CHAPTER XIII.
PLANT NAMES.
The origin and history of plant names is a subject of some magnitude, and is one that has long engaged the attention of philologists.

Of the many works published on plant names, that of the "English Dialect Society"[1] is by far the most complete, and forms a valuable addition to this class of literature.
Some idea of the wide area covered by the nomenclature of plants, as seen in the gradual evolution and descent of vernacular names, may be gathered even from a cursory survey of those most widely known in our own and other countries.

Apart, too, from their etymological associations, it is interesting to trace the variety of sources from whence plant names have sprung, a few illustrations of which are given in the present chapter.
At the outset, it is noteworthy that our English plant names can boast of a very extensive parentage, being, "derived from many languages--Latin, Greek, ancient British, Anglo-Saxon, Norman, Low German, Swedish, Danish, Arabic, Persian."[2] It is not surprising, therefore, that in many cases much confusion has arisen in unravelling their meaning, which in the course of years would naturally become more or less modified by a succession of influences such as the intercommunication and change of ideas between one country and another.
On the other hand, numerous plant names clearly display their origin, the lapse of years having left these unaffected, a circumstance which is especially true in the case of Greek and Latin names.

Names of French origin are frequently equally distinct, a familiar instance being dandelion, from the French _dent-de-lion_, "lion's tooth," although the reason for its being so called is by no means evident.

At the same time, it is noticeable that in nearly every European language the plant bears a similar name; whereas Professor De Gubernatis connects the name with the sun (Helios), and adds that a lion was the animal symbol of the sun, and that all plants named after him are essentially plants of the sun.[3] One of the popular names of the St.John's wort is tutsan, a corruption of the French _toute saine_, so called from its healing properties, and the mignonette is another familiar instance.