By Bob Larson, Intern, Portage County Master Gardener Volunteer
The Bard said, “What’s in a name? A rose by any other name would smell as sweet.” Yet the names people in the past gave to the common plants in our gardens were rarely arbitrary. Our ancestors lived alongside these plants and found countless ways to use them—as medicine and food, in magical rituals and religious ceremonies, and in the myths and folklore they passed down through generations. Learning the etymology — the origins of plant names — can provide a doorway to this rich lore.
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