The Columbian. [volume] (Bloomsburg, Pa.) 1866-1910, 1884-01-18
The Names of Plants.


We oftou wonder why this or that
plant should have the name it bears.
There are several reasons Tor it. Some.
as the Fuohsia, Dahlia and Magnolia,
were first found aud brought TO Eng
land by three celebrated botanists
whose names were Fuchs, Dahl and
Magnal. In fact, very many of the
plants in our greenhouses are named
for their discoverers Others from the
supposed virtue they possessed in for
mer times for healing diseases. We
have in our hodges the wound wort,
liverwort, self-heal, clary and many
Others. Clary used to be called clear
eye, although in what way it was used
to gain the name, it is quite difficult to
understand,
In Roman Catholic countries many
flowers we're named after the Virgin
Mary and the saints, such as Basil
thyme, and st Johns Wort, the mari.
gold and rosemary. A particular kind
OF grass or fodder received the name
of Saint Foin, or holy hayl
The fox-glove calls to mind the days
when people believed in fairies and
elves dancing by moonlight, for fox
glove is but corruption of folks
glove; "Little Folks" being one of the
names given to the fairies.
Carrot means red root; hawthorn is
called so from a Ouch word meaning
hedge-thorn, and is most suitable, as
this tree is often used for hedges. The
black thorn evidently gets its name
from its black and thorny bark; the
strawberry, from once being threaded
on straws for sale, and the gooseberry
is called so from an old Saxon word
which means "hairy."
Some names are corruptions of words,
as daisy from days eye, and very no.
ticeable one is the Jerusalem Arti-
choke. OF course it would seem that
this vegetable must come from the
East to have such name, but the fact
is, that it comes from South America
and has never been, as far as known,
near Jerusalem 1t is simply the cor
ruption of an Italian word, "Girasole,"
which means sun-turning, and it was
given to this plant because it is one of
the sun-fower tribe which are supposed
always to turn round with the sun
Some plants, again keep up old-fash-
ioned ideas, which in these more en-
lightened days we laugh at. Who
would now believe that the hawks
brought to their young the leaves of
certain plant, because the juice would
improve their eyesight; and yet the
name remains in hawkweed, a we'll
known aud handsome little yellow
flower often seen in the fields in sum-
mer.
Another corruption is found in the
Dandeliou; the tooth of the lion we
should say if we made an English
word of it. The long leaves are much
cut and supposed to resemble the teeth
of the king of beasts One of the
names for the clematis is 'traveller's
JOY" and was given, it is said, from
the fact that growing near habitations
it gave thrill of joy to the weary
traveller, who felt on seeing it, that his
journey was nearly ended
The little plant called lavender is
said to have obtained its name from
the Latin verb lacare, to wash Lav-
Gno1ula is the Latin name for the flow
er AT first we can see no connection
between washing and the sweet-smell-
ing plant so we'll known to us all: but
when we know that it was formerly in
great use among washer-women, and
that we now call '1aundry" was once
called "laventor," we see at once the
reason for calling the plant 'lavender,'
which certainly is as good a name as
any given in this short paper upon the
IF plants.