Latin <i>farferum</i> ‘coltsfoot’: A trace of Indo-European poetic language in Latin plant nomenclature?
this paper argues that Latin farferum ‘coltsfoot; Tussilago farfara’ owns its name to its symmetrical arrangement of floral heads in a pattern resembling a star or sun, characteristic of all members of the family of Asteraceae; it is proposed that the (rustic) Latin word goes back to *bh eh2s-o-bh or-o- ‘light bringer, morning star’ (~ Greek Φωσφόρος ‘morning star’). In Indo-European poetic traditions the formula *bh eh2es- *bh er- ‘to carry light’ is used of the Divine Twins, visualized precisely as the morning and evening stars.