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For what animal were the Canary Islands named?

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"Canarie seed, or Canarie grasse after some, hath many small hairy roots, from which arise small strawie stalkes joynted like corne (wheat in Gerard's day), whereupon do grow leaves like those of Barley, which the whole plant doth very well resemble....Canarie seed groweth naturally in Spaine, and also in the Fortunate or Canary Islands....We use it in England...to feed the Canarie Birds." Gerard called the grass, Phalaris, a name dating back to the Greeks and Romans. (The Herbal, 1633 edition)

Carolus Linnaeus in His Lapland Dress, Published 1805

In 1758, Linnaeus named the small, streaky, olive-green bird,
Serinus canaria for its native home, the Canary Islands.
Carolus Linnaeus in His Lapland Dress, Published 1805
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Linnaeus retained the ancient designation, Phalaris, and added canariensis when he formally named the grass in 1753. In 1758, he named the small, streaky, olive-green bird, Serinus canaria for its native home, the Canary Islands. The tiny songbird had been a popular pet in Europe since Spain conquered the islands in the final decades of the 15^th century.

The importation of sugar to Europe was a great revenue producer for Spain; the tiny "Canarie Birds", often arriving in port with the sugar, were also called sugar birds. By the time Linnaeus named the bird species, breeders had already 'created' numerous color lineages of the songsters. Where the birds were taken, so went the spikes of canarygrass—the seed is still recognized as a superior feed for caged canaries. ("Annual Canarygrass", Alternative Field Crops Manual, Putnam, Oelke, Oplinger, Doll, and Peters, 1990)

The Canary Islands archipelago was known to the Phoenicians. The Romans knew of the existence of the islands. King Juba II of Mauritania supplied Pliny the Elder with information gathered during an expedition to the islands sometime around the beginning of his reign. (See What's in a Name, June 14, 2002)

Pliny referred to two of the insulae "islands" as Nivaria and Canaria. Nivaria, from niveus, "snowy", is probably Tenerife for the snow-covered peak of Mount Teide. Canaria, modern day Gran Canaria, was named for canis, "dog" for the extinct race of large dogs that once roamed the island. ("Canary Islands", Encyclopedia Britannica, 1911)

Wildflowers of Southern California, the website of Dr. Barbara J. Collins, has a close-up of the spikes (inflorescences) of Phalaris canariensis taken by Lorence G. Collins. To view the photograph, click on the link:

http://ww1.clunet.edu/wf/chap/flowers/fwr-118.htm

Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia has posted information on the Canary Islands. To learn more about the Canary Islands, click on the link:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canary_Islands

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