this comes up regularly...if you know how to search the forum, you can read LONG discussions of it...(the newsgroup rec.music.folk also has had long threads on it..)..the short answer is that no one 'really' knows....(it probably originated with the pronunciation problems of the long-gone author)...botanists have signed on and discussed 'possible' flowers, etc...I guess you just find the version you like best and sing that!