Austral English Part 202

Plant, v. tr. and n. common in Australia for to hide, and for the thing hidden away. As remarked in the quotations, the word is thieves' English.

1827. P. Cunningham, `Two Years in New South Wales,'

vol. ii. p. 59:

"A number of the slang phrases current in St. Giles's Greek bid fair to become legitimatized in the dictionary of this colony: plant, swag, pulling up, and other epithets of the Tom and Jerry school, are established-- the dross pa.s.sing here as genuine, even among all ranks."

1848. Letter by Mrs. Perry, given in `Canon Goodman's Church in Victoria during the Episcopate of Bishop Perry,' p. 78:

"... Shady Creek, where he `planted' some tea and sugar for his brother on his return. Do you know what `planting' is? It is hiding the tea, or whatever it may be, in the hollow of a tree, or branch, or stone, where no one is likely to find it, but the one for whom it is meant."

1855. G. C. Mundy, `Our Antipodes,' p. 22:

"Some refreshments planted there for us by the Major--for that is the colonial phrase, borrowed from the slang of London burglars and thieves, for any article sent forward or left behind for consumption in spots only indicated to those concerned--after the manner of the ca^ches of the French Canadian trappers on the American prairies. To `spring' a plant is to discover and pillage it."

1872. C. H. Eden, `My Wife and I in Queensland,' p. 36:

"The way he could hide, or, as it is called in the bush, `plant' himself, was something wonderful."

1889. Ca.s.sell's' Picturesque Australasia,' vol. iv. p. 178:

"The gold had not been handed over to the Commissioner at all, but was planted somewhere in the tent."

1893. `The Age,' May 9, p. 5, col. 4:

"A panic-smitten lady plants her money."

[t.i.tle of short article giving an account of an old lady during the bank panic concealing her money in the ground and being unable to find it.]

Plantain, Native, an Australian fodder plant, Plantago varia, R. Br., N.O. Plantagineae.

Plant-Caterpillar, n. name given in Australasia to species of caterpillars which are attacked by spores of certain fungi; when chrysalating in the earth the fungus grows inside the body of the caterpillar, kills the latter, and then forces its way out between the head joints, and sends an upgrowth which projects beyond the surface of the ground and gives rise to fresh spores. Many examples are known, of which the more common are--Cordyceps robertsii, Hook., in New Zealand; Cordyceps gunnii, Berk, in Tasmania; Cordyceps taylori, Berk, in Australia. See Aweto.

1892. M. C. Cooke, `Vegetable Wasps and Plant Worms,'

p. 139:

"The New Zealanders' name for this plant-caterpillar is `Hotete,' `Aweto,' `Weri,' and `Anuhe.'. . The interior of the insect becomes completely filled by the inner plant, orthallus (mycelium): after which the growing head of the outer plant or fungus, pa.s.sing to a state of maturity, usually forces its way out through the tissue of the joint between the head and the first segment of the thorax ... it is stated that this caterpillar settles head upward to undergo its change, when the vegetable developes /sic/ itself."

Planter, n. a cattle-thief, so called from hiding the stolen cattle.

1890. Rolf Boldrewood, `Colonial Reformer,' c. xxv. p. 352:

"What's a little money ... if your children grow up duffers [sc. cattle-duffers, q.v.] and planters?"

Platycercus, n. scientific name of a genus of Parrakeets, represented by many species. The word is from the shape of the tail. (Grk. platus, broad, and kerkos, tail.) The genus is distributed from the Malay Archipelago to the Islands of the Pacific. The name was first given by Vigors and Horsfield in 1825.

See Parrakeet and Rosella.

Platypus, n. a remarkable Monotreme (q.v.), in shape like a Mole, with a bill like a Duck.

Hence its other names of Duck-bill or Duck-Mole.

It has received various names--Platypus anatinus, Duck-billed Platypus, Ornithorhynchus, Ornithorhynchus paradoxus, Paradoxus, Water-mole, etc. (Grk. platus = broad, pous = foot, 'ornithos = of a bird, runchos = beak or bill.) The name Platypus is now the name by which it is always popularly known in Australia, but see quotation from Lydekker below (1894).

From the British Museum Catalogue of Marsupials and Monotremes (1888), it will be found that the name Platypus, given by Shaw in 1799, had been preoccupied as applied to a beetle by Herbst in 1793. It was therefore replaced, in scientific nomenclature, by the name Ornithorhynchus, by Blumenbach in 1800. In view of the various names, vernacular and scientific, under which it is mentioned by different writers, all quotations referring to it are placed under this word, Platypus. The habits and description of the animal appear in those quotations. From 1882 to 1891 the Platypus figured on five of the postage stamps of Tasmania.

1802. G. Barrington, `History of New South Wales,' c. xi.

p. 425:

"This animal, which has obtained the name of Ornithorhynchus paradoxus, is still very little known."

1802. D. Collins, `Account of English Colony in New South Wales,' vol. ii. p. 35:

[List of Engravings.]

"Ornithorhynchus paradoxus."

[At p. 63]:

"Ornithorhynchus (an amphibious animal of the mole kind)."

1809. G. Shaw, `Zoological Lecturer,' vol. i. p. 78:

"This genus, which at present consists but of a single species and its supposed varieties, is distinguished by the t.i.tle of Platypus or Ornithorhynchus... Its English generic name of duckbill is that by which it is commonly known."

1815. `History of New South Wales' (1818), p. 447:

"In the reaches or pools of the Campbell River, the very curious animal called the paradox, or watermole, is seen in great numbers."

1827. P. Cunningham, `Two Years in New South Wales,'

vol. i. p. 325:

"I cannot omit to mention likewise the Ornithorynchus, that remarkable animal which forms a link between the bird and beast, having a bill like a duck and paws webbed similar to that bird, but legs and body like those of a quadruped, covered with thick coa.r.s.e hair, with a broad tail to steer by."

1836. C. Darwin, `Naturalist's Voyage,' c. xix. p. 321:

"Had the good fortune to see several of the Ornithorhynchus paradoxus... . Certainly it is a most extraordinary animal; a stuffed specimen does not at all give a good idea of the appearance of the head and beak when fresh, the latter becoming hard and contracted."

1848. W. Westgarth, `Australia Felix,' p. 131:

"The specimen which has excited the greatest astonishment is the Ornithorynchus paradoxus, which, fitted by a series of contrivances to live equally well in both elements, unites in itself the habits and appearance of a bird, a quadruped, and a reptile."

1850. J. B. Clutterbuck, `Port Phillip in 1849,' p. 42:

"Platypus, water-mole or duckbill."

1860. G.Bennett, `Gatherings of a Naturalist,' p. 96:

"The Ornithorhynchus is known to the colonists by the nme of the watermole, from some resemblance which it is supposed to bear to the common European mole (Talpa Europoea, Linn.)"

1860. G. Bennett, `Gatherings of a Naturalist,' p. 95:

"When first a preserved skin was sent to England, it excited great distrust, being considered a fraud upon the naturalist... It was first described and figured by Shaw in the year 1799, in the `Naturalist's Miscellany,' vol. x., by the name of Platypus anatinus, or Duck-billed Platypus, and it was noticed in Collins's `New South Wales' 2nd ed.