D.C. Watts - Elsevier's Dictionary of Plant Lore

Description

Knowledge of plant names can give insight into largely forgotten beliefs. For example, the common red poppy is known as "Blind Man" due to an old superstitious belief that if the poppy were put to the eyes it would cause blindness. Many plant names derived from superstition, folk lore, or primal beliefs. Other names are purely descriptive and can serve to explain the meaning of the botanical name. For example, Beauty-Berry is the name given to the American shrub that belongs to the genus Callicarpa. Callicarpa is Greek for beautiful fruit. Still other names come from literary sources providing rich detail of the transmission of words through the ages.

Conceived as part of the author's wider interest in plant and tree lore and ethnobotanical studies, this fully revised edition of Elsevier's Dictionary of Plant Names and Their Origins contains over 30,000 vernacular and literary English names of plants. Wild and cultivated plants alike are identified by the botanical name. Further detail provides a brief account of the meaning of the name and detailed commentary on common usage.

* Includes color images
* Inclusive of all Latin terms with vernacular derivatives
* The most comprehensive guide for plant scientists, linguists, botanists, and historians

Scholarship at its best !

“

This is the ultimate work in ethnobotany. It is more than a dictionary and really an encyclopedia of plant lore. For a long time Roy Vickery's 'A Dictionary of Plant Lore' was the main authority on this subject and it should never have been allowed to go out of print for so long. At long last the gap has been filled and the research has been supplemented. Watts' work contains not only thousands of plant names but countless fascinating topics as well. The entries range from 'abies alba'(silver fir) to 'zizyphus spina-christi' (lotus tree). The scientific/Latin names are always listed yet usually appear in brackets within entries which use the popular or vernacular names. Sometimes dialect names are also provided, e.g. faddy tree for sycamore since in Cornwall boys make a whistle from it. The work is supplemented with twenty or so beautiful water colours of plants. There is also a twenty two page bibliography showing the author's meticulous research. In this bibliography one can find not only books but also countless articles from academic journals pertinent to the subject. In addition to the plant names, the author provides a host of fascinating entries such as illnesses and physical conditions which have been treated in folk medicine by various plants, for instance, arthritis, baldness, bed-wetting and toothache, etc. In the entry on 'abortion', one can read how pregnant women in the past used to chew tansy leaves believing that this would terminate the pregnancy. An analogous entry on 'contraception' reveals other plants which were formerly used in the belief that they would prevent pregnancy. There is also an interesting entry on amulets, icluding details such as children once wearing a cross made from the pith of elder in order to cure whooping cough (here an index would have been useful to link all of these interrelated topics). On the subject of crosses (again unlinked to this by way of cross-reference), another entry on the 'cross' (of Christ) lists some of the trees which have traditionally been believed to have supplied the wood for this cross; the olive, the oak, elder and even the cabbage stalk. On the subject of cabbages, in the entry 'cabbage' one can also find the superstiton from Normandy proscribing the eating of cabbage on St. Stephen's day since this saint was believed to have been martyred in a cabbage patch. Indeed, there are many interesting legends included which relate to plants. For instance, in the entry on blackberries we learn that the fruit should not be consumed after Michaelmas since on this day the Devil is said to spit on them. Indeed, various plants have special significance to most of the calendar customs; snowdrops are dedicated at Candlemas (and are thus called Candlemas bells), onion peel is used to dye Easter eggs and willow or hazel have been used in place of palm branches on Palm Sunday. In relation to Christmas the plant elecampane is used by the doctor in the mumming play to revive the slain hero; and blackthorn is used as well as mistletoe to decorate the house. There is also an informative entry about the Yule log, not to mention love divination practices associated with the festive season. On the subject of dream divination, not only does the author record the various plants which have been used in folk rituals to induce dreams, he also provides the dream symbolism of various plants. For example, the dream of an almond presages a journey. Many plants are featured in rites of passage. The excellent entries on the almond and pomegranate, for example, reveal how these fruit are used in wedding rituals and the author provides many documented parallels from Greece as well as from other countries - such as the bride breaking a pomegranate on the door of her new home (a custom which is mirrored on New Year's day in most regions of Greece).Even more exotic fruit such as the banana and coconut as well as the customs threreof are also included. Certain plants are so versatile and occur in several entries (thus an index would be indispensible in future editions!). One example is garlic which can repel the evil eye and it can also keep away vampires. However, the stake that is driven into a vampire's heart should be made of ash wood. Other supernatural associations of plants concern the changelings (creatures left by fairies in place of children whom they have stolen). A suspected changeling was made to drink the juice of twelve foxgloves. A witch, on the other hand can be rendered harmless by tabasco pepper as this prevents her from flying. Similarly, for protection against snakes one can use a hazel wand, whereas snakes themselves are said to use fennel in order to see. The aforementioned is just a small taste of what the reader can enjoy. The price of this book is most reasonable - especially in comparison with the author's other monumental work - his dictionary of plant names (which exceeds $2oo!). I am looking forward to the publishers bringing this out in a more accessible edition.

”

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