Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1931-01-14
THIS AND THAT
BY CHARLES E. TRACEWELL.

new things, and copyrights on books,
why not letters patent on new plants?
So here we have some real news, after
all. The publishers of the catalogue
express the belief that the patent ap-
piled for in this case is the first on any
plant.
Here is one which we must try, If
for no other reason than its mouth
| filling name, Agapanthus Umbellatus,
or Blue Lily of the Nile. The llustra-
ton shows it growing in a tub at the
| foot of some steps. 1t has thick leaves,
and spikes of flowers.
We know that good picture can
sway our choices, at least our inten-
tons, for these not always turn into
actual selections. Surely we must have
some of this new Golden Marguerite,
and this Japanese Speedwell. The Ar
meria, Sea Pink, or Thrift, good name
for times of depression, attracts by its
name, as so many do. And here is
Oenothera, the Evening Primrose,
which in last years catalogue, we re-
member it we'll, had a colored page
all to itself. Now it is relegated to
paragraph. What system do the seeds
men use, in determining which plants
to play up?
The PhySostegia, False Dragon Head,
ing attention. We see that you are
able to bend the individual flowers to
any angle, where they will "stay put"
This action is the opposite to that of
the famous Sensitive Plant" which
willis upon being touched by the human
hand. You recall that Shelley--or was
it Keats?-wrote a poem about the
latter
Surely the Spiraea, Goats Beard, or
IN Al
in the border of every well regulated
garden. And here are the Meadow Rue,
and Trillium, the latter the familiar
Wood Lily of every amateur botaniSt,
the Wake Robin of John Burroughs.
The "fireside gardeners" attention Is
attracted by the large number of plants
ending with the termination wort"
Here he finds the StaTwort, the Lead
wort Lungwort, Soapwort, Spiderwort,
Thoroughwort, Colewort, Figwort,
Woundwort, st. Johns Wort, Madwort,
Sandwort.
Those familiar with the process of
brewing know that the wort" is the
sweet infusion of malt which ferments.
AS a definition, wort is any liquid in
incipient fermentation. Sugar in dilu-
ton and fermentation gives alcohol and
carbon dioxide.
But wort" as a word, goes back
farther than that. The Anglo-Saxon
had wyrt meaning herb, or root Mid
ole English had wort, and wurt, the
latter from the German. The word
means plant or herb of any kind, es-
pecially pot herb. The word is now
used chiefly in combination, as given
in the list above.
The list is interesting chiefly as
showing the imagination of the COM
mon people, who gave names to the
flowers. as they seemed to see things
or qualities in them. They saw a star,
or lead or a spider, fig, a wound, or
named the herb which grew in the
sand from that fact, etc.
The plain people had a name for
everything, no matter what the bota-
nists called them in the pride of in
tellectuality. They called one Bears
Brooches, another the Monkshood. a
third Bugle. Anemones they called
Windf1owers, and Asclepias the Butter
fly Weed For Asphodelus, or Asphodel,
they coined Kings Spear They knew
Convallaria better as Lily of the Valley,
and SO do we.
What a pleasure it is, while sleet is
coming down outside, to open the seeds
mems gay catalogues, and revel in a
renewed acquaintance with these old
friendsl 1t is easy to understand the
enthusiasm of the man who carried his
copy. to Office. There is something clean,
and sweet, and decent about the grow
ing things of field and garden, clean
as the wind is clean, sweet as the open
air is sweet, decent as the trees, the
shrubs, the roses and the violets,