Delphi Complete Works of Pliny the Elder

by Pliny the Elder

  Among the animals, we find none that are odoriferous, unnless, indeed, we are inclined to put faith in what has been said about the panther.

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  CHAP. 19.

  THE IRIS.

  There is still another distinction, which ought not to be omitted, — the fact, that many of the odoriferous plants never enter into the composition of garlands, the iris and the saliunca, for example, although, both of them, of a most exquisite odour. In the iris, it is the root only that is held in esteem, it being extensively employed in perfumery and medicine. The iris of the finest quality is that found in Illyricum, and in that country, even, not in the maritime parts of it, but in the forests on the banks of the river Drilon and near Narona. The next best is that of Macedonia, the plant being extremely elongated, white, and thin. The iris of Africa occupies the third rank, being the largest of them all, and of an extremely bitter taste.

  The iris of Illyricum comprehends two varieties — one of which is the raphanitis, so called from its resemblance to the radish, of a somewhat red colour, and superior in quality to the other, which is known as the “rhizotomus.” The best kind of iris is that which produces sneezing when handled. The stem of this plant is a cubit in length, and erect, the flower being of various colours, like the rainbow, to which circumstance it is indebted for its name. The iris, too, of Pisidia is far from being held in disesteem. Persons who intend taking up the iris, drench the ground about it some three months before with hydromel, as though a sort of atonement offered to appease the earth; with the point of a sword, too, they trace three circles round it, and the moment they gather it, they lift it up towards the heavens.

  The iris is a plant of a caustic nature, and when handled, it causes blisters like burns to rise. It is a point particularly recommended, that those who gather it should be in a state of chastity. The root, not only when dried, but while still in the ground, is very quickly attacked by worms. In former times, it was Leucas and Elis that supplied us with the best oil of iris, for there it has long been cultivated; at the present day, however, the best comes from Pamphylia, though that of Cilicia and the northern climates is held in high esteem.

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  CHAP. 20.

  THE SALIUNCA.

  The saliunca has a rather short leaf, which does not admit of its being plaited for garlands, and numerous roots, by which it is held together; being more of a herb than a flower, and so closely matted and tangled that it would almost appear to have been pressed together with the hand — in short, it is a turf of a peculiar nature. This plant grows in Pannonia and the sunny regions of Noricum and the Alps, as also the vicinity of the city of Eporedia; the smell being so remarkably sweet that the crops of it have been of late quite as profitable as the working of a mine. This plant is particularly valued for the pleasant smell it imparts to clothes among which it is kept.

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  CHAP. 21.

  THE POLIUM, OR TEUTHRION.

  It is the same, too, with the polium, a herb employed for a similar purpose among the Greeks, and highly extolled by Musæus and Hesiod, who assert that it is useful for every purpose, and more particularly for the acquisition of fame and honour; indeed, it is a truly marvellous production, if it is the fact, as they state, that its leaves are white in the morning, purple at midday, and azure at sunset. There are two varieties of it, the field polium, which is larger, and the wild, which is more diminutive. Some persons give it the name of “teuthrion.” The leaves resemble the white hairs of a human being; they take their rise immediately from the root, and never exceed a palm in height.

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  CHAP. 22. (8.)

  FABRICS WHICH RIVAL THE COLOURS OF FLOWERS.

  We have now said enough on the subject of the odoriferous flowers; in relation to which, luxury not only glories in having vanquished Nature in the composition of unguents, but has even gone so far as to challenge, in her fabrics, those flowers which are more particularly recommended by the beauty of their tints. I remark that the following are the three principal colours; the red, that of the kermes for instance, which, beginning in the tints of the rose, reflects, when viewed sideways and held up to the light, the shades that are found in the Tyrian purple, and the colours of the dibapha and Laconian cloths: the amethystine colour, which is borrowed from the violet, and to which, bordering as it does on the purple, we have given the name of “ianthinum” — it must, however, be remembered, that we here give a general name to a colour which is subdivided into numerous tints — and a third, properly known as the “conchyliated” colour, but which comprehends a variety of shades, such, for instance, as the tints of the heliotropium, and others of a deeper colour, the hues of the mallow, inclining to a full purple, and the colours of the late violet; this last being the most vivid, in fact, of all the conchyliated tints. The rival colours being now set side by side, Nature and luxury may enter the lists, to vie for the mastery.

  I find it stated that, in the most ancient times, yellow was held in the highest esteem, but was reserved exclusively for the nuptial veils of females; for which reason it is perhaps that we do not find it included among the principal colours, those being used in common by males and females: indeed, it is the circumstance of their being used by both sexes in common that gives them their rank as principal colours.

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  CHAP. 23.

  THE AMARANTH.

  There is no doubt that all the efforts of art are surpassed by the amaranth, which is, to speak correctly, rather a purple ear than a flower, and, at the same time, quite inodorous. It is a marvellous feature in this plant, that it takes a delight in being gathered; indeed, the more it is plucked, the better it grows. It comes into flower in the month of August, and lasts throughout the autumn. The finest of all is the amaranth of Alexandria, which is generally gathered for keeping; for it is a really marvellous fact, that when all the other flowers have gone out, the amaranth, upon being dipped in water, comes to life again: it is used also for making winter chaplets. The peculiar quality of the amaranth is sufficiently indicated by its name, it having been so called from the circumstance that it never fades.

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  CHAP. 24.

  THE CYANOS: THE HOLOCHRYSOS.

  The name, too, of the cyanos indicates its colour, and so does that of the holochrysos. None of these flowers were in use in the time of Alexander the Great, for the authors, we find, who flourished at a period immediately after his decease, have made not the slightest mention of them; from which circumstance it is very clear that they only came into fashion at a later period. Still, however, who can entertain any doubt that they were first introduced by the Greeks, from the fact that Italy has only their Greek names by which to designate them?

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  CHAP. 25.

  THE PETILIUM: THE BELLIO.

  But, by Hercules! it is Italy herself that has given its name to the petilium, an autumnal flower, which springs up in the vicinity of thorny brakes, and recommends itself solely by its colour, which is that of the wild rose. The petals of it are small, and five in number; and it is a remarkable circumstance in this plant, that the head of it droops at first, and it is only after it becomes erect that the petals make their appearance, forming a small corolla of various colours, enclosing a yellow seed.

  The bellio, too, is a yellow flower, formed of fifty-five filaments circularly arranged, in the shape of a chaplet. These are, both of them, meadow flowers, which are mostly of no use whatever, and consequently without names: even the flowers just mentioned are known sometimes by one name, and sometimes by another.

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  CHAP. 26.

  THE CHRYSOCOME, OR CHRYSITIS.

  The chrysocome, or chrysitis, has no Latin appellation: it is a palm in height, the flowers forming clusters of a golden colour. The root of it is black, and it has a taste both
rough and sweet: it is found growing in stony and umbrageous spots.

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  CHAP. 27. (9.)

  SHRUBS, THE BLOSSOMS OF WHICH ARE USED FOR CHAPLETS.

  Having thus passed in review nearly all the best-known colours, we must now give our attention to the chaplets which are pleasing merely on account of the variety of their materials. Of such chaplets there are two kinds, one composed of flowers, the other of leaves. The flowers so employed, I may say, are those of broom — the yellow blossom gathered from it — the rhododendron, and the jujube, also known as the tree of Cappadocia, which bears an odoriferous flower similar to that of the olive. Among the brambles, too, we find the cyclaminum growing, of which we shall have to speak more at length on a future occasion: its flower, which reflects the hues of the purple of Colossæ, is used as an ingredient in chaplets.

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  CHAP. 28.

  SHRUBS, THE LEAVES OF WHICH ARE USED FOR CHAPLETS.

  The leaves, also, of smilax and ivy are employed in chaplets; indeed, the clusters of these plants are held in the very highest esteem for this purpose: we have already spoken of them at sufficient length when treating of the shrubs. There are also other kinds of shrubs, which can only be indicated by their Greek names, little attention having been paid by the framers of our language to this branch of nomenclature. Most of them grow in foreign countries, it is true; but still, it is our duty to make some mention of them, as it is of Nature in general that we are speaking, and not of Italy in particular.

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  CHAP. 29.

  THE MELOTHRON, SPIRÆA, AND ORIGANUM. THE CNEORUM OR CASSIA; TWO VARIETIES OF IT. THE MELISSOPHYLLUM OR MELITTÆNA. THE MELILOTE, OTHERWISE KNOWN AS CAMPANIAN GARLAND.

  Thus it is, that we find employed for chaplets, the leaves of the melothron, spiræa, origanum, cneorum, by Hyginus called “cassia,” conyza or cunilago, melissophyllon or apiastrum, and melilote, known to us by the name of “Campanian garland,” the best kind of melilote in Italy being that of Campania, in Greece that of Cape Sunium, and next to that the produce of Chalcidice and Crete: but wherever this plant grows it is only to be found in rugged and wild localities. The name “sertula” or “garland,” which it bears, sufficiently proves that this plant was formerly much used in the composition of chaplets. The smell, as well as the flower, closely resembles that of saffron, though the stem itself is white; the shorter and more fleshy the leaves, the more highly it is esteemed.

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  CHAP. 30.

  THREE VARIETIES OF TREFOIL: THE MYOPHONUM.

  The leaves of trefoil also are employed for making chaplets. There are three varieties: the first being called by the Greeks sometimes “minyanthes,” and sometimes “asphaltion;” the leaves of it, which the garland-makers employ, are larger than those of the other kinds. The second variety, known as the “oxytriphyllon,” has a pointed leaf; and the third has the smallest leaf of them all. Among these plants there are some which have a tough, sinewy stem, such as marathron, for instance, hippomarathron, and the myophonum. The umbels, too, of fennel-giant and the purple flowers of the ivy are employed for this purpose; as also another kind of ivy very similar to the wild rose, the colour only of which is attractive, the flower being quite inodorous. There are also two varieties used of the cneorum, the black and the white, this last being odoriferous: they are both of them provided with branches, and they blossom after the autumnal equinox.

  (10.) There are the same number of varieties, also, of origanum employed in making chaplets, one of which is destitute of seed, the other, which is also odoriferous, being known as the Cretan origanum.

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  CHAP. 31.

  TWO VARIETIES OF THYME. PLANTS PRODUCED FROM BLOSSOMS AND NOT FROM SEED.

  There are also as many varieties of thyme employed, the one white, the other dark: it flowers about the summer solstice, when the bees cull from it. From this plant a sort of augury is derived, as to how the honey is likely to turn out: for the bee-keepers have reason to look for a large crop when the thyme blossoms in considerable abundance. Thyme receives great injury from showers of rain, and is very apt to shed its blossom. The seed of thyme is so minute as to be imperceptible, and yet that of origanum, which is also extremely minute, does not escape the sight. But what matters it that Nature has thus concealed it from our view? For we have reason to conclude that it exists in the flower itself; which, when sown in the ground, gives birth to the plant — what is there, in fact, that the industry of man has left untried?

  The honey of Attica is generally looked upon as the best in all the world; for which reason it is that the thyme of that country has been transplanted, being reproduced, as already stated, with the greatest difficulty, from the blossom. But there is also another peculiarity in the nature of the thyme of Attica, which has greatly tended to frustrate these attempts — it will never live except in the vicinity of breezes from the sea. In former times, it was the general belief that this is the case with all kinds of thyme, and that this is the reason why it does not grow in Arcadia: at a period when it was universally supposed, too, that the olive never grows beyond three hundred stadia from the sea. But, at the present day, we know for certain that in the province of Gallia Narbonensis the Stony Plains are quite overgrown with thyme; this being, in fact, the only source of revenue to those parts, thousands of sheep being brought thither from distant countries to browse upon the plant.

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  CHAP. 32.

  CONYZA.

  There are two varieties of conyza, also, employed in making chaplets, the male plant and the female. The difference consists in the leaves, those of the female plant being thinner, more tapering, and narrower, and those of the male being of an imbricated shape, the plant having a greater number of branches. The blossom, too, of the male plant is more vivid than that of the female: in both kinds it is late in making its appearance, not till after the rising of Arcturus.

  The smell of the male conyza is more powerful than that of the female plant: the latter, however, is of a more penetrating nature, for which reason it is that the female plant is held in higher esteem for the treatment of the bites of animals. The leaves of the female plant have exactly the smell of honey; and the root of the male has received the name of “libanotis” from some: we have already made mention of it on a previous occasion.

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  CHAP. 33.

  THE FLOWER OF JOVE. THE HEMEROCALLES. THE HELENIUM. THE PHLOX. PLANTS IN WHICH THE BRANCHES AND ROOTS ARE ODORIFEROUS.

  Of the following plants, too, it is only the leaves that are employed for chaplets — the flower of Jove, the amaracus, the hemerocalles, the abrotonum, the helenium, sisymbrium, and wild thyme, all of them ligneous plants, growing in a manner similar to the rose. The flower of Jove is pleasing only for its colours, being quite inodorous; which is the case also with the plant known by the Greek name of “phlox.” All the plants, too, which we have just mentioned are odoriferous, both in the branches and the leaves, with the sole exception of wild thyme. The helenium is said to have had its origin in the tears of Helen, and hence it is that the kind grown in the island of Helena is so highly esteemed. It is a shrub which throws out its tiny branches along the ground, some nine inches in length, with a leaf very similar to that of wild thyme.

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  CHAP. 34.

  THE ABROTONUM. THE ADONIUM: TWO VARIETIES OF IT. PLANTS WHICH REPRODUCE THEMSELVES. THE LEUCANTHEMUM.

  The flower of the abrotonum, which makes its appearance in summer, has a powerful but agreeable smell; it is of a bright golden colour. Left to range at large, it reproduces itself by layers from the tops of the branches: but when it is propagated by the hand of man, it is better to grow it from the seed than from the roots or slips, though even from the seed it is not grown without considerable trouble. The young plants are tran
splanted in summer, which is the case also with the adonium. They are both of them plants of a very chilly nature, though, at the same time, they are apt to receive injury if too much exposed to the sun: when, however, they have gained sufficient strength, they throw out branches like those of rue.

  The leucanthemum has a similar smell to that of the abrotonum: it is a foliated plant, with a white flower.

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  CHAP. 35. (11.)

  TWO VARIETIES OF THE AMARACUS.

  Diodes, the physician, and the people of Sicily have given the name of “amaracus” to the plant known in Egypt and Syria as sampsuchum. It is reproduced two ways, from seed and from cuttings, being more long-lived than the preceding plants, and possessed of a more agreeable smell. The amaracus, like the abrotonum, has a great abundance of seed, but while the abrotonum has a single root, which penetrates deep into the ground, those of the other plant adhere but lightly to the surface of the earth. Those of the other plants which love the shade, water, and manure, are generally set at the beginning of autumn, and even, in some localities, in spring.