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In the text we suggested that flower names are linked to several source categories, normally via metaphor or metonymy (e.g. daisy > day’s eye). Look up the etymological origin of the following flower names and discuss the cognitive processes that are involved: bugloss, coltsfoot, bluebell, harebell, pink and groundsel.

Introduction:

For the purpose of this discussion I shall be looking at plant names, specifically the flowers bugloss, coltsfoot, bluebell, harebell, pink and groundsel. However, in order to do this, it is necessary to first discuss plant classifications.

The botanist Linnaeus created a classification of plants and animals in the 1700’s. He was attempting to provide a scientific taxonomy of classification into classes. In natural language we order plants and animals into hierarchical structures – although this natural classification system is often slightly different to proposed scientific taxonomies. Scientific taxonomies often consist of many more distinct levels than ‘folk’ classifications, and because they attempt to provide an objective classification they often do not emphasise the same things as folk classifications.

In the course of the discussion of the etymology of these flower names, I will often refer to the classification given by Linnaeus. This is for two reasons, one being that the English name alone often does not distinguish between distinct plants and also because the etymology of the scientific name is also of interest. With regard to the former, different plants are sometimes called by the same name, for example in Scotland,the plantharebell(in England) is known asthe bluebell. So, by using the Latin name of hyacinthoides we can avoid confusion.

Cognitive semanticists have proposed three main levels of classification; the superordinate level, the basic level, and the subordinate level. These levels are not fixed in the sense of scientific classifications, but instead display a continuum effect. In the case of flowers the following classification would be applicable:

Superordinate level: PLANT
Basic level: FLOWER
Subordinate level: BUGLOSS COLTSFOOT BLUEBELL HAREBELL PINK GROUNDSEL

The basic level is so named because it can be seen to be the most ‘basic’ to our cognition. Terms such as flower or dog are learnt first by children, often display prototype structures, and have an ease of use. The superordinate level tends to be more vague, often using a form of parasitic categorisation to describe its physical properties. In this case, plants are often described in reference to flowers, since plants vary greatly between species offering no common perceptual properties.

At the subordinate level are the specific types of flower that are of interest. We use subordinate terms when we want to be more specific. Subordinate level categories often take their descriptions from the basic level. This would seem to be unsurprising because flowers tend to be very similar in nature. Many of the properties of a specific flower are common to all flowers. The distinction is that the extra properties of a subordinate category tend to be more specific (i.e. have extra properties) than the basic level category.

Often the subordinate level category words are composite forms such as compounds e.g. Sunflower, where the concept SUN can be seen to be modifying the FLOWER category (in this case it is a form of metaphor because the flower is like the sun). Although it is normally anticipated that subordinate category names would have a modifier and a reference to the basic level category in which they belong, this is often not the case with flower names – as we shall see.

Bugloss:

The first flower name that we are considering is bugloss. Bugloss is a name which refers to several different plants found in Europe and Asia, which are often distinguished by their bristly or hairy leaves and small blue flowers. The family that they belong to according to the scientific taxonomy is Boraginaceae.

The scientific name has led to members of this family being called borage. There is a lot of argument over the origins of the borage name:

Some say the Latin Borago is a corruption of corago, from cor, the heart, and ago, I bring. Others point out that a connection is apparent between the plant's name, its hairy appearance, and the low Latin term for flock of wool, burra, and its derivatives, borra (Italian) and bourra (French), both of which mean much the same thing. Still a third opinion suggested comes from an apparent connection between the Celtic term, barrach, which means "a man of courage". Ancient Celtic warriors drank wine with borage to give them courage before going into battle.[i]

It is possible to see, however that the common name of bugloss has a very different meaning or origin to the scientific name. In France this flower is called Langue de Boeuf, which can easily be understood to mean ox-tongue. The etymology of bugloss is similar:

Middle English buglosse, from Old French, from Late Latin b gl ssa, from Latin b gl ssos, from Greek bougl ssos, bous, ox, + gl ssa, tongue.[ii]

We can see then that the name originally meant ‘ox-tongue’ in English, and still does in French. It can be supposed that the term is a reference to the leaves of this flower – which have been commented to resemble ox-tongues. As it should be possible to see from the picture on the next page, the leaves of the flower are long, tapered, rough and slightly hairy – similar to ox-tongues (although not in colour).

We can conclude from this that the name is probably both metaphoric and metonymic in nature – since the name for this flower stands for its leaves in a metaphorical relation to ox-tongues. The relevance of this shall be discussed in the concluding discussion.

Another interesting point is the naming of a specific variety of bugloss – known as Vipers Bugloss. This plant is normally found in North America and Linnaeus gave it the botanical name Echium vulgare for the following reason:

Viper's Bugloss was said of old to be an expellant of poisons and venom, and to cure the bites of a viper, hence its name…its seeds are also thought to resemble snakeheads, thus specifying it as a cure for the bites of serpents. Its generic name Echium is derived from Echis, a viper.[iii]

In this instance both the botanical name and the common name are connected, insofar as they both reference to the various snake or viper-like properties of the plant. In this case the name Vipers Bugloss is still clear in part – although the name vipers ox-tongue is not self-explanatory.

Coltsfoot:

The coltsfoot is scientifically classified as part of the Compositae family, having the botanical name Tussilago Farfara. It is a flower that grows in large quantities throughout England. Again, the botanical or specific name does not seem to bear any relationship to the common name:

The botanical name, Tussilago, signifies 'cough dispeller,' and Coltsfoot has justly been termed 'nature's best herb for the lungs and her most eminent thoracic.' Linnaeus stat[ed] that the Swedes of his time smoked it for that purpose. Pliny recommended the use of both roots and leaves.

The specific name of the plant is derived from Farfarus, an ancient name of the White Poplar, the leaves of which present some resemblance in form and colour to those of this plant.[iv]

In this case the plant has been named after its medicinal properties and its similarity to the White Poplar. Coltsfoot has been traditionally used to relieve coughs. It was considered particularly useful for people with chronic coughs, such as those due to emphysema. However, it has been discovered that coltsfoot contains potentially liver-damaging pyrrolizidine alkaloids and should not be used in this manner.

The flower is recognised by its long-stalked, hoof-shaped leaves. As such, the common name of coltsfoot would appear to still be fairly transparent, insofar as it refers to the similarity between the foot or hoof of a colt or young horse and the shape of the leaves of the flower. This can be seen in other names which it has been known such as: Hallfoot, Horsehoof, Ass's Foot, Foalswort, Fieldhove, Bullsfoot, Donnhove, and in French as Pas d'⮥ (coltsfoot). In addition, one of the old names for this plant was Filius ante patrem (the son before the father), named as such because the flowers appear and wither before the leaves are produced.

Bellflowers (Bluebell and Harebell):

Both the bluebell and the harebell can be seen to come under the same scientific category of Bellflower. Bellflowers are members of the Campanulaceae family:

Members of the large genus Campanula, predominantly of the Northern Hemisphere, are called campanulas, bellflowers (for the delicate, bell-shaped blossoms), or bluebells (for the prevailing colour of the flowers).[v]

This grouping is one which I had not considered until I started this investigation, but would appear to be cognitively salient since there is a confusion in the English language between harebell and bluebell – where bluebell is used both for the harebell (Campanula rotundifolia) and for the hyacinth (Endymion nonscriptus), belonging to the lily family (Liliaceae). We can see then that the scientific categorisation would appear to split into two separate groups what we would consider to be one single group – the name bluebell is used to refer to both campanulas and lilies.

This should be kept in mind when reading the following discussion – which treats bluebells and harebells as separate entities.

Bluebell:

The bluebell is part of the lily family under its botanical classification. Linnaeus gave it the name Hyacinthus nonscriptus. It has long narrow leaves, and a long stem from which grow blue bell-shaped blossoms arranged in a curving line (as is shown by the following pictures.

The origin of the name given to this flower by Linnaeus is interesting (despite once more being irrelevant to the common name of the plant. In this instance the botanical name is taken from mythology:

Linnaeus first called it Hyacinthus, tradition associating the flower with the Hyacinth of the Ancients, the flower of grief and mourning. Hyacinthus was a charming youth whom both Apollo and Zephyrus loved, but Hyacinthus preferred the Sun-God to the God of the West Wind, who sought to be revenged, and one day when Apollo was playing quoits with the youth, a quoit (blown by Zephyrus out of its proper course) killed Hyacinthus. Apollo, stricken with grief, raised from his blood a purple flower, on which the letters Ai, Ai were traced, so that his cry of woe might for evermore have existence upon earth. As our native variety of Hyacinth had no trace of these mystic letters our older botanists called it Hyacinthus nonscriptus, or 'not written on.' A later generic name, Agraphis, is of similar meaning, being a compound of two Greek words, meaning 'not to mark.'[vi]

The common name for this flower is still very transparent insofar as it uses the categories BLUE and BELL from which to take its properties. Again this is a metonymic relation since the flowers describe the plant as a whole. Other names which have been used for this flower are: Auld Man's Bell, Ring-o'-Bells, Jacinth, and Wood Bells. The concept BELL seems to be a common one and may be conceived as the main conceptual category after FLOWER. In folklore is has been said that to hear a bluebell ring is a sign that you are soon to die. This is a metaphorical relation. The BLUE modifier is clear in meaning, although it must be considered that there are varieties of bluebell which are not always blue, sometimes they are white or pink.

Harebell:

The Harebell is of the botanical classification Campanula rotundifolia (which literally translated means ‘Little bell with roundedleaves’). This relates to the common name of harebell since in both cases the concept BELL is highlighted.

The harebell again has bell-shaped flowers which are blue to purple in colour, although in this case not arranged in a group along the stem.

The etymology of the name is not as clear as the previous cases. Although we can clearly see that it is a compound word – the reference to HARE is opaque.

The Oxford English Dictionary Online suggests that the reference to hares may be due to the fact that they grow in places frequented by hares. This would seem to be a nice case of associational naming.

However, other sources disagree. The Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, by C. T. Onions, suggests that the name is due to an association with the colour grey (hare-grey) – although this seems strange because the flower is clearly blue in hue. Folklore would have it that the flower is named after its use – it was said to be used by witches to turn themselves into hares. However, this explanation could be related back to the definition given by the OED, insofar as the plant is associated with sightings of hares.

Pink:

The flower pink also has a slightly confused etymology, as we shall see. The name pink refers to the large botanical genus Dianthus, and includes carnations (D. caryophyllus), sweet Williams (D. barbatus), and Deptford pinks (D. armeria). Dianthus is the Greek word for Jove’s Flower.

Although it might be tempting to presume that this flower is named pink after the colour of its flowers, in this case it is the opposite and the colour is actually named after the plant.

A colour resulting from the combination of a pure vivid red with more or less white; -- so called from the common colour of the flower. --Dryden.[vii]

The name pink, is argued to have been originally used in the sense of pierce, or puncture, and refers to the crinkled edges of the petals. This relates to ‘pinking shears’, which are used to cut fabric in order to give it a crinkled edge. However, the OED suggests that the etymology of this name is not clear:

By some conjectured to be named from its `pinked' or jagged petals; but there is no evidence that PINK v. had the sense `to cut or scallop the edges (of garments)' in the 16th c., or indeed before the 19th c. Others would connect the name with pink eye, small eye, comparing the Fr. name illet, dim. of il eye, and med.L. Ocellus, dim. of oculus eye.][viii]

We can conclude from this that the actual reference of the name pink has become completely obscured.

Groundsel:

Our last flower name is the groundsel. It is also known in Scotland as the Grundy Swallow or Ground Glutton and in Norfolk as Simson or Sention. It is part of the botanical family Compositae and has the botanical name Senecio vulgaris. It is a very common plant in England, and is in fact a weed. It grows almost anywhere. The flowers produce seeds with downy heads (crowned by little tufts of hairs), by means of which they are freely dispersed by the winds. One website I looked at suggested that this was the reason for the common names in Norfolk – and also suggested a reason for the common name groundsel:

The name Groundsel is of old origin, being derived from the Anglo-Saxon groundeswelge, meaning literally, 'ground swallower,' referring to the rapid way the weed spreads. In Scotland and the north of England it is still in some localities called Grundy Swallow - only a slight corruption of the old form of the word - and is also there called Ground Glutton. In Norfolk it is often called Simson or Sention, which has by some been considered an abbreviation of 'Ascension Plant.' It seems more probable that 'Sention' is a corruption of the Latin, Senecio, derived from Senex (an old man), in reference to its downy head of seeds; 'the flower of this herb hath white hair and when the wind bloweth it away, then it appeareth like a bald-headed man.'[ix]

This would appear to be arguing that the name groundsel means ‘ground swallower’ presumably so named after its ability to grow quickly in almost any environment. However, there is a different interpretation of the name:

Middle English groundeswille, from Old English grundeswylige, alteration influenced by grund, ground, of gundeswilge, gund, pus, + swelgan, to swallow (from its use in reducing abscesses).[x]

This would seem to indicate that the original meaning referred to its medicinal use. Groundsel used to be commonly used for poultices and was considered useful>grund (ground) and gund (pus), the name transferred its meaning to that of ‘Ground Swallower’ as opposed to ‘Pus Swallower’.

Concluding Discussion:

The origins of these flower names do not appear to relate to compound words as was suggested in the introduction. Instead they appear to relate to metaphorical or metonymic usage. In the case of bluebell and harebell, both are compound names, but are metaphorical and metonymic in nature, and fail to refer to the basic level category FLOWER. They instead refer to BELL as giving the main properties of the plant. This actually seems to fit with gestalt perception, as the bell-shape is salient in our recognition of the flower. In fact, none of the flower names that we have looked at refer directly to the source category FLOWER. It is suggested by Ungerer and Schmid that: ‘basic level categories like FLOWER… are such a self-evident part of our cognitive models of nature… that they need not be expressed explicitly’.[xi] Bluebell would also appear to be a simpler name than harebell since bluebell simply means a ‘blue bell-like flower’ and harebell means ‘a bell-like flower associated with hares’.

It would also be presumed from our opening discussion that the names would refer to a modifier on that category – insofar as they relate to a salient physical part of the plant, either by metaphorical or direct relation. This is borne out by coltsfoot, bugloss, harebell, bluebell, and pink, although not by groundsel (the name of which relates to its function).

In terms of metonymic relationships, both coltsfoot and bugloss refer metaphorically to the shape of the leaves of the flower – using this relation to indicate the whole plant. In comparison, pinks, bluebells and harebells derive their name from the shape of the flowers, in a metaphorical interpretation. Groundsel is not a case of metonymy since there is not one gestalt property that is being used to name the whole plant; instead in both interpretations properties of the plant as a whole are taken in metaphorical relation (either to its use medicinally or its capacity to grow at a large rate).

To conclude, flower names are of interest to cognitive semanticists because they tend to have been named after metaphoric or metonymic relations and do not tend to name, or refer to, their source category directly. In the majority of cases they are not obviously composite words in the sense that traditional analysis would presume.

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[i] http://www.egregore.com/herbs/commonbugloss.html
[ii] http://www.bartleby.com/61/60/B0536000.html
[iii] http://www.botanical.com/botanical/mgmh/b/bugvip85.html
[iv] http://www.botanical.com/botanical/mgmh/c/coltsf88.html
[v] http://www.bartleby.com/65/be/bellflow.html
[vi] http://www.botanical.com/botanical/mgmh/b/bluebe60.html
[vii] http://projects.ghostwheel.com/dictionary?define=pink
[viii] Oxford English Dictionary Online (www.oed.com)
[ix] http://www.botanical.com/botanical/mgmh/g/grocom41.html
[x] http://www.bartleby.com/61/46/G0284600.html
[xi] F. Ungerer and H. J. Schmid, An Introduction to Cognitive Linguistics, Addison Wesley Longmann Limited 1996, p96-7

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Could you tell me why the name "Sweet Williams" please? Thank you.

Mary on April 23, 2003 04:40 PM

I am a flower freak! I would give your website a 9 for not saying where they grow!!!!!

rebecca on May 2, 2003 01:34 AM

If this web site is soooooo great like every one says, how come i can't find a flower that starts w/ a "x". there has to be one out there! In conclution, your wed site sucks like every one elses, unless you can send the name of a flower that starts w/ a "x"!!!!!

Angel on February 12, 2004 02:43 PM

Hmm. You use some dubious reasoning there. Flowers do exist that begin with an 'x', but I have never seen a reason to write about them. But since you asked so nicely....

How about Xanthium (which means 'rudeness')?

Or even Xeranthemum (which means 'cheerfulness under adversity')?

joh on February 13, 2004 11:07 AM

I'm currently doing a quiz and need to know....what popular flowers name is latin for "nose twister"

Ann on March 31, 2004 01:42 PM

The answer is nasturtium due to its taste!

joh on March 31, 2004 01:54 PM

thank you, thank you , thnk you

Ann on March 31, 2004 02:11 PM