EXCELSIOR 
[Entered according to Act of Congress, in the rear 1871, by D. D. T. Moore, In the office of Librarian of Congress, ttt Washing/] 
NAMES OP PLANTS. 
We fear that there are far too many per¬ 
sons, even among the readers of the Rural 
New-Yorker, who really believe that the 
application of scientific names to plants is 
sheer folly, and a pretentious show of learn¬ 
ing in those who use them. Such ideas, 
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BUCHU, BUOKU, OR BUOCO. 
In South Africa there is quite an exten¬ 
sive genus of plants known among the Hot¬ 
tentots as Bucku. Their leaves are very 
fragrant, and are used among the natives of 
the country for perfuming cosmetics, and 
when a Hottentot wishes to appear in full 
dress, ho merely rubs his body with grease 
scented with Bucku leaves. In colder 
climates a little thicker covering is necessary; 
but a small portion of the limbs and body 
is usually exposed even among civilized 
people, and cosmetics for these are far from 
being despised by those wdio would think 
a Hottentot in full dress a most despicable 
being. 
The earlier botanists, learning how highly 
the various species of Bucku were prized 
among the Hottentots, gave the genus the 
name of Diosma, which is derived from two 
Greek words, meaning “ divine smell,” in 
allusion to their fragrant leaves. 
The Diosmas are all beautiful, tender, ever¬ 
green shrubs, arul have been cultivated more 
or less ever since the D. oppoxiiifoU* was 
brought from the Cape of Good Hope in 
1751. They are readily propagated by cut¬ 
tings of the young, tender shoots, placed 
where they will receive bottom heat, or I 
even under an ordinary bell glass. The 
genus has been divided into Diosma , Aden- 
andra and Barosma, but the distinctive char¬ 
acteristics are so slight, that, for all practical 
purposes, they may all be called Diosmas; 
in fact, some of the best authorities consider 
them as such. 
As Buchu leaves are imported in large 
quantities for medicinal purposes, we have 
taken some pains to learn the species most 
in demand. We find that but two are gen¬ 
erally known, the broad and long leaved. 
The first is Diosma latifolia, of which Fig. 1 
is an excellent representation, natural size, 
of a branch in full bloom. The plant grows 
three or four feet high, and each little twig 
is crowned with a cluster of white flowers. 
The leaves are very fragrant, even when 
dried. Wo think that this species is the 
Diosma crenata of De Candolle. 
A branch and flowers of the long-leaved 
Buchu is shown in Fig. 2, also natural size. 
It is the Diosma serratifolia , or serrated 
leaved of botanists. Its flowers are pure 
white, aucl are produced in great abundance. 
The leaves are very fragrant, resembling, 
somewhat, our pennyroyal (Ilakomn pulc- 
gioides .) The young twigs are reddish pur¬ 
ple, and somewhat angular; also fragrant, 
and are usually gathered or broken off with 
the leaves, by the natives when gathering 
for exporting. 
Another very pretty species is the D. uni- 
flora , or one-flowered Diosma (Fig. 3.) The 
leaves are quite small, and each twig pro¬ 
duces hut a single flower on its summit. 
The flowers are over an inch in diameter, 
pure white, with a stripe of purple in the 
center of each petal. There are some twenty 
or more species of Diosma native of Cape 
of Good Hope; and formerly, the leaves of 
nearly all of them were gathered for export¬ 
ing, but latterly, the trade has been confined 
mainly to the broad and large leaved. The 
medicinal qualities of these plants are well 
known to all physicians, whom it is best to 
consult before taking them as medicine. 
F'ig. 1-DIOSMA. LATIFOLIA. 
however, are erroneous, and lead to serious 
difficulties; for, by the multiplication and 
too free use of common names, we are drawn 
into a labyrinth of unmeaning language, out 
of which few can escape without being taint¬ 
ed with vulgarisms that will adhere to them 
during their entire life. 
It is as much a mark of good breeding to 
apply the right names to plants as to per¬ 
sons ; in fact, there is really more need of 
it, for an individual remains upon this earth 
only a few years, at most, and his name may 
soon be given to another, but plants endure 
for all time—at least species are expected to 
last for hundreds of centuries; hence the 
necessity of preserving their correct names. 
Nineteen hundred years ago, Virgix men¬ 
tioned the strawberry under the name of 
fraqa. aud if we look into Dr. Gray's latest 
botanical work, we will find that Fragwria is from our home, to one lb at is known through- 
4 ri i-int a m _ _ P »|. •_ • i • ... . « . . 
the scientific name of this genus. We could 
mention scores of similar instances of the 
preservation of certain names of plants for 
nearly or quite two thousand years, although 
scientific botany is scarcely two centuries old. 
out the civilized world ? For instance, we 
have a coarse-growing plant which is quite 
common all through Ihe Northern States, 
and is known by many names, such as Poke, 
Poke-weed, Scoke, Pigeon berry, etc., etc.; 
but its true name is Phytolacca decandra , and 
by this it would be recognized in every botani¬ 
cal garden in Europe as well as in America, 
while the vulgar or common names might 
not he known outside of a neighborhood. 
Nearly every one of our more common 
and familiar plants are known by scores of 
local names, and this alone causes a con¬ 
fusion of tongues worse than Babel; for a 
half dozen persons may be talking about 
the same plant under a different name, aud 
neither apply the correct one; and it is this 
antipathy of our people against correct 
names that has caused so much confusion 
in our horticulture. It is not an uncommon 
occurrence to find that a common variety 
of apple or pear lias twenty local names, and 
years of labor may be requisite to discover 
this simple fact. And all this vexation and 
time lost is due entirely to the carelessness 
of cultivators in not preserving the proper 
names. 
It is the duty and should he the pride of 
all parents to teach their children to use 
the “ right word in the right place," and it 
would be far better to limit the names of 
plants to roses, posies and grasses, than to 
be continually inventing and disseminating 
names that, like Noah’s dove, can find no 
resting place except in the hoik from which 
it started. There is really no excuse for not 
knowing the right names of our common 
plants; for botanical works are cheap, and 
even nurserymen and seedsmen’s catalogues, 
containing names and descriptions of thou¬ 
sands of plants, can he had for the asking, 
and every child may he taught by its pa¬ 
rents, if not in school, to call things by their 
proper names. 
Probably there is not one man or womnn 
in a thousand who does not feel that years 
of their lives have been spent in learning 
errors which will require almost us much 
time to eradicate. 
It is no more difficult to remember scien¬ 
tific names than common. Fragaria is cer¬ 
tainly just as easy a word to write or pro¬ 
nounce as strawberry; and had we been 
taught to use it from childhood, no one would 
think it a pretentious term. 
Of course wc do not advocate the use of 
Latin, or any other language but our own, 
for varieties produced by ourselves, for the 
application of English names is a guide in 
determining their origin, the same ns French, 
German, Russian, etc., etc. Rhode Island 
Greening is indicative of the origin of a cer¬ 
tain varieLyof apple to which it belongs, and 
so is Tetofsky; but if we wish to be generally 
understood in Russia, as well as in Britain 
and America, two other words arc necessary 
in the place of apple, and these are the name 
of the species to which these fruits belong, 
namely, Pyrus malus. 
We have before us a catalogue of the 
plants grown in the Imperial Botanic Gar¬ 
dens of St. Petersburg, Russia, but the names 
of plants noticed arc the same as in any of 
our botanical works, or even in those of a 
first class florist’s catalogue. And it is in 
just, such instances ns this that the value of 
scientific names is made apparent. In fact, 
they are universal, and all learned men in 
every nation that have had commercial 
aud friendly intercourse for any consider¬ 
able time, use the same language in ex¬ 
pressing their thoughts scientifically. As 
a general rule, the Latin is the language used 
for this purpose, and it excites no jealousy 
either among French, German, Russian, or 
other civilized people; then why should we 
prefer a name for a plant, animal or mineral 
that would not be recognized a dozen miles 
Fig. 3—Diosma Uniflora, 
nT'TTrT'fl . j ‘*1 HnrU Row . Vorli. 
OFFICES.j 83 UuffBlo 8t„ Rochester. 
YOL. XXIII. NO. 13. 
FOR THE WEEK ENDING SATURDAY, APRIL 1,1371. 
WHOLE NO. 1105, 
R E vans 
