Plant names can be pretty funny a lot of the time. What was proper and unremarkable during one time period, may come to be seen as odd, inappropriate, or even offensive later on. We see this over and over when it comes to plant names. This video is about a plant with the common name blue dicks. Although the name is not outright offensive, it might induce giggles in some people. Going back to the 1500s the word dick was synonymous with "fellow." Later on the word dick took on other meanings, which is the reason for people giggling over the name nowadays. The name "grass-nuts" was given to this plant by early settlers in North American since they often dug up and ate the nut-sized corms and the leaves of the plant look a lot like grass. Native Americans actually cultivated the plant and many colonies of this plant are the result of said cultivation.

Blue Dicks Plant Information