422 HABITS AND LATIN NAMES OF BRITISH PLANTS. 
Calamintha. —From xocXos, good, and M tvQx, Mint; a plant whose scent was 
supposed to drive away Serpents. 
Calamintha officinalis , Common Calamint, Bawn.—The whole plant has a 
peculiarly sweet aromatic flavour, and makes a pleasant tea, especially mixed 
with smaller portions of Peppermint, Balm, or some others of the same natural 
family. 
Callitricke. — KaWilpr/zv ; from xxXXos, beauty, and hair, probably so 
named on account of its long and slender stems resembling hairs. 
Calluna. —From xolXXvvoj, to cleanse, or adorn; which is doubly suitable, 
whether we take it to express a cleaning property, brooms being made of this 
plant; or whether we adopt the more common sense of the word, to ornament, or 
adorn, which is very applicable to the flowers. 
Calluna vulgaris , Common Ling, Heather, or Grig.—This lovely gem, “ whose 
modest bloom sheds beauty o’er the lonely moor,” and almost every heath and 
barren open waste in Great Britain and Ireland, where the soil is Sandy, is 
applied to a great variety of purposes in the bleak and barren Highlands of 
Scotland, and other Northern countries. The poorer inhabitants cover their 
cabins with it instead of thatch; they also construct the walls of their cottages 
with alternate layers of Heath, and a kind of mortar, made of black earth and 
straw, the woody roots of the Heath being placed in the centre, and the tops 
externally and internally. The hardy Highlanders frequently make beds of it, 
laying the roots downwards, and the tops upwards. In most parts of Great 
Britain it is generally used for making besoms. The Grous and Heathcock feed 
upon the tender shoots, and on the seeds; and for this purpose the seed-vessel is 
so constructed as to retain the seeds for a considerable length of time, instead of 
discharging them as soon as they become ripe. The foliage affords nourishment 
to the caterpillar of the Great Egger Moth ( Pkalcena Quercus). The Lesser 
Dodder ( Cuscuta epithymum ) is frequently parasitical on this plant, about which 
it entwines itself, giving it an appearance which may puzzle, if not mislead, 
the inexperienced botanist. The Ling is the badge of the Scottish clan Mac- 
donell. There is a white-flowered variety; and a very beautiful red one, 
cultivated in gardens, whose flowers, from a copious multiplication of the corolla, 
resemble little Roses. 
Caltka. —From xa\<z9os, a cup, which its flowers resemble; or corrupted from 
yellow, on account of the colour of its flowers. 
Caltka palustris , Marsh Marigold, Meadow Bout.-—The flowers, gathered before 
they expand, and preserved in salted vinegar, are a good substitute for capers. The 
juice of the petals, boiled with a little alum, stains paper yellow, but the colour 
so produced is said not to be permanent. It has been conjectured, that the 
yellowness of butter in the Spring is owing to the cattle having fed on this 
