 
than we have for calling it Peony, for prop- 
erly pronounced the generic name is Pi-o-ne a, 
easily shortened to Piny. The Larkspur genus 
Delphinium is named for a fancied resem- 
blance of the flowers to the classic figure of 
the dolphin (Delpin). 
Anemone is usually supposed to be derived 
from the Greek onemos, meaning the wind, 
but the latest editions of Gray’s Manual say 
it is a corruption of na-man the Semitic name 
for Adonis “ from whose blood the crimson- 
flowered Anemone of the ancients is said to 
have sprung.” Our first derivation seems to 
be more in favor for it has given the vernac- 
ular name of windflower to several species. 
Wood’s “ Class-book of Botany ” says that 
these plants were called Anemones because 
many species love windy places. Whatever 
the derivation, it may be mentioned in pass- 
ing that the accent should be placed on the 
third syllable making the word sound exactly 
like Annie Mony. Thus far this has been 
overlooked by those sticklers for the new 
way of pronouncing Arbutus and Gladiolus. 
Anemonella, the generic name for the true 
Anemone, is a diminutive of Anemone. 
The authorities also fail to agree as to the 
derivation of Clematis. Wood says it is from 
the Greek klema a vine or tendril ; Gray says it 
is a name given by Dioscorides to a climbing 
plant with long and lithe branches. As to 
Adonis, Wood says “Feigned to have sprung 
from the blood of Adonis when wounded by 
the boar” but Gray opines that “Adonis was 
a favorite of Venus and after death was 
changed to this flower.” 
The globe flower genus, Trollius, is another 
bone of contention. According to Wood it is 
derived from Trollen meaning golden. Brit- 
ton’s Manual derives it from Trol, round. 
Webster’s Dictionary says it is from Torolyn, 
the Hungarian name for the plant, and Gray 
explains it as from Trollblume, the German 
common name. Troll, it will be remembered, 
is the German name for a mischievous dwarf 
or fairy. Perhaps the flower is named for the 
troll ! Anybody is at liberty to adopt which- 
ever derivation seems to him most correct or 
to make one of his own. In any event, one can 
hardly look for accuracy in lesser writers 
when the authorities differ so markedly. 
Dioscorides is responsible for the generic 
name Thalictrum applied to the Meadow Rue, 
which Wood says means “to be green.” 
Helleborus, usually regarded as of unknown 
derivation, is said by the same author to come 
from two Greek words which mean “ the food 
that causes death. ” The genus is well known 
to be poisonous. Aquilegia is derived from 
Aquila, the eagle, in allusion to the spurs 
which suggest the talons of a bird of prey. 
Aconitum is reported to be derived from the 
Greek Akoniton, meaning without dust, be- 
cause the plants grow in rocky places, while 
Hydrastis is assumed to come from the Greek 
word for water, though the translation does 
not go unchallenged. 
The other genera of the Ranunculaceae are 
somewhat more easily interpreted. Actaea 
is the ancient name for the Elder whose leaves 
the plants of this genus are said to resemble. 
Cumicifuga is from the Latin cimex, a bug, 
and fugare to drive away, accounting for the 
common name of Bugbane. Zanthorhiza is 
the descriptive Greek for yellow root, and 
Nigella is the diminutive of niger, meaning 
black. Coptis means to cut, in allusion to the 
divided leaves. Caltha, according to Wood, 
is from the Greek for goblet, the flowers be- 
ing like golden cups. Gray says it was the 
ancient Latin name for the common Marigold 
which, however, does not necessarily invali- 
date the original derivation. Myosurus is, in 
Latin as it is in English, Mousetail, being so 
called because the carpels are attached to a 
long slender axis. Troutvetteria is named for 
E. R. von Trautvette. Gray says “an able 
Russian botanist” but Wood says “German ” 
and the name looks it. Hcpatica refers to the 
liver in the original Greek because of its 
leaves which are supposed to be shaped like 
the liver, and Eranthis, or the winter Aconite, 
means spring flower. Isopyrum is the ancient 
name for some species of Fumitory. 
The number of vernacular names bestowed 
upon a given species depends in part upon its 
abundance, in part upon its conspicuousness, 
and in part upon its usefulness. Some may 
have as many as twenty common names and 
others lack a single one. It is interesting to 
note that the best known common names are 
nearly always generic ; that is, they are applied 
to a number of species, instead of one, with, 
or without, qualifying adjectives. This is the 
case with Ranunculus where Buttercup and 
Crowfoot are common designations even 
when the flowers show no hint of butter color 
and the roundish and often undivided leaves 
could scarcely be likened to a crow’s foot. 
Such adjectives as ditch, water, mountain, tall, 
dwarf, early, and the like are self-explanatory 
as in the case of the specific names; in fact, 
they are very frequently literal translations 
of such names. 
The names of obscure derivation are the 
ones of most interest. Take, for instance, 
the word “knops” in such terms as Golden 
Knops applied to several species of Ranunculus. 
This is archaic English for a flower-head and 
in all probability goes back to the Teutonic 
knopf or its equivalent, meaning a head, bud, 
or button. Spearwort, a generic term for 
several small species of Ranunculus, is derived 
from an Anglo-Saxon word meaning a spire 
or shoot just as we still say a “spear” of 
grass. In all probability the spears used in 
combat were similar though larger spears. 
The three common species of Ranunculus, 
R. acris, R. bulbosus, and R. repens, naturally 
have the greatest number of common names. 
They might also be said to be joint owners 
of a number of names referring to their color, 
as Yellow Gowan, Horse Gold, Gold Balls, 
Gold Cups, Gold Weed, Butter Rose, Butter 
Cress, Butter Daisy, Butter Flower in addition 
to Buttercup. Several of these terms may be 
applied with equal propriety to other species 
of the genus. The word gowan is now used 
in Scotland to indicate the Daisy, but it once 
meant any kind of a flower or bud. When 
Burns wrote of “gowans fine,” he doubtless 
meant wildflowers in general. Butter Daisy 
is a different rendering of Yellow Gowan. 
The word Rose is another term that once had 
a less restricted meaning than we allow it at 
present, as witness Rock Rose, Christmas 
Rose, Rose Moss and Rose of Jericho. But- 
ter Rose is simply a butter colored flower. 
In horse gold, the word horse implies 
( Concluded on page 202 . ) 
