Chapter XIX: Book XXI (1)

AN ACCOUNT OF FLOWERS, AND THOSE USED FOR CHAPLETS MORE PARTICULARLY.

CHAP. 1. (1.)—THE NATURE OF FLOWERS AND GARLANDS.

Cato has recommended that flowers for making chaplets should also be cultivated in the garden; varieties remarkable for a delicacy which it is quite impossible to express, inasmuch as no individual can find such facilities for describing them as Nature does for bestowing on them their numerous tints—Nature, who here in especial shows herself in a sportive mood, and takes a delight in the prolific display of her varied productions. The other[1837] plants she has produced for our use and our nutriment, and to them accordingly she has granted years and even ages of duration: but as for the flowers and their perfumes, she has given them birth for but a day—a mighty lesson to man, we see, to teach him that that which in its career is the most beauteous and the most attractive to the eye, is the very first to fade and die.

Even the limner’s art itself possesses no resources for reproducing the colours of the flowers in all their varied tints and combinations, whether we view them in groups alternately blending their hues, or whether arranged in festoons, each variety by[1838] itself, now assuming a circular form, now running obliquely, and now disposed in a spiral pattern; or whether, as we see sometimes, one wreath is interwoven within another.

CHAP. 2. (2.)—GARLANDS AND CHAPLETS.

The ancients used chaplets of diminutive size, called “struppi;”[1839] from which comes our name for a chaplet, “strophiolum.” Indeed, it was only by very slow degrees that this last word[1840] became generalized, as the chaplets that were used at sacrifices, or were granted as the reward of military valour, asserted their exclusive right to the name of “corona.” As for garlands, when they came to be made of flowers, they received the name of “serta,” from the verb “sero,”[1841] or else from our word “series.”[1842] The use[1843] of flowers for garlands is not so very ancient, among the Greeks even.

CHAP. 3.—WHO INVENTED THE ART OF MAKING GARLANDS: WHEN THEY FIRST RECEIVED THE NAME OF “COROLLÆ,” AND FOR WHAT REASON.

For in early times it was the usage to crown the victors in the sacred contests with branches of trees: and it was only at a later period, that they began to vary their tints by the combination[1844] of flowers, to heighten the effect in turn by their colour and their smell—an invention due to the ingenuity of the painter Pausias, at Sicyon,[1845] and the garland-maker Glycera, a female to whom he was greatly attached, and whose handiwork was imitated by him in colours. Challenging him to a trial of skill, she would repeatedly vary her designs, and thus it was in reality a contest between art and Nature; a fact which we find attested by pictures of that artist even still in existence, more particularly the one known as the “Stephaneplocos,”[1846] in which he has given a likeness of Glycera herself. This invention, therefore, is only to be traced to later than the Hundredth[1847] Olympiad.

Chaplets of flowers being now the fashion, it was not long before those came into vogue which are known to us as Egyptian[1848] chaplets; and then the winter chaplets, made for the time at which Earth refuses her flowers, of thin laminæ of horn stained various colours. By slow degrees, too, the name was introduced at Rome, these garlands being known there at first as “corollæ,” a designation given them to express the remarkable delicacy[1849] of their texture. In more recent times, again, when the chaplets presented were made of thin plates[1850] of copper, gilt or silvered, they assumed the name of “corollaria.”

CHAP. 4. (3.)—WHO WAS THE FIRST TO GIVE CHAPLETS WITH LEAVES OF SILVER AND GOLD. LEMNISCI: WHO WAS THE FIRST TO EMBOSS THEM.

Crassus Dives[1851] was the first who gave chaplets with artificial leaves of silver and gold, at the games celebrated by him. To embellish these chaplets, and to confer additional honour on them, lemnisci were added, in imitation of the Etruscan chaplets, which ought properly to have none but lemnisci[1852] made of gold. For a long period these lemnisci were destitute of ornament:[1853] P. Claudius Pulcher[1854] was the first who taught us to emboss[1855] them, and added leaves of tinsel to the laminæ[1856] of which the lemniscus was formed.

CHAP. 5.—THE GREAT HONOUR IN WHICH CHAPLETS WERE HELD BY THE ANCIENTS.

Chaplets, however, were always held in a high degree of estimation, those even which were acquired at the public games. For it was the usage of the citizens to go down in person to take part in the contests of the Circus, and to send their slaves and horses thither as well. Hence it is that we find it thus written in the laws of the Twelve Tables: “If any person has gained a chaplet himself, or by his money,[1857] let the same be given to him as the reward of his prowess.” There is no doubt that by the words “gained by his money,” the laws meant a chaplet which had been gained by his slaves or horses. Well then, what was the honour acquired thereby? It was the right secured by the victor, for himself and for his parents, after death, to be crowned without fail, while the body was laid out in the house,[1858] and on its being carried[1859] to the tomb.

On other occasions, chaplets were not indiscriminately worn, not even those which had been won in the games.

CHAP. 6.—THE SEVERITY OF THE ANCIENTS IN REFERENCE TO CHAPLETS.

Indeed the rules upon this point were remarkably severe. L. Fulvius, a banker,[1860] having been accused, at the time of the Second Punic War, of looking down from the balcony[1861] of his house upon the Forum, with a chaplet of roses upon his head, was imprisoned by order of the Senate, and was not liberated before the war was brought to a close. P. Munatius, having placed upon his head a chaplet of flowers taken from the statue of Marsyas,[1862] was condemned by the Triumviri to be put in chains. Upon his making appeal to the tribunes of the people, they refused to intercede in his behalf—a very different state of things to that at Athens, where the young men,[1863] in their drunken revelry, were in the habit, before midday, of making their way into the very schools of the philosophers even. Among ourselves, no such instance of a similar licentiousness is to be found, unless, indeed, in the case of the daughter[1864] of the late Emperor Augustus, who, in her nocturnal debaucheries, placed a chaplet on the statue[1865] of Marsyas, conduct deeply deplored in the letters of that god.[1866]

CHAP. 7.—A CITIZEN DECKED WITH FLOWERS BY THE ROMAN PEOPLE.

Scipio is the only person that ever received from the Roman people the honour of being decked with flowers. This Scipio received the surname of Serapio,[1867] from his remarkable resemblance to a certain person of that name who dealt in pigs. He died in his tribuneship, greatly beloved by the people, and in every way worthy of the family of the Africani. The property he left was not sufficient to pay the expenses of his burial; upon which the people made a subscription and contracted[1868] for his funeral, flowers being scattered upon the body from every possible quarter[1869] as it was borne along.

CHAP. 8.—PLAITED CHAPLETS. NEEDLE-WORK CHAPLETS. NARD-LEAF CHAPLETS. SILKEN CHAPLETS.

In those days, too, chaplets were employed in honour of the gods, the Lares, public as well as domestic, the sepulchres,[1870] and the Manes. The highest place, however, in public estimation, was held by the plaited chaplet; such as we find used by the Salii in their sacred rites, and at the solemnization of their yearly[1871] banquets. In later times, the rose chaplet has been adopted, and luxury arose at last to such a pitch that a chaplet was held in no esteem at all if it did not consist entirely of leaves sown together with the needle. More recently, again, they have been imported from India, or from nations beyond the countries of India.

But it is looked upon as the most refined of all, to present chaplets made of nard leaves, or else of silk of many colours steeped in unguents. Such is the pitch to which the luxuriousness of our women has at last arrived!

CHAP. 9.—AUTHORS WHO HAVE WRITTEN ON FLOWERS. AN ANECDOTE RELATIVE TO QUEEN CLEOPATRA AND CHAPLETS.

Among the Greeks, the physicians Mnesitheus and Callimachus have written separate treatises on the subject of chaplets, making mention of such flowers as are injurious to the head.[1872] For, in fact, the health is here concerned to some extent, as it is at the moments of carousal and gaiety in particular that penetrating odours steal insidiously upon the brain—witness an instance in the wicked cunning displayed upon one occasion by Cleopatra.

At the time when preparations were making for the battle that was eventually fought at Actium, Antonius held the queen in such extreme distrust as to be in dread of her very attentions even, and would not so much as touch his food, unless another person had tasted it first. Upon this, the queen, it is said, wishing to amuse herself with his fears, had the extremities of the flowers in a chaplet dipped in poison, and then placed it upon her head.[1873] After a time, as the hilarity increased apace, she challenged Antonius to swallow the chaplets, mixed up with their drink. Who, under such circumstances as these, could have apprehended treachery? Accordingly, the leaves were stripped from off the chaplet, and thrown into the cup. Just as Antonius was on the very point of drinking, she arrested his arm with her hand.—“Behold, Marcus Antonius,” said she, “the woman against whom you are so careful to take these new precautions of yours in employing your tasters! And would then, if I could exist without you, either means or opportunity of effecting my purpose be wanting to me?” Saying this, she ordered a man to be brought from prison, and made him drink off the potion; he did so, and fell dead[1874] upon the spot.

Besides the two authors above-mentioned, Theophrastus,[1875] among the Greeks, has written on the subject of flowers. Some of our own writers also have given the title of “Anthologica” to their works, but no one, to my knowledge at least, has treated expressly[1876] of flowers. In fact, we ourselves have no intention here of discussing the mode of wearing chaplets, for that would be frivolous[1877] indeed; but shall proceed to state such particulars in relation to flowers as shall appear to us deserving of remark.

CHAP. 10. (4.)—THE ROSE: TWELVE VARIETIES OF IT.

The people of our country were acquainted with but very few garland flowers among the garden plants, and those few hardly any but the violet and the rose. The plant which bears the rose is, properly speaking, more of a thorn than a shrub—indeed, we sometimes find it growing on a bramble[1878] even; the flower having, even then, a pleasant smell, though by no means penetrating. The flower in all roses is originally enclosed in a bud,[1879] with a grained surface within, which gradually swells, and assumes the form of a green pointed cone, similar to our alabaster[1880] unguent boxes in shape. Gradually acquiring a ruddy tint, this bud opens little by little, until at last it comes into full blow, developing the calyx, and embracing the yellow-pointed filaments which stand erect in the centre of it.

The employment of the rose in chaplets is, so to say, the least[1881] use that is made of it. The flower is steeped in oil, a practice which has prevailed from the times of the Trojan war, as Homer[1882] bears witness; in addition to which, it now forms an ingredient in our unguents, as mentioned on a previous occasion.[1883] It is employed also by itself for certain medicinal purposes, and is used in plasters and eye-salves[1884] for its penetrating qualities: it is used, also, to perfume the delicacies of our banquets, and is never attended with any noxious results.

The most esteemed kinds of rose among us are those of Præneste[1885] and Campania.[1886] Some persons have added to these varieties the rose of Miletus,[1887] the flower of which is an extremely brilliant red, and has never more than a dozen petals. The next to it is the rose of Trachyn,[1888] not so red as the last, and then that of Alabanda,[1889] with whitish petals, but not so highly esteemed. The least esteemed of all, however, is the thorn rose,[1890] the petals of which are numerous, but extremely small. The essential points of difference in the rose are the number[1891] of the petals, the comparative number[1892] of thorns on the stem, the colour, and the smell. The number of the petals, which is never less than five, goes on increasing in amount, till we find one variety with as many as a hundred, and thence known as the “centifolia:”[1893] in Italy, it is to be found in Campania, and in Greece, in the vicinity of Philippi, though this last is not the place of its natural[1894] growth. Mount Pangæeus,[1895] in the same vicinity, produces a rose with numerous petals of diminutive size: the people of those parts are in the habit of transplanting it, a method which greatly tends to improve its growth. This kind, however, is not remarkable for its smell, nor yet is the rose which has a very large or very broad petal: indeed, we may state in a few words, that the best proof of the perfume of the flower is the comparative roughness of the calyx.[1896]

Cæpio, who lived in the reign of the Emperor Tiberius, asserts that the centifolia is never employed for chaplets, except at the extreme[1897] points of union as it were, being remarkable neither for its smell[1898] nor its beauty. There is another variety of rose, too, called the “Grecian” rose by our people, and “lychnis”[1899] by the Greeks: it grows nowhere except in humid soils, and has never more than five petals: it does not exceed the violet in size, and is destitute of smell. There is another kind, again, known to us as the “Græcula”[1900] the petals of which are tightly rolled together, and which never open except when pressed in the hand, it having always the appearance, in fact, of being in bud: the petals of it are remarkably large. Another kind, again, springs from a stem like that of the mallow, the leaves being similar to those of the olive—the name given to it is “macetum.”[1901] There is the rose of autumn, too, known to us as the “coroniola,”[1902] which is of a middle size, between the varieties just mentioned. All these kinds, however, are destitute of smell, with the exception of the coroniola, and the one which grows on the bramble:[1903] so extended is the scope for fictitious[1904] productions!

And, indeed, the genuine rose, for the most part, is indebted for its qualities to the nature of the soil. That of Cyrenæ[1905] is the most odoriferous of all, and hence it is that the unguents of that place are so remarkably fine: at Carthage, again, in Spain, there are early[1906] roses throughout all the winter. The temperature, too, of the climate is not without its influence: for in some years we find the roses much less odoriferous than in others; in addition to which, their smell is always more powerful when grown in dry soils[1907] than in humid ones. The rose does not admit of being planted in either a rich or an argillaceous soil, nor yet on irrigated land; being contented with a thin, light earth, and more particularly attached to ground on which old building rubbish has been laid.

The rose of Campania is early, that of Miletus late, but it is the rose of Præneste that goes off the very latest of all. For the rose, the ground is generally dug to a greater depth than it is for corn, but not so deep as for the vine. It grows but very slowly[1908] from the seed, which is found in the calyx beneath the petals of the flower, covered with a sort of down; hence it is that the method of grafting is usually the one preferred, or else propagation from the eyes of the root, as in the reed.[1909] One kind is grafted, which bears a pale flower, with thorny branches of a remarkable length; it belongs to the quinquefolia variety, being one of the Greek roses.[1910] All roses are improved by being pruned and cauterized; transplanting, too, makes them grow, like the vine, all the better, and with the greatest rapidity. The slips are cut some four fingers in length or more, and are planted immediately after the setting of the Vergiliæ; then, while the west winds are prevalent, they are transplanted at intervals of a foot, the earth being frequently turned up about them.

Persons whose object it is to grow early roses, make a hole a foot in width about the root, and pour warm water into it, at the period when the buds are beginning to put forth.[1911]

CHAP. 11. (5.)—THE LILY: FOUR VARIETIES OF IT.

The lily holds the next highest rank after the rose, and has a certain affinity[1912] with it in respect of its unguent and the oil extracted from it, which is known to us as “lirinon.”[1913] Blended, too, with roses, the lily[1914] produces a remarkably fine effect; for it begins to make its appearance, in fact, just as the rose is in the very middle of its season. There is no flower that grows to a greater height than the lily, sometimes, indeed, as much as three cubits; the head of it being always drooping, as though the neck of the flower were unable to support its weight. The whiteness of the lily is quite remarkable, the petals being striated on the exterior; the flower is narrow at the base, and gradually expanding in shape like a tapering[1915] cup with the edges curving outwards, the fine pistils of the flower, and the stamens with their antheræ of a saffron colour, standing erect in the middle.[1916] Hence the perfume of the lily, as well as its colour, is two-fold, there being one for the petals and another for the stamens. The difference, however, between them is but very small, and when the flower is employed for making lily unguents and oils, the petals are never rejected.

There is a flower, not unlike the lily, produced by the plant known to us as the “convolvulus.”[1917] It grows among shrubs, is totally destitute of smell, and has not the yellow antheræ of the lily within: only vying with it in its whiteness, it would almost appear to be the rough sketch[1918] made by Nature when she was learning how to make the lily. The white lily is propagated in all the various ways which are employed for the cultivation of the rose,[1919] as also by means of a certain tearlike gum[1920] which belongs to it, similarly to hipposelinum[1921] in fact: indeed, there is no plant that is more prolific than this, a single root often giving birth to as many as fifty bulbs.[1922] There is, also, a red lily, known by the name of “crinon”[1923] to the Greeks, though there are some authors who call the flower of it “cynorrodon.”[1924] The most esteemed are those of Antiochia and Laodicea in Syria, and next to them that of Phaselis.[1925] To the fourth rank belongs the flower that grows in Italy.

CHAP. 12.—THE NARCISSUS: THREE VARIETIES OF IT.

There is a purple[1926] lily, too, which sometimes has a double stem; it differs only from the other lilies in having a more fleshy root and a bulb of larger size, but undivided:[1927] the name given to it is “narcissus.”[1928] A second variety of this lily has a white flower, with a purple corolla. There is also this difference between the ordinary lily and the narcissus, that in the latter the leaves spring from the root of the plant. The finest are those which grow on the mountains of Lycia. A third variety is similar to the others in every respect, except that the corolla of the plant is green. They are all of them late[1929] flowers: indeed, they only bloom after the setting of Arcturus,[1930] and at the time of the autumnal equinox.

CHAP. 13.—HOW SEED IS STAINED TO PRODUCE TINTED FLOWERS.

There has been invented[1931] also a method of tinting the lily, thanks to the taste of mankind for monstrous productions. The dried stalks[1932] of the lily are tied together in the month of July, and hung up in the smoke: then, in the following March, when the small knots[1933] are beginning to disclose themselves, the stalks are left to steep in the lees of black or Greek wine, in order that they may contract its colour, and are then planted out in small trenches, some semi-sextarii of wine-lees being poured around them. By this method purple lilies are obtained, it being a very remarkable thing that we should be able to dye a plant to such a degree as to make it produce a coloured flower.

CHAP. 14. (6.)—HOW THE SEVERAL VARIETIES OF THE VIOLET ARE RESPECTIVELY PRODUCED, GROWN, AND CULTIVATED. THE THREE DIFFERENT COLOURS OF THE VIOLET. THE FIVE VARIETIES OF THE YELLOW VIOLET.

Next after the roses and the lilies, the violet is held in the highest esteem: of this there are several varieties, the purple,[1934] the yellow, and the white, all of them reproduced from plants, like the cabbage. The purple violet, which springs up spontaneously in sunny spots, with a thin, meagre soil, has larger petals than the others, springing immediately from the root, which is of a fleshy substance. This violet has a name, too, distinct from the other wild kinds, being called “ion,”[1935] and from it the ianthine[1936] cloth takes its name.

Among the cultivated kinds, the yellow[1937] violet is held in the greatest esteem. The Tusculan violet, and that known as the “marine”[1938] violet, have petals somewhat broader than the others, but not so odoriferous; the Calatian[1939] violet, too, which has a smaller leaf, is entirely destitute of smell. This last is a present to us from the autumn, the others from the spring.

CHAP. 15.—THE CALTHA. THE SCOPA REGIA.

Next to it comes the caltha, the flowers of which are of similar colour and size;[1940] in the number of its petals, however, it surpasses the marine violet, the petals of which are never more than five in number. The marine violet is surpassed, too, by the other in smell; that of the caltha being very powerful. The smell, too, is no less powerful in the plant known as the “scopa regia;”[1941] but there it is the leaves of the plant, and not the flowers, that are odoriferous.

CHAP. 16.—THE BACCHAR. THE COMBRETUM. ASARUM.

The bacchar,[1942] too, by some persons known as “field nard,” is odoriferous in the root only. In former times, it was the practice to make unguents of this root, as we learn from the poet Aristophanes, a writer of the Ancient Comedy; from which circumstance some persons have erroneously given the name of “exotic”[1943] to the plant. The smell of it strongly resembles that of cinnamomum; and the plant grows in thin soils, which are free from all humidity.

The name of “combretum”[1944] is given to a plant that bears a very strong resemblance to it, the leaves of which taper to the fineness of threads; in height, however, it is taller than the bacchar. These are the only[1945] * * * * The error, however, ought to be corrected, on the part of those who have bestowed upon the bacchar the name of “field nard;” for that in reality is the surname given to another plant, known to the Greeks as “asaron,” the description and features of which we have already[1946] mentioned, when speaking of the different varieties of nard. I find, too, that the name of “asaron” has been given to this plant, from the circumstance of its never[1947] being employed in the composition of chaplets.

CHAP. 17.—SAFFRON: IN WHAT PLACES IT GROWS BEST. WHAT FLOWERS WERE KNOWN AT THE TIME OF THE TROJAN WAR.

The wild saffron[1948] is the best; indeed, in Italy it is of no use whatever to attempt to propagate it, the produce of a whole bed of saffron being boiled down to a single scruple; it is reproduced by offsets from the bulb. The cultivated saffron is larger, finer, and better looking than the other kinds, but has much less efficacy. This plant is everywhere degenerating,[1949] and is far from prolific at Cyrenæ even, a place where the flowers are always of the very finest quality. The most esteemed saffron, however, is that of Cilicia, and there of Mount Corycus in particular; next comes the saffron of Mount Olympus, in Lycia, and then of Centuripa, in Sicily; some persons, however, have given the second rank to the Phlegræan[1950] saffron.

There is nothing so much adulterated[1951] as saffron: the best proof of its goodness is when it snaps under pressure by the fingers, as though it were friable;[1952] for when it is moist, a state which it owes to being adulterated, it is limp, and will not snap asunder. Another way of testing it, again, is to apply it with the hand to the face, upon which, if good, it will be found to be slightly caustic to the face and eyes. There is a peculiar kind, too, of cultivated saffron, which is in general extremely mild, being only of middling[1953] quality; the name given to it is “dialeucon.”[1954] The saffron of Cyrenaica, again, is faulty in the opposite extreme; for it is darker than any other kind, and is apt to spoil very quickly. The best saffron everywhere is that which is of the most unctuous quality, and the filaments of which are the shortest; the worst being that which emits a musty smell.

Mucianus informs us that in Lycia, at the end of seven or eight years, the saffron is transplanted into a piece of ground which has been prepared for the purpose, and that in this way it is prevented from degenerating. It is never[1955] used for chaplets, being a plant with an extremely narrow leaf, as fine almost as a hair; but it combines remarkably well with wine, sweet wine in particular. Reduced to a powder, it is used to perfume[1956] the theatres.

Saffron blossoms about the setting of the Vergiliæ, for a few days[1957] only, the leaf expelling the flower. It is verdant[1958] at the time of the winter solstice, and then it is that they gather it; it is usually dried in the shade, and if in winter, all the better. The root of this plant is fleshy, and more long-lived[1959] than that of the other bulbous plants. It loves to be beaten and trodden[1960] under foot, and in fact, the worse it is treated the better it thrives: hence it is, that it grows so vigorously by the side of foot-paths and fountains. (7.) Saffron was already held in high esteem in the time of the Trojan War; at all events, Homer,[1961] we find, makes mention of these three flowers, the lotus,[1962] the saffron, and the hyacinth.

CHAP. 18.—THE NATURE OF ODOURS.

All the odoriferous[1963] substances, and consequently the plants, differ from one another in their colour, smell, and juices. It is but rarely[1964] that the taste of an odoriferous substance is not bitter; while sweet substances, on the other hand, are but rarely odoriferous. Thus it is, too, that wine is more odoriferous than must, and all the wild plants more so than the cultivated ones.[1965] Some flowers have a sweet smell at a distance, the edge of which is taken off when they come nearer; such is the case with the violet, for instance. The rose, when fresh gathered, has a more powerful smell at a distance, and dried,[1966] when brought nearer. All plants have a more penetrating odour, also, in spring[1967] and in the morning; as the hour of midday approaches, the scent becomes gradually weakened.[1968] The flowers, too, of young plants are less odoriferous than those of old ones; but it is at mid-age[1969] that the odour is most penetrating in them all.

The rose and the crocus[1970] have a more powerful smell when gathered in fine weather, and all plants are more powerfully scented in hot climates than in cold ones. In Egypt, however, the flowers are far from odoriferous, owing to the dews and exhalations with which the air is charged, in consequence of the extended surface of the river. Some plants have an agreeable, though at the same time extremely powerful smell; some, again, while green, have no[1971] smell at all, owing to the excess of moisture, the buceros for example, which is the same as fenugreek.[1972] Not all flowers which have a penetrating odour are destitute of juices, the violet, the rose, and the crocus, for example; those, on the other hand, which have a penetrating odour, but are destitute of juices, have all of them a very powerful smell, as we find the case with the two varieties[1973] of the lily. The abrotonum[1974] and the amaracus[1975] have a pungent smell. In some plants, it is the flower only that is sweet, the other parts being inodorous, the violet and the rose, for example.

Among the garden plants, the most odoriferous are the dry ones, such as rue, mint, and parsley, as also those which grow on dry soils. Some fruits become more odoriferous the older they are, the quince, for example, which has also a stronger smell when gathered than while upon the tree. Some plants, again, have no smell but when broken asunder, or when bruised, and others only when they are stripped of their bark. Certain vegetable substances, too, only give out a smell when subjected to the action of fire, such as frankincense and myrrh, for example. All flowers are more bitter to the taste when bruised than when left untouched.[1976] Some plants preserve their smell a longer time when dried, the melilote, for example; others, again, make the place itself more odoriferous where they grow, the iris[1977] for instance, which will even render the whole of a tree odoriferous, the roots of which it may happen to have touched. The hesperis[1978] has a more powerful odour at night, a property to which it owes its name.

Among the animals, we find none that are odoriferous, unless, indeed, we are inclined to put faith in what has been said about the panther.[1979]

CHAP. 19.—THE IRIS.

There is still another distinction, which ought not to be omitted,—the fact, that many of the odoriferous plants never[1980] enter into the composition of garlands, the iris[1981] and the saliunca, for example, although, both of them, of a most exquisite odour. In the iris, it is the root[1982] 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,[1983] and in that country, even, not in the maritime parts of it, but in the forests on the banks of the river Drilon[1984] and near Narona. The next best is that of Macedonia,[1985] the plant being extremely elongated, white, and thin. The iris of Africa[1986] 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,[1987] of a somewhat red colour, and superior[1988] in quality to the other, which is known as the “rhizotomus.” The best kind of iris is that which produces sneezing[1989] 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[1990] is far from being held in disesteem. Persons[1991] 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,[1992] 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[1993] 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.

CHAP. 20.—THE SALIUNCA.

The saliunca[1994] 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[1995] 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;[1996] 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.

CHAP. 21.—THE POLIUM, OR TEUTHRION.

It is the same, too, with the polium,[1997] 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;[1998] indeed, it is a truly marvellous production, if it is the fact, as they state, that its leaves are white in the morning, a purple at midday, and azure[1999] at sunset. There are two varieties of it, the field polium, which is larger, and the wild,[2000] which is more diminutive. Some persons give it the name of “teuthrion.”[2001] 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.

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[2002] colours; the red, that of the kermes[2003] for instance, which, beginning in the tints of the rose, reflects, when viewed[2004] sideways and held up to the light, the shades that are found in the Tyrian purple,[2005] and the colours of the dibapha[2006] 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”[2007]—it must, however, be remembered, that we here give a general name to a colour which is subdivided into numerous tints[2008]—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[2009] 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[2010] 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.

CHAP. 23.—THE AMARANTH.

There is no doubt that all the efforts of art are surpassed by the amaranth,[2011] which is, to speak correctly, rather a purple ear[2012] 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[2013] 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.[2014]

CHAP. 24.—THE CYANOS: THE HOLOCHRYSOS.

The name,[2015] too, of the cyanos[2016] indicates its colour, and so does that of the holochrysos.[2017] 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?

CHAP. 25.—THE PETILIUM: THE BELLIO.

But, by Hercules! it is Italy herself that has given its name to the petilium,[2018] 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,[2019] too, is a yellow flower, formed of[2020] 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.

CHAP. 26.—THE CHRYSOCOME, OR CHRYSITIS.

The chrysocome,[2021] 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.

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[2022]—the yellow blossom gathered from it—the rhododendron,[2023] and the jujube,[2024] 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:[2025] its flower, which reflects the hues of the purple of Colossæ,[2026] is used as an ingredient in chaplets.

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[2027] 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.

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,[2028] spiræa,[2029] origanum,[2030] cneorum,[2031] by Hyginus called “cassia,” conyza or cunilago,[2032] melissophyllon or apiastrum,[2033] and melilote, known to us by the name of “Campanian[2034] garland,” the best kind of melilote[2035] 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.

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,”[2036] 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,”[2037] 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,[2038] for instance, hippomarathron,[2039] and the myophonum.[2040] The umbels, too, of fennel-giant and the purple flowers[2041] of the ivy are employed for this purpose; as also another kind of ivy very similar to the wild rose,[2042] the colour only of which is attractive, the flower being quite inodorous. There are also two[2043] 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.[2044]

(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[2045] origanum.

CHAP. 31.—TWO VARIETIES OF THYME. PLANTS PRODUCED FROM BLOSSOMS AND NOT FROM SEED.

There are also as many varieties of thyme[2046] employed, the one white, the other dark:[2047] 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[2048] 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:[2049] at a period when it was universally supposed, too, that the olive never grows beyond three hundred stadia[2050] from the sea. But, at the present day, we know for certain that in the province of Gallia Narbonensis the Stony Plains[2051] are quite overgrown with thyme; this being, in fact, the only source of revenue to those parts, thousands of sheep[2052] being brought thither from distant countries to browse upon the plant.

CHAP. 32.—CONYZA.

There are two varieties of conyza, also, employed in making chaplets, the male[2053] 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[2054] of it on a previous occasion.

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,[2055] the amaracus, the hemerocalles,[2056] the abrotonum, the helenium,[2057] sisymbrium,[2058] 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.”[2059] 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.[2060] 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[2061] 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.

CHAP. 34.—THE ABROTONUM. THE ADONIUM: TWO VARIETIES OF IT. PLANTS WHICH REPRODUCE THEMSELVES. THE LEUCANTHEMUM.

The flower of the abrotonum,[2062] 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 transplanted in summer, which is the case also with the adonium.[2063] 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[2064] has a similar smell to that of the abrotonum: it is a foliated plant, with a white flower.

CHAP. 35. (11.)—TWO VARIETIES OF THE AMARACUS.

Diocles, the physician, and the people of Sicily have given the name of “amaracus” to the plant known in Egypt and Syria as sampsuchum.[2065] 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.

CHAP. 36.—THE NYCTEGRETON, CHENOMYCHE, OR NYCTALOPS.

Democritus has regarded the nyctegreton[2066] as one of the most singular of plants. According to that author, it is of a dark red colour, has leaves like those of a thorn, and creeps upon the ground. He says that it grows in Gedrosia[2067] more particularly, and that it is taken up by the roots immediately after the vernal equinox, and dried in the moonlight for thirty days; after which preparation it emits light by night. He states also, that the Magi and the kings of Parthia employ this plant in their ceremonies when they make a vow to perform an undertaking; that another name given to it is “chenomyche,”[2068] from the circumstance that, at the very sight of it, geese will manifest the greatest alarm; and that by some persons, again, it is known as the “nyctalops,”[2069] from the light which it emits at a considerable distance by night.

CHAP. 37.—WHERE THE MELILOTE IS FOUND.

The melilote[2070] is found growing everywhere, though that of Attica is held in the highest esteem. In all countries, however, it is preferred when fresh gathered; that too, the colour of which is not white, but approaches as nearly as possible to the colour of saffron. In Italy, however, it is the white kind that is the most odoriferous.

CHAP. 38.—THE SUCCESSION IN WHICH FLOWERS BLOSSOM: THE SPRING FLOWERS. THE VIOLET. THE CHAPLET ANEMONE. THE ŒNANTHE. THE MELANION. THE HELICHRYSOS. THE GLADIOLUS. THE HYACINTH.

The first of the flowers that announce the approach of spring is the white[2071] violet; indeed, in warm localities, it is seen peeping out in the winter even. Next to it comes the violet known as the ion, and the purple violet; then the flame-coloured flower, the name of which is phlox,[2072] but only the wild one. The cyclaminum[2073] blossoms twice a year, in spring and autumn, standing equally in awe as it does of summer and of winter. The narcissus and the lily, in the parts beyond sea, are a little later than the preceding plants: but in Italy, as we have already[2074] stated, they are in blossom with the rose. In Greece, too, the anemone[2075] blooms even later; it is the flower of a wild bulb, and is altogether different from the one[2076] which we shall have occasion to mention among the medicinal plants.

Next, after these, come the œnanthe,[2077] the melanion,[2078] and, among the wild plants, the helichrysos;[2079] then, another kind of anemone, known as the “limonia,”[2080] and after that the gladiolus,[2081] accompanied by the hyacinth. Last of all, among the spring flowers, is the rose, which, with the exception indeed of the cultivated kinds, is also the first to fade. Among the others, the flowers which last the longest, are the hyacinth, the white violet, and the œnanthe; but to make this last keep any time in flower, it is necessary to gather it repeatedly, to prevent it from running to seed. The œnanthe grows in warm localities, and has exactly the smell of the vine when in blossom, to which circumstance it is indebted for its name.

There are two fabulous stories attached to the hyacinth;[2082] according to one of them, it bears the impress of the grief[2083] which Apollo felt for the youth[2084] whom he had so tenderly loved; and we learn from the other, that it derives its name from the blood[2085] of Ajax, the veins being so arranged in the flower as to form the Greek letters ΑΙ inscribed upon it.

The helichrysos has a flower resembling gold in appearance, a small leaf, and a fine, slender, but hard, stem. According to the Magi, the person who crowns himself with a chaplet composed of this flower, and takes his unguents from a box of gold, of the kind generally known as “apyron,”[2086] will be sure to secure esteem and glory among his fellowmen. Such are the flowers of spring.

CHAP. 39.—THE SUMMER FLOWERS—THE LYCHNIS: THE TIPHYON. TWO VARIETIES OF THE POTHOS. TWO VARIETIES OF THE ORSINUM. THE VINCAPERVINCA OR CHAMÆDAPHNE—A PLANT WHICH IS AN EVER-GREEN.

The summer flowers come next, the lychnis[2087] the flower of Jove, and another kind of lily,[2088] as also the tiphyon[2089] and the amaracus, surnamed that of Phrygia. Put the most remarkable flower of all is the pothos,[2090] of which there are two varieties, one with the flower of the hyacinth,[2091] and another with a white flower, which is generally found growing about graves, and is better able to stand bad weather. The iris,[2092] also, blossoms in summer. All these flowers pass away, however, and fade; upon which others assume their places in autumn, a third kind of lily,[2093] for instance, saffron, and two varieties of the orsinum[2094]—one of them inodorous and the other scented—making their appearance, all of them, as soon as the first autumnal showers fall.

The garland-makers employ the flowers of the thorn[2095] even for making chaplets; the tender shoots, too, of the white thorn are sometimes preserved as a choice morsel[2096] to tempt the palate.