"Chris Hogg" wrote
I've come across this phrase recently, referring to a hedgerow plant.
But I can't find any reference to it, either in my wild flower books
or on Google. Old man's beard, yes, but not oatmeal. Has anyone come
across it, and what's the usual (or even latin) name for it.
Chris

Found this at
http://64.233.183.104/search?q=cache...l&ct=clnk&cd=2

It mentions Old mans Oatmeal but does not give another name for it :

Magickal Names of Herbs, Flowers, Trees and Roots © 1987 by Scott Cunningham
When the old recipes began to be recorded many early herbalists, Witches,
magicians and occultists wished to keep secret the most powerful of the old
magics. So they used magical names and symbolism and even added fanciful
ingredients to the formulae. Even today scholars look over old manuscripts,
shake their heads, and wonder why old occultists used such horrifying
ingredients as the "ear of a Jew," "bloody fingers," "dove's feet," "bat's
wings" and so on. The often quoted illustration from Shakespeare's Macbeth
serves as a useful example of this practice. Every ingredient he lists as
being in the Witches' pot (fillet of a fenny snake/in the cauldron boil and
bake:/eye of newt, and toe of frog,/Wool of bat, and tongue of dog,/ adder's
fork, and blind-worm's sting/Lizards leg, and howlet's wing,/etc.) refers to
a plant and not to the gruesome substance popularly thought. The list of
such names is quite long and varied, but a few examples can be given here.
"Bloody fingers" refers to foxglove. "Tongue of dog" is simply hound's
tongue, a common herb. "Blood" is the sap from an elder tree. "Eyes" mean
any one of a group of plants resembling the eye, such as the aster, daisy,
camomile, or perhaps even eyebright. Crow's foot, dog's tooth, horse-tongue,
Jew's ear--are all magical and dialectical names for herbs and plants. Then,
too, many plants were given "folk" names which reveal their uses in magic or
the superstitions surrounding them. This is especially common in the British
Isles, where one plant can be known by as many as two dozen distinct names.
Finally, there are a whole bookful of plants with appelations such as "Our
Ladies Fingers" or "Old Man's Oatmeal." These are plants originally
dedicated to the Pagan goddesses and gods of the common folk and after the
introduction of Christianity were assigned new roles as representative of
the Virgin Mary and the Devil respectively. Following is a list of some
magical names of herbs, along with their more common ones. Knowing these
names may not give you additional power, but reading them is like taking a
walk through a Witches' garden, and to the keen eye the old names reveal
magical uses and a good deal of folklore. Folk Name: Common Name Folk Name:
Common Name Candlemas Maiden: Snowdrop May Lily: Lily of the valley
Candlewick Plant: Mullein Mistress of the Night: Tuberose Crown for a King:
Wormwood Password: Primrose Dew of the Sea: Rosemary Queen of the Meadow:
Meadowsweet Dragonwort: Bistort Ram's Head: American Valerian Dwale: Deadly
Nightshade Seven Year's Love: Yarrow Earth Smoke: Fumitory Sleep Wort:
Lettuce Elfwort: Elecampane Sorcer's Violet: Periwinkle Enchanter'S Plant:
Vervain Star Flower: Borage Eye of the Star: Horehound Star of the Earth:
Avens Five Finger Grass: Cinquefoil Starweed: Chickweed Golden Star: Avens
Starwort: Aster Honey Lotus: Melilot Thousand Seal: Yarrow Joy of the
Mountain: Marjoram Thunder Plant: Houseleek Little Dragon: Tarragon Unicorn
Horn: True Unicorn Root Love-In-Idleness: Pansy Wax Dolls: Fumitory Love
Parsley: Lovage Witches Aspirin: While Willow Bark Loveroot: Orris Witches
Bells: Foxglove Lad's Love: Southernwood Witch Herb: Mugwort Master of the
Woods: Woodruf Witchwood: Rowan Masterwort: Angelica Witches Briar: Brier
Hip DISCLAIMER! The information contained herein is not intended to replace
the services of trained health professionals. You are advised to consult
with your health care professional with regard to matters relating to your
health, and in particular regarding matters that may require diagnosis or
medical attention.


There seem to be lots of references to "Bad mans oatmeal" (Hemlock) which
might be a derivitive of the name ?
http://www.hort.purdue.edu/newcrop/h...onhemlock.html


HTH jenny