140 
HABITS AND LATIN NAMES OF BRITISH PLANTS. 
Asperugo .—From asper , rough ; eminently applicable to this, even among the 
group of AsperifolicE. 
Asperula. —Diminutive of asper , rough ; descriptive of the fruit • though not 
applicable to every species. 
Asperula cynanchica , Squinaney-wort, Quinsy-wort.—The flowers have a great 
degree of beauty, being white or blush-coloured, elegantly marked with red lines. 
They have a sw r eet smell, which, however, like that of Woodroof-flowers, is rarely 
to be perceived. Dalechampius seems to be the chief authority for the reputa¬ 
tion this plant has acquired in the cure of the quinsies, from which its name 
is taken. 
Asperula odorata , Sweet Woodruff, Woodderowffe, as spelt in some old authors. 
The repetition of the double letters affords great amusement to children learning 
to spell (w-oo-dd-e-r-o-w-ff-e). The scent of it is said by Linnjeus to drive 
away Ticks and other insects. It gives a grateful flavour to wine, and is used 
for that purpose in Germany. Cows, Horses, Sheep, and Goats eat it. The 
strongly aromatic flowers infused in water far excel in flavour the teas imported 
from China. The herb, while drying, has the scent of new hay, approaching to 
bitter Almonds, or Heliotropium Peruvianum , of which it retains a portion some 
time. The edges of the leaves stick to the hands, or clothes, in a manner almost 
peculiar to the rough plants of this natural order, caused by the minute hooked 
bristles to which that roughness is owing. The English names of this plant in 
old authors are very various: Turner, in his Herbal , published in 1568, calls it 
Wood-rose, or Wood-rowell, from the whorls of leaves resembling some kinds 
of rowels of spurs. Gerarde, Woodrooffe, Woodrowe, and Woodrowell. Par¬ 
kinson, Woodroofe.— British Flow. Plants * 
Aspidium.-— Aaitis, ucnrtios, a shield, which its involucres resemble, especially 
in the species of the first division. 
Aspidium lonchitis , Rough Apine Shield-fern.—Sir J. E. Smith says, that “this 
plant dwindles rather than becomes luxuriant when cultivated,” as it often is on 
rockwork, &c., forming a curious, rigid, and pretty plant, not in any w r ay altered 
from its original characteristics, except in becoming less spinous. The American 
is more spinous than our plant.— British Ferns.i 
Aspidium oreopteris , Heath Shield-fern. The fresh plant may instantly be 
known from all congeners, by the smell emitted when drawn through the hand, 
or by holding it up to the light, in which situation it shows, very plainly, 
* British Phenogamous Botany ; or, Figures and Descriptions of the Genera of British Flower¬ 
ing Plants. By W. Baxter, A.L.S., F.H.S., &c., Curator of the Oxford Botanic Garden. Ox¬ 
ford : J. H. Parker ; and Whittaker and Co ., London. 
d Aii Analysis of the British Ferns and their Allies. With Copper-plate Engravings of every 
Species and Variety. By G. W. Francis. London: Simpkin and Co. 
