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271
The Folk-lore of Plants
·
T. F. Thiselton-Dyer
150
In
the
neighbourhood
of
Torquay,
fir-cones
are
designated
oysters,
and
in
Sussex
the
Arabis
is
called
"snow-on-the-mountain,"
and
"snow-in-summer."
A
Devonshire
name
for
the
sweet
scabriosis
is
the
mournful-widow,
and
in
some
places
the
red
valerian
(Centranthus
ruber)
is
known
as
scarlet-lightning.
A
common
name
for
Achillaea
ptarmica
is
sneezewort,
and
the
Petasites
vulgaris
has
been
designated
"son
before
the
father."
The
general
name
for
Drosera
rotundifolia
is
sun-dew,
and
in
Gloucestershire
the
Primula
auricula
is
the
tanner's-apron.
The
Viola
tricolor
is
often
known
as
"three
faces
in
a
hood,"
and
the
Aconitum
napellus
as
"Venus's
chariot
drawn
by
two
doves."
The
Stellaria
holostea
is
"lady's
white
petticoat,"
and
the
Scandix
pecten
is
"old
wife's
darning-needles."
One
of
the
names
of
the
Campion
is
plum-pudding,
and
"spittle
of
the
stars"
has
been
applied
to
the
Nostoc
commune.
Without
giving
further
instances
of
these
odd
plant
names,
we
would
conclude
by
quoting
the
following
extract
from
the
preface
of
Mr.
Earle's
charming
little
volume
on
"English
Plant
Names,"
a
remark
which,
indeed,
most
equally
applies
to
other
sections
of
our
subject
beyond
that
of
the
present
chapter:--"The
fascination
of
plant
names
has
its
foundation
in
two
instincts,
love
of
Nature,
and
curiosity
about
Language.
Plant
names
are
often
of
the
highest
antiquity,
and
more
or
less
common
to
the
whole
stream
of
related
nations.
Could
we
penetrate
to
the
original
suggestive
idea
that
called
forth
the
name,
it
would
bring
valuable
information
about
the
first
openings
of
the
human
mind
towards
Nature;
and
the
merest
dream
of
such
a
discovery
invests
with
a
strange
charm
the
words
that
could
tell,
if
we
could
understand,
so
much
of
the
forgotten
infancy
of
the
human
race."
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