From http://StraightDope.com:
“Paisley is actually an ornate pattern that was commonly used for 19th-century shawls manufactured in the town of Paisley, a textile center in Scotland. The Scots stole the idea from similarly patterned cashmere shawls made in Kashmir from goat fleece (cashmere-Kashmir, get it?), which began to be imported from India around 1800. The traditional explanation for the commalike paisley motif is that it’s a pine cone, but if so it’s the damnedest pine cone I ever saw. Textile historian Martin Hardingham has a better idea; he says it’s “more directly identifiable with the cashew fruit and seed pod which has been a symbol of fertility for thousands of years.””