ENGLISH PLANT NAMES. 83 
(2) Polygonum Bistorta, L. — ‘ Bistorta is called of the Northerne 
men Betes ,’’ — Turn. Names. 
Beetle, March or Marish. Typha latifolia, L. — Lyte, Ger. In 
allusion to the form of its inflorescence and to its growth in marshy 
places. See Beetle in Nares and Hal. 
Beetraw, or Beetrie. ‘The red beet. Corr. from E. heetrave^ Er. 
hete, beet, and rave, a radish.’— Jamieson. 
Beewort. What plant was so called in Anglo-Saxon cannot now be 
ascertained. Mr. Cockayne interprets it as Acorzcs Calamus, L., but 
the statement quoted by him that it ‘ is produced in cultivated places, 
and in wort beds, and in meads,’ does not bear out this supposition. 
Moreover Acorus is not considered an indigenous British plant. See 
Cockayne, i. 97, ii. 371, iii. 313. 
Begg. Hordeum milgare, L. — Dumfries, Jamieson. 
Beggar Brushes. Clematis Vitalha, L. — S. Biiclcs. 
Beggar Lice. Galium Aparine, L. From the seeds adhering to the 
clothes and resembling insects. — ‘ In some countryes they eall the 
seed Begger lice.'* Coles, A, in E. 293. N. Bucks. ; Nhamp. Wr, 
Prior, p. 19. Lyte gives this as a translation of the Dutch name for 
Xanthium Strumarium, L. 
Beggar-man’s Oatmeal. Alliaria officinalis, Andivzf — Leic. (Quorn- 
don). 
Beggar’s Basket. Pulmonaria officinalis, L. — .dies, (in gardens). 
Beggar’s Blanket. Verhascum Thapsus, L. — Cumb. E. D. S. Gloss. 
C. 8. 
Beggar’s Buttons. The flower-heads of Arctium Lappa, L. — Dev. 
Hal. Wr. 
Beggar’s Needle. Scandix Pecten, L., from its long beaked fruits. 
-—Hal. Wr. With. Midland Counties, E. D. S. Gloss. B. 5; Bal. (Wel- 
lington). 
Beggar’s Stalk. Verbascum Thapsus, L. — Cumb. E. D. S. Gloss. 
C. 8. 
Beggar Weed. A name applied to several plants by farmers, either 
because they denote poverty of soil, or because they are such noxious 
weeds as to beggar the land. 
(1) Polygonum aviculare, L. — ‘In some places.’— Batchelor’s Beds. 
Gloss. 
(2) Cuscuta Trifolii, Bab., because it destroys the clover plants on 
which it grows. — Wilts. (Herb. Lambert in Herb. New.) Beds, 
Batchelor’s Gloss. 
(3) Heracleum Sphondylium, L. — Beds. Batchelor’s Gloss. 
(4) Spergula arvensis, L. — Beds. Batchelor’s Gloss. Hal. 
(5) Galium Aparine, L. — Nhamp. Wr. 
Beggary. East Anglia. ‘ I know not the botanical name. It bears 
in Anglo-Saxon a very indecent appellation.’ — Eev. W. T. Spurden’s 
Appendix to Forby. This reference to the Anglo-Saxon name leaves 
little doubt that a Fumaria (probably F. officinalis, L.) is intended, 
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