Among the names of the Arum may be noticed "parson in the pulpit," "cows and calves," "lords and ladies," and "wake-robin." The potato has a variety of names, such as leather-jackets, blue-eyes, and red-eyes.
A pretty name in Devonshire for the _Veronica chamcaedrys_ is angel's-eyes:-- "Around her hat a wreath was twined Of blossoms, blue as southern skies; I asked their name, and she replied, We call them angel's-eyes."[6] In the northern counties the poplar, on account of its bitter bark, was termed the bitter-weed.[7] "Oak, ash, and elm-tree, The laird can hang for a' the three; But fir, saugh, and bitter-weed, The laird may flyte, but make naething be'et." According to the compilers of "English Plant Names," "this name is assigned to no particular species of poplar, nor have we met with it elsewhere." The common Solomon's seal (_Polygonatum multiflorum_) has been nicknamed "David's harp,"[8] and, "appears to have arisen from the exact similarity of the outline of the bended stalk, with its pendent bill-like blossoms, to the drawings of monkish times in which King David is represented as seated before an instrument shaped like the half of a pointed arch, from which are suspended metal bells, which he strikes with two hammers." 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.