This most informative book has for its principal purpose the tracing of the origins of the names of plants. The author points out that plant names were first applied for convenience in making reference to plant varieties used for human food, for animal fodder, for medicine, or even for decorative purposes. Some plants were used in primitive religious rites or in witchcraft, and their present-day names may be reminiscent of such usage. Some, like lizard’s tail, were named for their resemblances to familiar things. Some were named for their habitat, some for mythological characters, some for saints (or sinners).