Many wild plant names are derived from early Greek, Latin, or Old English and their antiquity can often cloud their original meaning. As the names of some plants have passed through the ages, their initial significance may have became distorted through mistakes in spelling, grammar, translation or simply through misunderstanding. In the eighteenth century the Swedish naturalist Linnaeus sought to bring order to the confusion of botanical classification by introducing a system of scientific names that would be universally understood. This book traces the origins of both the popular English...

This book introduces readers to a different side of London than the one they may already know, revealing a city full of curiosities and peculiarities, stories that have largely been left untold, and features that go unnoticed. Objects that are passed everyday without a second glance come alive in this little guide for both the visitor or the most seasoned Londoner; the statue of Charles I at Charing Cross which was melted down by a blacksmith after his execution - or was it? Or the Aldgate Pump with its strange tasting water - where did it come from originally? Around every corner in London...