Picking apart old names for common flowers
sir – Edith Reavill (Letters, April 17) cites superstition for the old names of dandelions (pittlebed) and cow parsley (mother die), but these names have their basis in fact.
The French for dandelion is pissenlit, which refers to its diuretic properties, while cow parsley, an edible herb, can easily be mistaken for hemlock, which is highly poisonous. The mother of a household would always taste any food prepared with cow parsley before feeding it to her family, presumably giving rise to its historical name.
Adrian Waller
Woodsetts, South Yorkshire
sir – Growing up in West Yorkshire in the Forties, my sisters and I picked many a dandelion. I have never heard the expression pittlebed. Did it come from another part of the county? Joan E Humphrey
Toronto, Ontario, Canada
sir – Do any children use the stems of cow parsley for peashooters these days? Many a harmless game was played with this low-cost equipment.
RE Hawthorn
Thatcham, Berkshire
sir – Where, I wonder, would children find all these wildflowers that they are not supposed to pick? Most of the wildflower fields have become building sites or council estates.
Karen René
Leicester