Re: mystery carex
- To: s*@MAELSTROM.STJOHNS.EDU
- Subject: Re: [SG] mystery carex
- From: G* O*
- Date: Sun, 24 Oct 1999 07:59:32 -0400
At 12:24 PM 10/23/99 -0500, you wrote:
>Sounds like an interesting Carex !
>
>Anybody have a Latin dictionary handy? I'm wondering what plantaginea
>means, since there's a hosta with that species name also.
>
>Bobbi Diehl
>Bloomington, IN
>zone 5/6
Diane mentioned that 'Plantaginea" means "leaves like a plantain."
Webster's New Universe Unabridged that has under plantain:
[ME, OFr, L, plantago, from planta, sole of the foot, from the shape of the
leaves]
Reminds me that the common name of P. major (the fat-leaved cousin to P.
lanceolata) is "white-man's-foot" because according to Eastern Native
Americans, the weed sprang up where ever the white man trod. The crushed
leaves are reputed to be a cure for poison ivy. And surely every American
kid knows the trick of "shooting" plantain flower heads.
Gerry
