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ALBERT R MANN
LIBRARY
AT
CORNELL UNIVERSITY
i
iii
| DATE DUE
DICTIONARY OF POPULAR NAMES
OF ECONOMIC PLANTS
A
DICTIONARY
of
Popular Names of the Plants which furnish the
Natural and Acquired Wants of Man, in all
matters of Domestic and General Economy
Their History, Produds, & Uses
By JOHN SMITH, A.L.S.
AUTHOR OF ‘HISTORIA FILICUM,” ‘ HISTORY OF BIBLE PLANTS, ETC. ETC.
LONDON
Macmillan and Co.
1882
Printed by BR, & R, Clark, Editburgh.
PREFACE.
In submitting this work to the notice of the public, I
deem it proper to explain the sources from which I have
acquired the knowledge of the subjects of which it treats.
The greater part has been obtained during an official
connection of more than forty years with the Royal
Gardens, Kew, which afforded me the opportunity of
studying and becoming practically acquainted with the
largest collection of living plants, exotic and native,
ever brought together, not only as regards their cultiva-
tion and classification, but also with their properties and
uses, as known both by their scientific and popular
names. My knowledge of the latter has been greatly
increased by correspondence with collectors and curators
of Botanic Gardens abroad, and also through my having
taken an active part in assisting the late Sir W. Hooker
to establish and bring together the vast collection of
specimens of vegetable products which, begun in 1846,
now occupies three separate large buildings under the
name of the Kew Museum of Economic Botany. The
object of this collection is to show the practical applica-
tion of the use of plants, by which we learn the source
of the numerous products furnished by the vegetable
kingdom made use of by man in all matters of domestic
and general economy.
Vi PREFACE.
It is here necessary to state that my son, the late
Alexander Smith, having taken much interest in arrang-
ing the first specimens in the Museum, received, in
time, the appomtment of curator; from this office he
was in 1858 removed on account of ill health.
He early entertained the idea of writing a work to
be entitled Economic and Commercial Botany ; with
that view he commenced taking notes of all matters
relating to the products and uses of plants; and his
health having improved, he made frequent visits to the
library of the British Museum, which enabled him greatly
to increase the number of his notes. At the time of his
death in 1865 his arranged notes occupied thirty octavo
volumes, besides manuscripts prepared for the press.
In order that his labours should not be altogether
lost, I selected sufficient matter to form a volume of
546 pages (published 1871), entitled Domestic Botany,
consisting of two parts—the first being an introduction
to the study of botany, written in as plain language
as the subject permitted, and the second a systematic
arrangement of the families of plants, with a brief notice
of the character, nature, and number of species of each
family, followed by the popular and botanical names of
the principal species yielding products useful to man.
Learning that the latter part of the book was most
appreciated, I was led to undertake a revision of the
work, and in order to save an index, to arrange the
subjects in alphabetical order, adopting the English and
vernacular names by which plants and their products
are known in their respective countries. Theie being,
however, no written nomenclature of such names, it
becomes necessaly for the correct identification of the
PREFACE. Vil
plants, to give their botanical names, and the name of
the natural family to which they belong, and by giving
the common name of the latter, with a brief description
of the species, I have made it possible for the uninitiated
in botany to form some idea of the nature of the plant
about which he is reading. And in order that the
book may be also useful to the scientific botanist, I
have given a list of the genera noticed in the work,
which number 11638, under which are noticed about
1600 subjects.
With regard to the natural families adopted by me,
it is necessary to state that botanists differ widely in
the characters of families, some placing many genera
under one family which other botanists separate under
two or more. It is here only necessary to notice
the two latest general arrangements, the first being
The Vegetable Kingdom of Dr. Lindley, published
in 1858, in which he characterises 303 families; the
second, the Genera Plantarum of Bentham and
Hooker, which commenced being published in 1862,
and is not yet completed, im which two, three, and
four of Lindley’s families are united under one—for
example, the Apple family (Pomacez), with the Plum
family (Drupacese), are considered as tribes of the Rose
family (Rosaceze). The reasons for such unions may be
readily understood by scientific botanists; but for the
sake of simplicity, and not to perplex the unbotanical
reader with unnecessary botanical words, 1 have, as
hitherto, adopted the families as characterised by
Lindley. It is said that there are nearly 200,000
species of plants now known to botanists; of that
number only a moiety are requisite to furnish man
Vill PREFACE.
with all his natural and acquired wants, which vary
according to climate. Such plants are generally termed
economical, which word must be accepted in its widest
sense—that is, not only as including plants that furnish
food, medicine, and clothing, but also those that furnish
materials for all mechanical and artificer’s work, as also
ornamental and curious plants cultivated in gardens or
kept in museums, which to obtain forms an important part
of the trade and commerce with all countries. With regard
to the adoption of common, or what are termed popular,
names, it is unfortunate that many of them are vulgar
and undignified, and derogatory to the useful, pretty,
and curious plants which they designate, such as Aaron’s
Beard, Jove’s Beard, Job’s Tears, Jacob’s Ladder, Venus
Navelwort, Venus Looking-glass, Devil-in-a-bush, Fresh-
water Soldier, Mourning Widow, Adam’s Needle, and Old
Man. It would be well if such names could be discarded,
but as they have been long familiar, we are left no
alternative but to adopt them. In many cases the
scientific names of plants have also become familiar—for
instance, Geranium, Pelargonium, Hydrangea, Calceo-
laria, Chrysanthemum, Amaranthus, Rhododendron,
Azalea, Fuchsia, and many others, are now as freely
spoken as if they were original words of our mother-
tongue; such being the case, I have in the following
pages adopted the scientific name m cases having no
popular names.
With regard to the selection of the subjects which
form the work, many more might be given, such as
fancy plants of taste and reputed medical plants of
which the virtues of many are fanciful; but to have
done so would have enlarged the book beyond the size
PREFACE. ix
of an ordinary octavo volume. As now limited I trust
it will be found to contain sufficient interesting matter to
recommend it to the public in general, and especially to
merchants, educational establishments, public offices, and
cultivators of plants in general, and that it will be the
forerunner of a more extensive work.
In conclusion, I consider it my duty to thank Sir J.
D. Hooker for the loan of books, and to notice the great
assistance I have received from Mr. J. Jackson, the
Curator of the Museum of Economic Botany, Royal
Gardens, Kew, in preparing this work for the press and
in correcting proof-sheets, as also in furnishing many
new subjects.
In consequence of so many subjects being noticed
under two or more names, it is not improbable that
some repetitions and omissions of reference may be
found; but I trust that such are few, and that they
will not have the effect of lessening the credit of the
book.
JOHN SMITH,
Ex-Curator, Royan GarpEns, KEw
Kew, May 1882.
DICTIONARY OF POPULAR NAMES
OF
ECONOMIC PLANTS.
Abaca, a name in the Philippine Islands for the fibre of
Musa textilis, known as Manilla Hemp. (See Hemp.)
Abele, the Dutch name for the White Poplar. (See Poplar.)
Absinthe, an intoxicating liquor made from Artemisia absin-
thiwm, an herbaceous plant of the Composite family (Composite),
native of this country and Europe generally, familiarly known
by the name of Wormwood ; it is common in Switzerland. -“ e eee we
——* Abbe 4 Aas» — Veer re
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