"Kay Easton" wrote in message
...
In article , Brian
writes

"Kay Easton" wrote in message
...
In article , Brian
writes

"Kay Easton" wrote in message
...
Which plant do you know as gillyflower, for example?


Thank you Kay~~ I do know the Gillyflower and still have my HLI
kilt!
And I was frequently ignored at dances.

So you agree with me on that one .. first person I've met to do so. It
seems most people mean pink when they say gillyflower, and some use the
name for sweet williams.


I don't think I do agree.

I meant you agreed that wallflowers were gillyflowers.

Those who thought otherwise were simply wrong.
There is no other flower called 'Gillyflower' or you would not agree I
was
correct.

No, you're right, we don't agree!

I would suspect that wrong names for the Gillyflower have only been
given when being questioned. This has been its name since Gaelic times
and
is still in use.

I don't know how far back the usage of gillyflower for pink goes, but a
long time back. And it seems more common than its usage for wallflower.

Back to the original posting. Pre-suppose she really meant
Mare's-tail~~
how would we have responded without being wrong?

That is a good argument for using the botanical names.

--
Kay Easton

Edward's earthworm page:
http://www.scarboro.demon.co.uk/edward/index.htm


Thanks Kay~~absit invidia.
I am totally sure that if she had used Latin then none would have
responded.
Even when she gave the only common name for Hippuris we all jumped to the
wrong conclusion. Mare's-tail is always in the index of Wild Flowers whereas
the Latin is separate. Mare's tail was established as the name for this
marsh plant in 1762. No other variant has been recorded by OED or RHS.
Gillyflower[July flower], on the other hand, has had a lengthy history of
alternatives due to its name, and even that has a history of its own. ME~
gilofre, gerofle, geraflour, gelyflour, jillfflower~~July-flower.XV1th C.
By 1513 it was applied to Cloves! and hence to clove scented
flowers~especially Dianthus caryophyllus and only in dialect to
Wall-gillyflower and then to Stock-gillyflower. By 1657 it was applied to
the Gillyflower-apple. I had several of these till quite recently~ they root
very easily from cuttings. The lower branches even produce aerial roots. In
1685 there was a gillyflower grass.
Since 1702 'Gillyflower' has been attributed only to Northern dialects as
the Wallflower. It was then decreed to apply it only to the Wallflower, in
dialect, and to ignore the July flowering aspect. Totally so in Scotland,
as it was so similar to their Gaelic.
However~ to confuse even further, we can still use dame's g.[Dame's
Violet] English g. [Carnation] as well as 'feathered' 'mock' 'striped' and
yellow gillyflower all for different flowers!! But I wouldn't dare!!
All of the above is well documented and make good soporific reading.
Did you notice you and I were correct with the identification of the
Verbascum?[Tracey]
Best Wishes Brian.