Prunus and Pliny uses "prūnus silvestris" to mean the blackthorn. The word is not native Latin, but is a loan from Greek προῦνον ("prounon"), which is a variant of προῦμνον ("proumnon"), origin unknown. The tree is προύμνη ("proumnē"). Most dictionaries follow Hoffman, "Etymologisches Wörterbuch des Griechischen", in making some form of the word a loan from a pre-Greek language of Asia Minor, related to Phrygian. The first use of "Prunus" as a genus name was by Carl Linnaeus in "Hortus Cliffortianus" of 1737, which went on to become "Species Plantarum". In that work, Linnaeus attributes the word to "Varr.", who it
Aralia spinosa fruit. The fruit was used in many of the natives' foods. The women would take the flowers and put them in their hair because of the lemony smell. The flowers could also be traded for money. In the past, botanists attributed occurrences of "Aralia" north of Maryland and Delaware in the Middle Atlantic states to introductions of "Aralia spinosa" from areas to the south. However some of these occurrences are now known to be of "Aralia elata" (Japanese Angelica-tree), a related Asian species that is invasive in the area. "A. spinosa" and "A. elata" are difficult to distinguish in the