40 
CHILDREN'S GARDENS 
ii 
able to get some, as although it is not many 
years since the newer sorts were brought to 
England, chiefly from the high table-lands of 
Asia Minor, some are already becoming fairly 
cheap and easy to get. Their chief merit is 
that they are very much larger, and some have 
quite a sweet scent, but they flower a little 
later than the common ones. A very pretty 
one among these is called “ Elwesi.” The 
Latin for snowdrop is Galanthus, and this kind 
is called after a Mr. Elwes, and the “ i ” at the 
end is the Latin termination. 
You may wonder, children, why I trouble 
you with ugly-sounding Latin names when the 
dear little flower has such a lovely English one 
as “ snowdrop,” which describes so well the 
delicate flowers, and suggests the time of year 
they come out. I would not for a moment 
have you think that I want you to use the long 
Latin names of these or any other flower ; I 
love the English ones too well. Daisy, or else 
“ the eye of day,” is a far sweeter name than 
Beilis perennis, and “cowslip” is to me a much 
more pleasing word than Primula veris, but 
still there is a great deal to be said for knowing 
the Latin names as well. The chief advantage 
about the Latin words is that they are universal 
to all botanists and gardeners—that is to say, 
a Lrenchman or German would understand 
