the top whereof growes a sharpe prickly round head much after the manner of the last described each of the seed-vessels whereof this head consists ends in a prickly stalke hauing fiue or seuen points whereof the vppermost that is in the middle is the longest The seed that is contained in these prickly vessels is little and transparent like in colour to that of Cow-wheat The floures as in others of this kinde hang trembling vpon yellowish small threds ⡠¶ The Place and Time 1 2 They grow in watery medows and fields as you may see in Saint Georges fields and such like places 3 4 Both these grow in diuers mountainous places of Italy the later whereof floures in May. ¶ The Names The first is called Hedge-hog Grasse and in Latine Gramen Echinatum by reason of those prickles which are like vnto a hedge-hog The second hairy Grasse is called Gramen exile hirsutum Cyperoides because it is small and little and rough or hairy like a Goat and Cyperoides because his roots do spring and creepe like the Cyperus â¡ 3 This by Anguillara is thought to be Combretum of Pliny it is Gram. lucidum of ãâã and Gramen hirsutum capitulo globoso of Bauhine Pin. pag. 7. 4 Fabius Columna calls this Gramen montanum Echinatum tribuloides capitatum and Bauhine nameth it Gramen spica subrotunda echinata Wee may call it in English Round headed Caltrope Grasse ¶ The Vertues 3 The heade of this which I haue thought good to call Siluer-grasse is very good to be applied to greene wounds and effectuall to stay bleeding Caesalp â¡ CHAP. 15. Of Hairy Wood ãâã ¶ The Description 1 HAiry Wood-grasse hath broad rough leaues somewhat like the precedent but much longer and they proceed from a threddy root which is very thicke and ful of strings as the common Grasse with small stalkes rising vp from the same roots but the top of these stalkes is diuided into a number of little branches and on the end of euery one of them standeth a little floure or huske like the top of Allium Vrsinum or common Ramsons wherein the seed is contained when the floure is fallen 2 Cyperus Wood-grasse hath many sheary grassie leaues proceeding from a root made of many hairy strings or threds among which there riseth vp sundry straight and vpright stalkes on whose tops are certaine scaly and chaffie huskes or rather spikie blackish eares not much vnlike the catkins or tags which grow on Nut-trees or Aller trees 1 Gramen hirsutum nemorosum Hairy Wood-grasse 2 Gramen Cyperinum nemorosum Cyperus Wood-grasse ¶ The Place Time and Names These two grow in woods or shadowie places and may in English be called Wood-grasses Their time is common with the rest ¶ Their Nature and Vertues There is nothing to be said of their nature and vertues being as vnknowne as most of the former CHAP. 16. Of Sea Spike-Grasse ¶ The Description 1 SEa Spike-grasse hath many small hollow round leaues about six inches long rising from a bushy threddy white fibrous root which are very soft and smooth in handling Among these leaues there doe spring vp many small rushy stalkes alongst which are at the first diuers small flouring round buttons the sides whereof falling away the middle part growes into a longish seed-vessell standing vpright 1 Gramen marinum spicatum Sea Spike-grasse 2 Gramen spicatum alterum Saltmarsh Spike grasse 2 Salt-marsh Spike-grasse hath a woody tough thicke root with some small hairy threds fastned thereunto out of which arise long and thicke leaues very like those of that Sea-grasse we vulgarly call Thrift And amongst these leaues grow vp slender naked rushy stalkes which haue on one side small knobs or buttons of a greenish colour hanging on them 3 The third hath many rushy leaues tough and hard of a browne colour well resembling Rushes his root is compact of many small tough and long strings His stalke is bare and naked of leaues vnto the top on which it hath many small pretty chaffie buttons or heads 4 The fourth is like the third sauing that it is larger the stalke also is thicker and taller than that of the former bearing at the top such huskes as are in Rushes 5 Great Cypresse Grasse hath diuers long three-square stalkes proceeding from a root compact of many long and tough strings or threds The leaues are long and broad like vnto the sedge called Carex The spike or eare of it is like the head of Plantaine and very prickly and commonly of a yellowish greene colour 6 Small Cypresse Grasse is like vnto the other in root and leaues sauing that it is smaller His stalke is smooth and plaine bearing at the top certaine tufts or pannicles like to the last described in roughnesse and colour 3 Gramen junceum marinum Sea Rush-grasse 4 Gramen junceum maritimum Marish Rush-grasse 5 Gramen palustris Cyperoides Great Cypresse Grasse 6 Gramen Cyperoides parvum Small Cypresse Grasse 7 Gramen aquaticum Cyperoides vulgatius Water Cypresse Grasse 8 Gramen Cyperoides spicatum Spike Cypresse Grasse 9 Gramen ãâã syluaticum Wood Rushy-grasse 7 The first of these two kindes hath many crooked and crambling roots of awoody substance very like vnto the right Cyperus differing from it onely in smell because the right Cyperus roots haue a fragrant smell and these none at all His leaues are long and broad rough sharp or cutting at the edges like sedge His stalke is long big and three square like to Cyperus and on his top a chaffie vmbel or tuft like vnto the true Cyperus â¡ 8 The second kinde hath many broad leaues like vnto those of Gillouers but of a fresher greene amongst the which riseth vp a short stalke some handful or two high bearing at the top three or foure short eares of a reddish murrey colour and these eares grow commonly together at the top of the stalk and not one vnder another There is also another lesser sort hereof with leaues and roots like the former but the stalke is commonly shorter and it hath but one single eare at the top thereof You haue the figures of both these exprest in the same table or piece This kinde of Grasse is the Gramen spicatum ãâã Vetonicae of Lobel â¡ 9 This hath long tough and hairy strings growing deepe in the earth like a turfe which make the root from which rise many crooked tough and rushy stalks hauing toward the top scaly and chaffie knobs or buttons â¡ This growes some halfe yard high with round brownish heads and the leaues are ioynted as you see them expressed in the figure we here giue you ⡠¶ The Place Time Names Nature and Vertues All the Grasses which we haue described in this chapter doe grow in marish and watery places neere to the sea or other fenny grounds or by muddy and myrie ditches at the same time that the others do grow and flourish Their names are easily gathered of the places they
Sorgho in Portugal Milium Saburrum in English Turky Mill or Turky Hirsse â¡ This seemes to be the Milium which was brought into Italy out of India in the reigne of the Emperour Nero the which is described by Pliny lib. 18. cap. 7. ⡠¶ The temperature and vertues The seed of Turky Mill is like vnto Panicke-In taste and temperature The country People sometimes make bread hereof but it is brittle and of little nourishment and for the most part it serueth to fatten hens and pigeons with CHAP. 63. Of Panick 1 Panicum Indicum Indian Panick 2 ãâã Caeruleum Blew Panicke ¶ The kindes THere be sundry sorts of Panicke although of the Antients there haue beene set downe but two that is to say the wilde or field Panicke and the garden or manured Panicke ¶ The descrip tin 1 THe Panick of India groweth vp like Millet whose straw is knotty or full of ioynts the ears be round and hanging downward in which is contained a white or yellowish seed like Canarie seed or Alpisti 2 Blew Panick hath a reddish stalke like to Sugar cane as tall as a man thicker than a finger full of a fungous pith of a pale colour the stalkes be vpright and knotty these that grow neere the root are of a purple colour on the top of the stalk commeth forth a spike or eare like the water Cats Taile but of a blew or purple colour The Seed is like to naked Otes The Roots are very small in respect of the other parts of the plant â¡ 3 Panicum Americanum ãâã West-Indian Panicke with a very long eare â¡ 3 To these may be added another West-Indian Panicke sent to Clusius from M. Iames ãâã of London The eare hereof was thicke close compact and made Taper-fashion smaller at the one end than at the other the length thereof was more than a foot halfe The shape of the seed is much like the last described but that many of them together are contained in one hairie huske which is fastned to a very short stalke as you may see represented apart by the side of the figure â¡ 4 Panicum vulgare Common or Germane Panicke 5 Panicum syluestre Wild Panicke 4 Germane Panicke hath many hairy roots growing thicke together like vnto wheat as is all the rest of the plant as well leaues or blades as straw or stalke The eare groweth at the top single not vnlike to Indian Panicke but much lesser The graines are contained in chaffie scales red declining to tawny 5 The wilde Panicke groweth vp with long reeden stalkes full of ioynts set with long leaues like those of Sorghum or Indian Panicke the tuft or feather-like top is like vnto the common reed or the eare of the grasse called Ischaemon or Manna grasse The root is small and threddy ¶ The place and time The kindes of Panick are sowen in the Spring and are ripe in the beginning of August They prosper best in hot and dry Regions and wither for the most part with much watering as doth Mil and Turky wheat they quickly come to ripenesse and may be kept good a long time ¶ The Names Panick is called in Greeke ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã and ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã Diocles the Physition nameth it Mel Frugum the Spaniards Panizo the Latines Panicum of Pannicula in English Indian Panicke or Otemeale ¶ The temperature Panicks nourish little and are driers as Galen saith ¶ The vertues Panicke stoppeth the laske as Millet doth being boyled as Pliny reporteth in Goats milke and drunke twice in a day Outwardly in Pultesses or otherwise it dries and cooles Bread made of Panick nourisheth little and is cold and dry very brittle hauing in it neither clamminesse nor fatnesse and therefore it drieth a moist belly CHAP. 64. Of Canary seed or Pety Panicke 1 Phalaris Canarie seed 2 Phalaris pratensis Quaking grasse ¶ The Description 1 CAnarie seed or Canarie grasse after some hath many small hairy roots from which arise small strawie stalkes ioynted like corne whereupon do grow leaues like those of Barley which the whole plant doth very well resemble The small ãâã eare groweth at the top of the stalke wherein is contained small seeds like those of Panicke of a yellowish colour and shining 2 Shakers or Quaking Grasse groweth to the height of halfe a foot and sometimes higher when it groweth in fertile medowes The stalke is very small and benty set with many grassie leaues like the common medow grasse bearing at the top a bush or tuft of flat scaly pouches like those of Shepheards purse but thicker of a browne colour set vpon the most small and weake hairy foot stalkes that may be found whereupon those small pouches do hang by meanes of which small hairy strings the knaps which are the floures do continually tremble and shake in such sort that it is not possible with the most stedfast hand to hold it from shaking â¡ 3 There is also another Grassie plant which may fitly be referred to these the leaues and stalkes resemble the last described but the heads are about the length and bredth of a small ãâã and handsomely compact of light scaly filmes much like thereto whence some haue termed it Gramen Lupuli glumis The colour of this pretty head when it commeth to ripenesse is white ⡠¶ The place 1 Canarie seed groweth naturally in Spaine and also in the Fortunate or Canary Islands and doth grow in England or any other of these cold Regions if it be sowen therein 3 Phalaris pratensis altera Pearle Grasse 2 Quaking Phalaris groweth in fertile pastures and in dry medowes 3 This growes naturally in some ãâã of Spaine and it is sowen yearely in many of our London Gardens ¶ The time 1 3 These Canarie seeds are sowen in May and are ripe in August ¶ The Names 1 Canary seed or Canarie corne is called of the Grecians ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã the Latines retaining the same name Phalaris in the Islands of Canarie Alpisti in English Cana rie seed and Canary grasse 2 Phalaris pratensis is called also Gramen tremulum in Cheshire about Nantwich Quakers and Shakers in some places Cow-quakes 3 This by some is termed Phalaris altera Clusius calleth it Gramen Amourettes majus Bauhine Gramen tremulum maximum In English they call it Pearle-Grasse and Garden-Quakers ¶ The Nature and vertues I finde not any thing set downe as touching the temperature of Phalaris notwithstanding it is thought to be of the nature of Millet The iuyce and seed as Galen saith are thought to be profitably drunke against the paines of the bladder Apothecaries for want of Millet doe vse the same with good successe in fomentations for in dry fomentations ãâã in stead thereof and is his succedaneum or quid pro quo We vse it in England also to feed the Canarie Birds ãâã Fox-taile CHAP. 65. Of Fox-Taile ¶ The Description 1 FOx-taile hath many grassie leaues or blades rough and hairy like vnto those of
downe with the winde 1 Chondrilla coerulea Blew Gum Succorie 2 Chondrilla coerulea latifolia Robinus Gum Succory 2 Gum Succorie with broad leaues which I haue named Robinus Gum Succorie for that he was the first that made any mention of a second kind which he sent me as a great dainty as indeed I confesse it in roots is like the former the leaues be greater not vnlike to those of Endiue but cut more deeply euen to the middle rib the stalkes grow to the height of two foot the floures likewise are of an azure colour but sprinckled ouer as it were with siluer sand which addeth vnto the floure great grace and beauty 3 Yellow gum Succorie hath long leaues like in forme and diuision of the cut leaues to those of wild Succorie but lesser couered all ouer with a hoarie down The stalke is two foot high white and downie also diuided into sundry branches whereupon doe grow torne floures like those of Succorie but in colour yellow which are turned into downe that is caried away with the winde The root is long and of a meane thicknesse from which as from all the rest of the plant doth issue forth a milky iuyce which being dried is of a yellowish red sharp or biting the tongue There is found vpon the branches hereof a gum as Dioscorides saith which is vsed at this day in physicke in the Isle Lemnos as Bellonius witnesseth 4 Spanish Gum Succorie hath many leaues spred vpon the ground in shape like those of Groundsell but much more diuided and not so thicke nor fat amongst which rise vp branched stalkes set with leaues like those of Stoebe salamanticaminor or Siluer-weed where of this is a kinde The floures grow at the top of an ouerworne purple colour which seldome shew themselues abroad blowne â¡ The seed is like that of Carthamus in shape but blacke and shining â¡ 3 Chondrilla lutea Yellow Gum Succorie 4 Chondrilla Hispanica Spanish Gum Succorie 5 Rushy Gum Succorie hath a tough and hard root with a few short threds fastned thereto from the which rise vp a few iagged leaues like those of Succorie but much more diuided The stalke groweth vp to the height of two foot tough and limmer like vnto rushes whereon are set many narrow leaues The floures be yellow single and small which being faded doe fly away with the winde the whole plant hauing milky iuyce like vnto the other of his kinde â¡ There is another sort of this plant to be found in some places of this kingdome and it is mentioned by Bauhinus vnder the name of Chondrilla viscosa humilis â 6 Sea Gum Succorie hath many knobby or tuberous roots full of iuyce of a whitish purple colour with long strings fastned to them from which immediately rise vp a few small thinne leaues fashioned like those of Succory narrower below and somewhat larger towards their ends among which spring vp small tender stalkes naked smooth hollow round of some foot high or thereabout each of these stalkes haue one floure in shape like that of the Dandelion but lesser The whole plant is whitish or hoary as are many of the sea plants â 7 Swines Succorie hath white small and tender roots from the which rise many indented leaues like those of Dandelion but much lesse spred or laid flat vpon the ground from the midst whereof rise vp small soft and tender stalkes bearing at the top double yellow floures like those of Dandelion or Pisse-abed but smaller the seed with the downy tuft flieth away with the wind 8 The male Swines Succorie hath a long and slender root with some few threds or strings fastned thereto from which spring vp small tender leaues about the bignesse of those of Dasies spred vpon the ground cut or snipt about the edges confusedly of an ouerworne colour full of a milky iuyce among which rise vp diuers small tender naked stalkes bearing at the top of euery stalke one floure and no more of a faint yellow colour and something double which being ripe 5 Chondrilla ãâã Rushy Gum Succorie 6 Chondrilla marina Lobelij Sea Gum Succorie 7 ãâã Porcellia Swines Succorie 8 Hyoseris mascula Male Swines Succorie â¡ 9 Cichorium verracarium Wart-Succorie â¡ 9 I thinke it expedient in this place to deliuer vnto you the historie of the Cichorium ãâã or Zacintha of ãâã of which our Author maketh mention in his Names and Vertues although he neither gaue figure nor the least description thereof This Wart-Succory for so I will call it hath leaues almost like Endiue greene with pretty deepe gashes on their sides the stalkes are much crested and at the top diuided into many branches betweene which and at their sides grow many short stalkes with yellow floures like those of Succorie but that these turne not into Downe but into cornered and hard heads most commonly diuided into eight cels or parts wherein the seed is contained ⡠¶ The Place â These plants are found only in gardens in this country the seuenth eighth excepted which ãâã may be sound to grow in vntilled places vpon ditches bankes and the borders of fields or the like ¶ The Time They do floure from May to the end of August ¶ The Names Gum Succorie hath beene called of the Grecians ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã of the Latines ãâã and ãâã Dioscorides and Pliny call it Cichorion and ãâã by reason of some likenesse they haue with Succorie especially the two first which haue blew floures as those of the Succories Lobelius maketh Cicherea verrucaria to be Zacintha of ãâã ⡠¶ Names in particular â¡ 1 This is called Chondrilla coerulea Belgarum of Lobel Apate of Daleschampius 2 Condrilla 2. of Matthiolus Chondrilla ãâã coerulea of Tabernamontanus 3 Chondrilla prior Discoridis of ãâã and Lobel 4 Chondrilla rara purpurea c. of Lobel Chondrilla Hispanica Narbonensis of Tabern Seneciocarduus Apulus of ãâã 5 Chondrilla prima Dioscoridis of Columna and Bauhinus Viminea viscosa of Lobel and Clusius 6 Chondrilla altera Dioscoridis of Columna some thinke it to be ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã of Theophrastus Lobell calls it Chondrilla pusilla marina lutea bullosa 7 Hypochaeris porcellia of Tabernamontanus 8 Hieracium minimum 9. of Clusius Hyoseris latifolia of ãâã The two last should haue bin put among the Hieracia 9 Cichorium verrucarium and Zacinthus of Matthiolus and Clusius ⡠¶ The Nature and Vertues These kinds of gum Succoric are like in temperature to the common Succory but drier The root and leaues tempered with hony and made into Trochiskes or little flat cakes with niter or salt-peter added to them cleanse away the morphew sun-burnings and all spots of the face The gum which is gathered from the branches whereof it tooke his name layeth downe the stairing haires of the eye-browes and such like places and in some places it is vsed for Mastick as Bellonius obserues The gum poudered with myrrh and put into a linnen cloath and a
ordinarie but at the bottome of the stalke aboue the fibrous roots it hath a bulbe greenish within and couered with two or three skins it growes in moist and ãâã low places of Holland â¡ 1 Ophris ãâã Twaiblade â¡ 3 Ophris bifolia bulbosa Bulbous Twaiblade ¶ The Place The first groweth in moist medowes fenny grounds and shadowie places I haue fonnd it in many places as at South fleet in Kent in a Wood of Master Sidleys by Long-field Downes in a Wood by London called Hampstead Wood in the fields by High-gate in the Woods by Ouenden neere to Clare in Essex and in the Woods by Dunmow in Essex The second sort is seldome seene ¶ The Time They floure in May and Iune ¶ The Names It is called of the later Herbarists Bifolium and Ophris ¶ The Nature and Vertues These are reported of the Herbarists of our time to be good for greene wounds burstings and ruptures whereof I haue in my vnguents and Balsams for greene wounds had great experience and good successe CHAP. 88. Of Adders-Tongue ¶ The Description 1 OPhioglosson or Lingua Serpentis called in English Adders tongue of some Adders Grasse though vnproperly riseth forth of the ground hauing one leafe and no more fat or oleous in substance of a finger long and very like the yong and tender leaues of Marigolds from the bottome of which leafe springeth out a small and tender stalke one finger and a halfe long on the end whereof doth grow a long small tongue not vnlike the tongue of a serpent whereof it tooke the name 2 I haue seene another like the former in root stalke and leafe and ãâã in that this plant hath two and sometimes more crooked tongues yet of the same fashion which if my iudgment faile not chanceth per accidens euen as we see children borne with two thumbes vpon one hand which moueth me so to thinke for that in gathering twenty bushels of the leaues a man shall hardly finde one of this fashion 1 Ophioglosson Adders-Tongue â¡ 2 Ophioglosson abortivum Mis-shapen Adders-Tongue ¶ The Place Adders-Tongue groweth in moist medowes throughout most parts of England as in a Meadow neere the preaching Spittle adioyning to London in the Mantels by London in the medowes by Cole-brooke in the fields in Waltham Forrest and many other places ¶ The Time They are to be found in Aprill and May but in Iune they are quite vanished and gone ¶ The Names Ophioglossum is called in shops Lingua serpentis Linguace and Lingualace it is also called Lancea Christi Enephyllon and Lingua vulneraria in English Adders tongue or Serpents tongue in Dutch Natertonguen of the Germanes Nater zungelin ¶ The Nature Adders-tongue is dry in the third degree ¶ The Vertues The leaues of Adders tongue stamped in a stone morter and boyled in Oile Oliue vnto the consumption of the iuyce and vntill the herbes be dry and partched and then strained will yeeld a most excellent greene oyle or rather a balsam for greene wounds comparable vnto oyle of S. Iohns wort if it do not farre surpasse it by many degrees whose beauty is such that very many Artists haue thought the same to be mixed with Verdigrease CHAP. 89. Of One-berry or Herbe True-loue and Moone-wort 1 Herba Paris One-Berry or Herbe True-loue 2 Lunaria minor Small Moone-wort ¶ The Description 1 HErbe Paris riseth vp with one small tender stalke two hands high at the very top whereof come forth foure leaues directly set one against another in manner of a Burgundian Crosse or True-loue knot for which cause among the Antients it hath bin called Herbe True ãâã In the midst of the said leafe comes forth a star-like floure of an herby or grassie colour out of the middest whereof there ariseth vp a blackish browne berrie the root is long and tender creeping vnder the earth and dispersing it selfe hither and thither 2 The small Lunary springeth forth of the ground with one ãâã like Adders-tongue iagged or cut on both sides into fiue or six deepe cuts or notches not much vnlike the leaues of Scolopendria or ãâã ãâã a greene colour whereupon doth grow a small naked stem of a finger long bearing at the top many little seeds clustering together which being gathered and laid in a platter or such like thing for the space of three weekes there will fall from the same a fine dust or meale of a whitish colour which is the seed if it bring forth any The root is slender and compact of many small threddy strings â¡ In England saith Camerarius there growes a certaine kinde of Lunaria which hath many leaues and sometimes also sundry branches which therefore I haue caused to be delineated that other Herbarists might also take notice hereof Thus much Camerarius Epit. Mat. p. 644. where he giues an elegant figure of a varietie hauing more leaues and branches than the ordinary otherwise not differing from it 3 Besides this varietie there is another kinde set forth by Clusius whose figure and description I thinke good here to set downe This hath a root consisting of many fibres somewhat thicker than those of the common kinde from which arise one or two winged leaues that is many leaues set to one stalke and these are like the leaues of the other Lunaria but that they are longer thicker and more diuided and of a yellowish greene colour Amongst these leaues there comes vp a stalke fat and juycie bearing a greater tuft of floures or seeds for I know not whether to cal them than the ordinarie but otherwise very like thereto It groweth in the mountaines of Silesia and in some places of Austria â¡ â¡ 3 Lunaria minor ramosa Small branched Moon-wort ¶ The Place Herba Paris groweth plentifully in all these places following that is to say in Chalkney wood neere to wakes ãâã seuen miles from Colchester in Essex and in the wood by Robinhoods well neere to Nottingham in the parsonage orchardat Radwinter in Essex neere to Saffron Walden in Blackburne at a place called Merton in Lancashire in the Moore by Canturbury called the Clapper in Dingley wood six miles from Preston in Aundernesse in Bocking parke by Braintree in Essex at Hesset in Lancashire and in Cotting wood in the North of England as that excellent painefull and diligent Physition Mr. Doctor Turner of late memorie doth record in his Herbal Lunaria or small Moone-wort groweth vpon dry and barren mountaines and heaths I haue found it growing in these places following that is to say about Bathe in Somersetshire in many places especially at a place called Carey two miles from Bruton in the next Close vnto the Church-yard on Cockes Heath betweene Lowse and Linton three miles from Maidstone in Kent it groweth also in the ruines of an old bricke-kilne by Colchester in the ground of Mr. George Sayer called Miles end it groweth likewise vpon the side of Blacke-heath neere vnto the stile that leadeth vnto Eltham house about an hundred paces
containing the seed The root is small and full of fibres ¶ The Place Cow-Basill groweth in my garden but Ephemerum is a stranger as yet in England ¶ The Time They floure in May and Iune 1 Vaccaria Cow-Basill 2 Ephemerum Matthioli Quicke-fading floure ⡠¶ The Names 1 Cow-Basill is by Cordus called Thamecnemon by some according to Gesner Lychnis Perfoliatarubra Lobel termes it ãâã syluestris and Vaccaria the last of which names is retained by most late Writers 2 This by Lobel is said to be Ephemerum of Matthiolus yet I thinke Matthiolus his figure which was in this place formerly was but a counterfeit and so also doe Columna and ãâã iudge of it and Bauhine thinkes this of ãâã to be some kinde of Lysimachia ⡠¶ The Nature and Vertues I finde not any thing extant concerning the Nature and Vertues of Vaccaria or Cow-Basill ãâã as Dioscorides writeth boyled in wine and the mouth washed with the decoction thereof taketh away the tooth-ache CHAP. 135. Of Sesamoides or Bastard Weld or Woade ¶ The Description 1 THe great Sesamoides hath very long leaues and many slender toward the stalk and broader by degrees toward the end placed confusedly vpon a thicke stiffe stalke on the top whereof grow little foolish or idle white floures which being past there ãâã small seeds like vnto Canarie seed that birds are fed withall The root is thicke and of a wooddy substance â¡ 2 This lesser ãâã of Salamanca from a long liuing white hard and prettie thicke root sends vp manv little stalks set thicke with small leaues like those of Line and from the middle to the top of the stalke grow many floures at first of a geeenish purple and then putting forth yellowish threds out of ãâã midst of which appeare as it were foure greene graines which when the floure is fallen grow into little cods full of a small blackish seed It growes in a stony soile vpon the hills neere Salamanca where it floures in May and shortly after perfects his seed â¡ 1 Sesamoides Salamanticum magnum Great bastard Woade 2 Sesamoides Salamanticum parvum Small Bastard Woade 3 Sesamoides parvum Matthioli Bucks-horne Gum-Succorie â¡ 3 Our Author formerly in the Chapter of Chondrilla spoke in Dodonaeus his words against the making of this plant a Sesamoides for of this plant were the words of Dodonaeus which are these Diuers saith he haue taken the plant with blew floures to be Sesamoides parvum but without any reason for that Sesamoides hath borrowed his name from the likenesse it hath with Sesamum but this herbe is not like to Sesamum in any one point and therefore I thinke it better referred vnto the Gum Succories for the floures haue the form and colour of Gum Succory and it yeeldeth the like milky juyce Our Authour it seemes was either forgetfull or ignorant of what he had said for here hee made it one and described it meerly by the figure and his fancie Now I following his tract haue though vnfitly put it here because there was no historie nor figure of it formerly there but both here though false and vnperfect This plant hath a root somewhat like that of Goats-beard from which arise leaues rough and hairy diuided or cut in on both sides after the manner of Bucks-horne and larger than they The stalke is some foot high diuided into branches which on their tops carry floures of a faire blew colour like those of Succorie which stand in rough scaly heads like those of Knapweed ⡠¶ The Place These do grow in rough and stony places but are all strangers in England ¶ The Time These floure in May and Iune and shortly after ripen their seed ⡠¶ The Names â¡ 1 ãâã thinke none of these to be the Sesamoides of the Antients The first is set forth by Clusius vnder the name we here giue you it is the Muscipula altera muscoso flore of Lobel Viscago maior of Camerarius 2 This also Clusius and Lobel haue set forth by the same name as we giue you them 3 Matthiolus Camerarius and others haue set this forth for Sesamoides parvum in the Historia Lugd. it is called Catanance quorundam but most fitly by Dodon Chondrillae species tertia The third kinde of Gum-Succory ⡠¶ The Temperature Galen affirmeth that the seed containeth in it selfe a bitter qualitie and saith that it heateth breaketh and scoureth ¶ The Vertues Dioscorides affirmeth that the weight of an halfe-penny of the seed drunke with Meade or honied water purgeth flegme and choler by the stoole The same being applied doth waste hard knots and swellings CHAP. 136. Of Dyers Weed Luteola Dyers weed or yellow weed ¶ The Description DYers weed hath long narrow and greenish yellow leaues not much vnlike to woad but a great deale smaller and narrower from among which commeth vp a stalke two cubits high beset with little narrow leaues euen to the top of the stalke come forth small pale yellow floures closely clustering together one aboue another which doe turne into small buttons cut as it were crosse-wise wherein the seed is contained The root is very long and single ¶ The Place Dyers weed groweth of it selfe in moist barren and vntilled places in and about Villages almost euery where ¶ The Names Pliny lib. 33. cap. 5. maketh mention by the way of this herbe and calleth it Lutea Vitruvius in his seuenth booke Lutum it is the Anticarhinum of Tragus Pseudostruthium of Mathiolus Virgill in his Bucolickes Eglog 4. cals it also Lutum in English Welde or Dyers weed ¶ The Time This herbe flourisheth in Iune and Iuly ¶ The Nature It is hot and dry of temperature ⡠¶ The Vertues The root as also the whole herbe heates and dries in the third degree it cuts attenuates resolueth opens digests Some also commend it against the punctures and bites of venomous creatures not onely outwardly applied to the wound but also taken inwardly in drinke Also it is commended against the infection of the Plague some for these reasons terme it Theriacaria Mat. â¡ CHAP. 137. Of Staues-acre Staphis-agria Staues-acre ¶ The Description STaues-acre hath straight stalkes of a ãâã colour with leaues clouen or cut into sundry sections almost like the leaues of the wilde Vine The floures do grow vpon short stems fashioned somewhat like vnto our common Monks hood of a perfect blew colour which being past there succeed welted huskes like those of Wolfs-bane wherein is contained triangular brownish rough seed The root is of a wooddy substance and perisheth when it hath perfected his seed ¶ The Place It is with great difficultie preserued in our cold countries albeit in some milde VVinters I haue kept it couered ouer with a little Ferne to defend it from the iniury of the March winde which doth more harme vnto plants that ãâã forth of hot Countries than doth the greatest frosts ¶ The Time It floureth in Iune and the seed is ripe the second yeare of his sowing
rise vp diuers branches charged with the like leaues the floures grow at the toppes of the branches of a most shining yellow colour the root is also like the former 3 The great Marsh Marigold with double floures is a stranger in England his natiue Countrey should seeme to be in the furthest part of Germanie by the relation of a man of those Countries that I haue had conference withall the which hee thus described it hath saith hee leaues roots and stalkes like those of our common sort and hath double floures like those of the garden Marigold wherein consisteth the difference 3 Calthapalustris multiplex Double floured Marsh Marigold The Place They ioy in moist and marish grounds and in watery medowes â¡ I haue not sound the double one wilde but seene it preserued in diuers gardens for the beautie of the floure ⡠¶ The Time They floure in the Spring when the Crowfoots doe and oftentimes in Sommer the leaues keepe their greenenesse all the Winter long ¶ The Names Marsh Marigold is called of Valerius Cordus Caltha palustris of Tabernamontanus Populago but not properly in English Marsh Marigolds in Cheshire and those parts it is called Bootes ¶ The Temperature and ãâã Touching the faculties of these plants wee haue nothing to say either out of other mens writings or our owne experiences CHAP. 295. Of Frogge-bit Morsus Rana Frogge-bit ¶ The Description THere floteth or swimmeth vpon the vpper parts of the water a small plant which wee vsually call Frog-bit hauing little round leaues thicke and full of iuice very like to the leaues of wall Peniwoort the floures grow vpon long stems among the leaues of a white colour with a certaine yellow thrum in the middle consisting of three leaues in stead of roots it hath slender strings which grow out of a short and small head as it were from whence the leaues spring in the bottom of the water from which head also come forth slopewise certaine strings by which growing forth it multiplieth it selfe ¶ The Place It is found swimming or floting almost in euery ditch pond poole or standing water in all the ditches about Saint George his fields and in the ditches by the Thames side neere to Lambeth Marsh where any that is disposed may see it ¶ The Time It flourisheth and floureth most part of all the yeare ¶ The Names It is called of some Ranae morsus and Morsus Ranae and Nymphaeaparua ¶ The Temperature and Vertues It is thought to be a kinde of Pond-weed or rather of Water Lillie and to haue the same faculties that belong vnto it CHAP. 296. Of Water Lillie ¶ The Description 1 THe white water Lillie or Nenuphar hath great round leaues in shape of a Buckler thick fat and full of iuice standing vpon long round and smooth foot-stalkes ful of a spungious substance which leaues do swim or flote vpon the top of the water vpon the end of each stalk groweth one floure onely of colour white consisting of many little long sharpe pointed leaues in the middest whereof bee many yellow threds after the floure it bringeth forth a round head in which lieth blackish glittering seed The roots be thicke full of knots blacke without white and spungie within out of which groweth a multitude of strings by which it is fastened in the ãâã 1 Nymphaea alba White Water Lillie 2 Nymphaealutea Yellow Water Lillie 2 The leaues of the yellow water Lillie be like to the other yet are they a little longer The stalkes of the floures and leaues be like the floures be yellow consisting onely of fiue little short leaues something round in the midst of which groweth a small round head or button sharpe towards the point compassed about with many yellow threds in which when it is ripe lie also glittering seeds greater than those of the other and lesser than wheat cornes The roots be thick long set with certaine dents as it were white both within and without of a spungious substance 3 The smal white water Lillie floreth likewise vpon the water hauing a single root with some few fibres fastened thereto from which riseth vp many long round smooth and soft foot-stalkes some of which doe bring forth at the end faire broad round buckler leaues like vnto the precedent but lesser on the other foot-stalkes stand prettie white floures consisting of fiue small leaues apeece hauing a little yellow in the middle thereof 3 Nymphaea alba minor The small white Water Lillie 5 Nymphaea lutea minima Dwarfe Water Lillie 4 The small yellow water Lillie hath a little threddie root creeping in the bottome of the water and dispersing it selfe far abroad from which rise small tender stalkes smooth and soft whereon do grow little buckler leaues like the last described likewise on the other small stalke standeth a tuft of many floures likewise floting vpon the water as the others do â¡ This hath the floures larger than those of the next described wherefore it may be fitly named Nymphaea lutea minor flore amplo â¡ 5 This dwarfe water Lillie differeth not from the other small yellow water Lillie sauing that that this kinde hath sharper pointed leaues and the whole plant is altogether lesser wherein lieth the difference â¡ This hath the floures much lesse than those of the last described wherefore it is fitly for distinction sake named Nymphaea ãâã minor flore paruo ⡠¶ The Place These herbes do grow in fennes standing waters broad ditches and in brookes that run slowly and sometimes in great riuers ¶ The Time They floure and flourish most of the Sommer moneths ¶ The Names Water Lillie is called in Greeke ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã and in Latine also Nymphaea so named because it loues to grow in waterie places as Dioscorides saith the Apothecaries call it Nenuphar of Apuleius Mater Herculania Alga palustris Papauer palustre Clavus veneris and Digitus veneris Marcellus a very old writer reporteth that it is called in Latine Claua Herculis in French Badittin in high Dutch ãâã ãâã in low Dutch ãâã in English Water Lillie water Rose ¶ The Temperature Both the root and seed of water Lillie haue a drying force without biting ¶ The Vertues Water Lillie with yellow floures stoppeth laskes the ouerflowing of seed which commeth away by dreames or otherwise and is good for them that haue the bloudie flix But water Lillie which hath the white floures is of greater force insomuch as it staieth the whites but both this and the other that hath the black root must be drunke in red wine they haue also a scouring quality therfore they both clense away the morphew and be also good against the pilling away of the haire of the head against the morphew they are steeped in water and sor the pilling away of the haire in Tarre but for these things that is sitter which hath the black root and for the other that which hath the white root Theoprastus saith that being stamped and laid vpon
standing waters elswhere This description was made vpon sight of the plant the 2. of Iune 1622. Tribulus aquaticus minor muscat ãâã floribus 1 Tribulus aquaticus Water Caltrops â¡ 2 Tribulus aquaticus minor quercus floribus Small water Caltrops or Frogs-lettuce â¡ 3 Tribulus aquaticus minor Muscatellae floribus Small Frogs-Lettuce ¶ The Place Cordus saith that it groweth in Germany in myrie lakes and in citie ditches that haue mud in them in Brabant and in other places of the Low-countries it is found oftentimes in standing waters and springs Matthiolus writeth that it groweth not only in lakes of sweet water but also in certaine ditches by the sea neere vnto Venice ¶ The Time It flourisheth in Iune Iuly and August ¶ The Names The Grecians call it ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã the Latins Tribulus aquatilis and aquaticus and Tribulus lacustris the Apothecaries Tribulus marinus in High Dutch ãâã ãâã the Brabanders ãâã ãâã and of the likenesse of yron nailes ãâã the French men Macres in English it is named water Caltrops Saligot and Water nuts most do call the fruit of this Caltrops Castaneae aquatiles or water ãâã nuts ¶ The Temperature Water Caltrop is of a cold nature it consisteth of a moist essence which in this is ãâã waterie than in the land Caltrops wherein an earthie cold is predominant as Galen saith ¶ The Vertues The herbe vsed in manner of a pultis as Dioscorides teacheth is good against all inflammations or hot swellings boiled with honie and water it perfectly healeth cankers in the mouth sore gums and the Almonds of the throat The Thracians saith Plinie that dwell in Strymona do fatten their horses with the leaues of Saligot and they themselues do feed of the kernels making very sweet bread thereof which bindeth the belly The green nuts or fruit of Tribulus aquaticus or Saligot being drunke in wine is good for them which are troubled with the stone and grauell The same drunke in like manner or laied outwardly to the place helpeth those that are bitten with any venomous beast and resisteth all venome and poison The leaues of Saligot be giuen against all inflammations and vlcers of the mouth the ãâã and corruption of the iawes and against the Kings euill A pouder made of the nuts is giuen to such as pisse bloud and are troubled with grauell and it doth bind the belly very much â¡ The two lesser water Caltrops here described are in my opinion much agreeable in temper to the great one and are much fitter Succidanea for it then Aron which some in the composition of Vnguentum Agrippae haue appointed for it â¡ CHAP. 299. Of water Sengreene or fresh water Soldier Militaris Aizoides Fresh water Soldier ¶ The Description FResh water Soldier or water Housleeke hath leaues like those of the herbe Aloe or Semper vivum but shorter and lesser setround about the edges with certaine stiffe and short prickles amongst which commeth forth diuers cases or huskes verie like vnto crabbes clawes out of which when they open grow white floures consisting of three leaues altogether like those of Frogs-bit hauing in the middle little yellowish threds in stead of roots there be long strings round white vetic like to great Harp-strings or to long wormes which falling downe from a short head that brought sorth the leaues go to the bottom of the water and yet be they seldome there fastened there also grow from the same other strings aslope by which the plant is multiplied after the manner of Frogs-bit ¶ The Place â¡ I found this growing plentifully in the ditches about Rotsey a smal village in Holdernesse And my friend Mr. William Broad obserued it in the Fennes in Lincolne-shire â¡ The leaues and floures grow vpon the top of the water and the roots are sent downe through the water to the mud ¶ The Time It floures in Iune and sometimes in August ¶ The Names It may be called Sedum aquatile or water Sengreen that is to say of the likenesse of herbe Aloe which is also called in Latine Sedum of some Cancri chela or Cancri forficula in English VVater Housleeke Knights Pondwoort and of some Knights water Sengreene fresh water Soldier or wading Pondweed it seemeth to be Stratiotes aquatilis or Stratiotes potamios or Knights water Wound-woort which may also be named in Latine Militaris aquatica and Militaris ãâã or Soldiers Yarrow for it groweth in the water and floteth vpon it and if those strings which it sendeth to the bottome of the wat er be no roots it also liueth without roots ¶ The Temperature This herbe is of a cooling nature and temperament ¶ The Vertues This Housleeke staieth the bloud which commeth from the kidneies it keepeth green wounds from being inflamed and it is good against S. Anthonies fire and hot swellings being applied vnto them and is equall in the vertues aforesaid with the former CHAP. 300. Of Water Yarrow and water Gillofloure 1 Viola palustris Water Violet â¡ Viola Palustris tenuifolia The smaller leaued water violet ¶ The Description 1 WAter Violet hath long and great iagged leaues very finely cut or rent like Yarrow but smaller among which come vp small stalkes a cubit and a halfe high bearing at the top small white floures like vnto stocke Gillofloures with some yellownes in the middle The roots are long and small like blacke threds and at the end whereby they are fastened to the ground they are white and shining like Chrystall â¡ There is another varietie of this plant which differs from it only in that the leaues are much smaller as you may see them exprest in the figure â¡ 2 Water Milfoile or water Yarrow hath long and large leaues deepely cut with many diuisions like ãâã but finelier iagged swimming vpon the water The root is single long and round which brings vp a right straight and slender stalke set in sundry places with the like leaues but smaller The floures grow at the top of the stalke tuft fashion and like vnto the land Yarrow 3 This water Milfoile differeth from all the kindes aforesaid hauing a root in the bottom of the water made of many hairy strings which yeeldeth vp a naked slender stalke within the water and the rest of the stalke which floteth vpon the water diuideth it selfe into sundry other branches and wings which are bedasht with fine small iagged leaues like vnto ãâã or rather resembling hairy tassels or fringe than leaues From the bosomes whereof come forth small and tender branches euery branch bearing one floure like vnto water Crow-foot white of colour with a little yellow in the midst the whole plant resembleth water Crow-foot in all things saue in the broad leaues â 4 There is another kinde of water violet very like the former sauing that his leaues are much longer somewhat resembling the leaues of Fennell fashioned like vnto wings and the floures are somewhat smaller yet white with yellownesse in their middles and shaped
wherupon are set very rough leaues hairy sharp pointed of an ouerworne grayish greene colour from the bosome of which come forth long tender foot-stalkes on the ends whereof doe grow small floures composed of fiue small leaues of a pale yellow colour after which commeth forth the fruit of the bignes of the smallest pullets egge but somewhat longer verie rough and hairy on the outside and of the colour and substance of the stalkes wherein is contained very much water and smalhard blackish seeds also of the bignesse of tares which being come to maturitie and ripenesse it casteth or squirteth forth his water with the seeds either of it owne accord or being touched with the most tender or delicate hand neuer so gently and oftentimes striketh so hard against those that touch it especially if it chance to hit against the face that the place smarteth long after whereupon of some it hath been called Noli me tangere Touch me not The root is thicke white and long lasting The Place It is found in most of the hot countries among rubbish grauell other vntilled places it is planted in gardens in the Low-countries and being once planted saith Dodonaeus it easily commeth vp againe many yeares after which is true and yet saith he further that it doth not spring againe of the root but of the seeds spirted or cast about which may likewise be true where he hath obserued it but in my garden it is otherwise for as I said before the root is long lasting and continueth from yeare to yeare ¶ The Time It springeth vp in May it floureth and is ripe in Autumne and is to be gathered at the same time to make that excellent composition called Elaterium ¶ The Names It is called in Greeke ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã in Latine Agrestis and Erraticus Cucumis in shoppes Cucumer asininus in Italian Cocomero saluatico in Spanish Cogumbrillo amargo in English wilde Cucumber spirting Cucumbers and touch me not in French Concombres sauvages ¶ The Temperature The leaues of wilde Cucumbers roots and their rindes as they are bitter in taste so they be likewise hot and clensing The iuice is hot in the second degree as Galen witnesseth and of thin parts It clenseth and wasteth away ¶ The Vertues The iuice called ãâã doth purge forth choler flegme and waterie humours and that with force and not onely by siege but sometimes also by vomit The quantity that is to be taken at one time is from fiue grains to ten according to the strength of the patient The iuice dried or hardened and the quantitie of halfe a scruple taken driueth forth by siege grosse flegme cholericke humours and preuaileth mightily against the dropsie and shortnesse of breath The same drawne vp into the nosthrils mixed with a little milk taketh away the rednesse of the eies The iuice of the root doth also purge flegme cholericke and waterish humours and is good for the dropsie but not of such force as Elaterium which is made of the iuice of the fruit the making whereof I commend to the learned and curious Apothecaries among which number ãâãr. William Wright in ãâã Burie my louing friend hath taken more paines in curious composing of it and hath more exactly performed the same than any other whatsoeuer that I haue had knowledge of CHAP. 342. Of Citrull Cucumbers 1 Citrullus officinarum Citrull Cucumber â¡ 2 Citrullus minor Small Citrull ¶ The Description 1 THe Citrull Cucumber hath many long flexible and tender stalkes trailing vpon the ground branched like vnto the Vine set with certaine great leaues deeply cut and very much iagged among which come forth long clasping tendrels and also tender footstalkes on the ends whereof do grow floures of a gold yellow colour the fruit is somewhat round straked or ribbed with certaine deepe furrowes alongst the same of a green colour aboue and vnderneath on that side that lyeth vpon the ground something white the outward skin whereof is very smooth the meat within is indifferent hard more like to that of the Pompion than of the Cucumber or Muske melon the pulpe wherein the seed lieth is spungie and of a slimie substance the seed is long flat and greater than those of the Cucumbers the shell or outward barke is blackish sometimes of an ouerworne reddish colour The fruit of the Citrull doth not so easily rot or putrifie as doth the Melon which being gathered in a faire dry day may be kept a long time especially being couered in a heape of wheat as Matthiolus saith but according to my practise you may keepe them much longer and better in a heape of dry sand 2 The second kinde of Citrull differeth not from the former sauing that it is altogether lesser and the leaues are not so deepely cut or iagged wherein consisteth the difference ¶ The Place and Time The Citrull prospereth best in hot Regions as in Sicilia Apulia Calabria and Syria about Alepo and Tripolis We haue many times sown the seeds and diligently obserued the order prescribed in planting of Cucumbers ¶ The Names The later Herbarists do call it Anguria in shoppes Citrullus and Cucumus Citrullus in English Citruls and Cucumber Citruls and the seed is knowne by the name of Semen Citrulli or Citrull seed But is Cucumis Citrullus be so called of the yellow colour of the Citron then is the common Cucumber properly Cucumis Citrullus which is knowne vnto all to be contrarie ¶ The Temperature and Vertues The meat or pulpe of Cucumer Citrull which is next vnto the bark is eaten raw but more commonly boiled it yeeldeth to the bodie little nourishment and the same cold it ingendreth a waterish bloud mitigateth the extremity of heat of the inner parts and tempereth the sharpnesse and feruent heat of choler being raw and held in the mouth it takes away the roughnesse of the tongue in Agues and quencheth thirst The seeds are of the like facultie with those of Cucumbers CHAP. 343. Of the wilde Citrull called Colocynthis ¶ The Description 1 COloquintida hath beene taken of many to be a kinde of the wild Gourd it lieth along creeping on the ground as doe the Cucumbers and Melons comming neerest of all to that which in those daies of some Herbarists is called Citrull Cucumber it bringeth forth vpon his long branches smal crooked tendrels like the Vine and also very great broad leaues deepely cut or iagged among which come forth small floures of a pale yellow colour then commeth the fruit round as a bowle couered with a thin rinde of a yellow colour when it is ripe which when it is pilled or pared off the white pulpe or spungie substance appeareth full of seedes of a white or else an ouerworne browne colour the fruit so pared or pilled is dryed for medicine the which is most extreame bitter and likewise the seede and the whole plant it selfe in all his parts 2 The second kinde of Coloquintida hath likewise many long branches and clasping tendrels
it be drunke thrise a day some ten or twelue spoonfuls at a time It helpeth them that are strangled with eating of Mushroms or toad stoois if it be drunk with vineger And being taken with wine it is good against the poison of Ixia being a viscous matter proceeding from the thistle ãâã and of Hemlock and against the biting of the shrew mouse and of the Sea Dragon it is applied to the ãâã or inflammations of the throat with honie and niter and with water to night wheales and with hony to swartish markes that come vpon bruses It is applied after the same manner to dim eies and to mattering eares ãâã Camerarius of ãâã commendeth it greatly against the iaundice giuing of the floures of Wormwood Rosemarie Sloes of each a small quantitie and a little saffron boiled in wine the body first being purged and prepared by the learned Physition CHAP. 449. Of Small leafed Wormewood Absinthium ãâã ãâã Austrian Wormewood ¶ The Description SMall leafed Wormwood bringeth forth very many little branches slender a span or a foot high full of leaues lesse by a great deale and tenderer than the former most finely and nicely minced the floures like those of the former hang vpon the little branches and sprigs the roots are small creeping ouertwhart ãâã whence do rise a great number of yong sprouts this VVormwood also is somewhat white and no lesse bitter than the broad leafed one and hath not so ranke or so vnpleasant a smell but rather delightfull ¶ The Place It grows plentifully in Mysia Thracia Hungarie and Austria and in other regions neere adioining it is also found in Bohemia and in many vntilled places of Germanie it is a garden plant in the low Countries and in ãâã ¶ The Time It bringeth forth floures and seed in Autumne a little while after when winter commeth the herbe withereth away but the roote remaineth aliue from which leaues and stalks do come againe in the spring ¶ The Names â¡ This Lobel calls Absinthium Ponticum Tridentinum Herbariorum Clusius Absinthium tenuifolium Austriacum Tabernamontanus Absinthium Nabathaeum ãâã wee may call it in English small leaued Wormwood ⡠¶ The Temperature Small leafed VVormwood is of facultie hot and drie it is as bitter also as the broad leafed one and of like facultie ¶ The Vertues The faculties are referred vnto the common VVormwood CHAP. 450. Of Sea Wormewood ¶ The Description 1 THe white or common Sea VVormwood hath many leaues cut and diuided into infinite fine iags like those of Sothernwood of a white hoaric colour and strong smell but not vnpleasant among which rise vp tough hoarie stalks set with the like leaues on the top wherof do grow smal yellowish floures the root is tough and creepeth far abroad by means whereof it greatly increaseth 1 Absinthium marinum album VVhite Sea VVormwood 2 Absinthium marinum repens Creeping Sea ãâã 2 The broad ãâã Sea VVormwood hath very many soft leaues growing close by the ground of a darke swart colour nothing so ãâã cut or iagged as the other of his kinde the floures grow vpon the tops of the stalks of a yellowish colour the root is tough and creeping â¡ This hath many weake slender branches commonly two foot long at their ful growth red of colour and creeping vpon the ground the leaues are small narrow long and iagged or parted towards their ends into sundry parcels they are greene aboue and grayish vnderneath the toppes of the branches are set with many little stalkes some inch long which vpon short foot-stalkes comming out of the bosomes of little longish narrow leaues carry small round knops like as in other plants of this kind the taste is a little bitterish and the smell not vnpleasant this growes with Mr. Parkinson and others and as I remember it was first sent ouer from the Isle of Rees by Mr. Iohn Tradescant Lobel in his Obseruations mentions it by the name of Absinth ãâã supinum Herbariorum and ãâã sets it forth by the title of Absinthium repens ⡠¶ The Place Thse VVormwoods do grow vpon the raised grounds in the salt marshes neere vnto the sea in most places of England which being brought into gardens doth there flourish as in his naturall place and retaineth his smell taste and naturall qualitie as hath beene often proued â¡ I haue not heard that the later growes wilde in any place with vs in England ⡠¶ The Time These bring forth floures and seeds when the other Wormwoods ãâã â¡ The later scarce seedes with vs it floures so late in the yeare ⡠¶ The Names Sea VVormwood is called in Greeke ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã in Latine Absinthium marinum and likewise ãâã in Dutch ãâã ãâã of diuers Santonicum as witnesseth Dioscorides neuerthelesse there is another Santonicum differing from sea VVormwood in English of some women of the countrey Garden Cypresse ¶ The Temperature Sea VVormwood is of nature hot and drie but not so much as the common ¶ The Vertues Dioscorides affirmeth that being taken of it selfe or boiled with Rice and eaten with hony it killeth the small wormes of the guts and gently looseth the belly the which Pliny doth also affirme The iuice of sea VVormwood drunke with wine resisteth poison especially the poison of Hemlockes The leaues stamped with figs salt-peter and the meale of ãâã and applied to the belly sides or flankes help the dropsie and such as are spleenticke The same is singular against all inflammations and heat of the stomacke and liuer exceeding all the kindes of VVormwood for the same purposes that common VVormwood serueth It is reported by such as dwell neere the sea side that the cattell which do feed where it groweth become fat and lusty very quickly The herbe with his stalks laid in chests presses and ward-robes keepeth clothes from moths and other vermine CHAP. 451. Of Holy Wormewood Sementina Holie VVormewood ¶ The Description THis Wormwood called Sementina and Semen sanctum which we haue Englished Holy is that kinde of Wormwood which beareth that seed which we haue invse called VVormeseed in shops Semen Santolinum about which there hath been great controuersie amongst writers some holding that the seed of Santonicum Galatium to be the true VVormseed others deeming it to be that of Romanum Absinthium it doth much resemble the first of the sea VVormwoods in shape and proportion it riseth vp with a wooddie stalke of the height of a cubite diuided into diuers branches and wings whereupon are set very small leaues among which are placed clusters of seeds in such abundance that to the first view it seemeth to be a plant consisting all of seed ¶ The Place It is a forreine plant the seeds being sowne in the gardens of hot regions doe prosper well in these cold countries it will not grow at all Neuertheles there is one or two companions about London who haue reported vnto mee that they had great store of it growing in their gardens
kidneyes Being melted vnder the tongue it quencheth thirst it is good for greene wounds being layed thereupon and for the stomacke if it be chewed The decoction of the fresh roots serueth for the same purposes But the dried root most finely poudered is a singular remedie for a pin and a web in the eye if it be strewed thereupon Dioscorides and Pliny also report that Liquorice is good for the stomack and vlcers of the mouth being cast vpon them It is good against hoarsenesse difficultie of breathing inflammation of the lungs the pleurisie spitting of bloud or matter consumption or rottennes of the lungs all infirmities and ruggednes of the chest It takes away inflammations mitigateth and tempereth the sharpnesse and saltnes of humors concocteth raw humors and procureth easie spitting The decoction is good for the kidnies and bladder that are exulcerated It cureth the strangurie and generally all infirmities that proceed of sharpe salt and biting humors These things concerning Liquorice hath also Theophrastus viz. that with this and with cheese made of Mares milke the Scythians were reported to be able to liue eleuen or twelue dayes The Scythian root is good for shortnesse of breath for a dry cough and generally for all infirmities of the chest Moreouer with honey it healeth vlcers it also quencheth thirst if it be held in the mouth for which cause they say that the Scythians do liue eleuen or twelue dayes with it and Hippace which is cheese made of Mares milke as Hippocrates witnesseth Pliny in his twenty fifth booke chap. 8. hath thought otherwise than truth that Hippace is an herbe so called CHAP. 13. Of Milke Trefoile or Shrub Trefoile ¶ The Kindes THere be diuers kindes or sorts of the shrubby Trefoile the which might very well haue passed among the three leaued Grasses had it not beene for my promise in the proeme of our first part That in the last booke of our History the shrubbie or wooddy plants should be set forth euerie one as neere as might be in kindred and neighbourhood ¶ The Description â 1 THe sirst kinde of Cytisus or shrubby Trefoile growes to the forme of a small shrub or wooddy bush two or three cubits high branching into sundry small boughes or armes set full of leaues like the small Tresoile darke greene and not hairie three growing alwaies together among these come forth smal yellow floures like them of French Broome which doe turne into long and flat cods containing small seed of a blackish colour 2 The second kinde of Cytisus is likewise a small shrub in shape after the manner of the former but that the whole plant is altogether smaller and the leaues rounder set together by couples and the small cods hairy at the ends which sets forth the difference â¡ The leaues of this are almost round and grow three together close to the stalke they are smooth of a fresh greene and the middlemost leafe of the three is the largest and ends in a sharpe point the floures are of the bignesse and colour of the Trifolium corniculatum it floures in May. â¡ 3 The root of this third kinde is single from whence spring vp many smooth brittle stalks diuided into many wings and branches whereon grow greene leaues smaller than those of medow Trefoile the floures are yellow lesser than Broome floures otherwise very like growing about the tops of the twiggie branches diuided into spoky tufts which being vaded there follow thinne long narrow cods lesser than those of the Broome wherein is contained small blacke seed The root is long deeply growing into the ground and sometimes waxeth crooked in the earth â¡ This also hath smooth green leaues and differs little if any thing at all from the first described wherefore I thought it needlesse to giue a figure Our Author called it Cytisus siliquosus Codded shrub Trefoile because one of the branches was fairely in the figure exprest with cods I know no other reason for all the Cytisi are codded as well as this â¡ 1 Cytisus The first shrub Trefoile 2 Cytisus The second shrub Trefoile 4 Cytisus hirsutus Ilairy shrub Trefoile 5 Cytisus incanus Hoary shrub Trefoile 4 The fourth kinde of Cytisus hath a great number of small branches and stalkes like the former but it is a lower plant and more woolly whose stalks and branches grow not very high but yet very plentifully spred about the sides of the plant the leaues are greater than the former but lesser than those of medow Trefoile the floures grow close together as though they were bound vp or compact into one head or spokie tuft somewhat greater than the former the cods are also greater and more hairy the root groweth very deepe into the ground whereunto are adioyned a few fibres it falleth out to be more hairy or woolly in one place than in another and the more hairie and woolly that it is the whiter it waxeth for the roughnesse bringeth it a certain whitish colour â¡ The branches of this oft times lie along vpon the ground the leaues are smooth and greene aboue and hoarie vnderneath the floures yellow which fading sometimes become orange coloured the cods are round and seeds brownish â¡ 5 The fifth kinde of ãâã groweth to the height of a cubit or more hauing many slender twiggy branches like Broome streaked and very hard whereupon grow leaues very like ãâã yet all hoary three together from the bosome of which or betweene the leaues and the stalkes ãâã sorth yellow ãâã very like Broome Spartum or Pease but smaller the cods be like vnto Broome cods of an ash colour but slenderer rougher and flatter in the seueral cels or diuisions whereof are contained bright shining seeds like the blacke seeds of Broome all the whole plant is hoarie like ãâã or ãâã 6 Cytisus ãâã Winged shrub Trefoile 7 Cytisus 7. Cornutus The Horned shrub Trefoile 6 The sixth kinde of Cytisus or bush Tresoile groweth to the height of a tall man with long stalkes couered ouer with a blackish barke and a few boughes or branches beset or garnished with leaues like the common Trefoile but smaller growing also three together whereof the middlemost ãâã the three leaues is twice as long as the two side leaues the vpper side whereof is green and the lower side somwhat reddish and hairie the floures grow along the stalks almost from the bottome to the top of a golden yellow colour fashioned like the Broome floure but greater than any of the rest of his kinde and of a reasonable good sauour the seed hath the pulsie taste of Cicer. 7 The seuenth kinde of Cytisus hath many tough and hairy branches rising from a wooddie root foure or fiue cubits high which are diuided into sundry smaller branches beset with leaues like the medow ãâã among which come ãâã yellow floures like Broome that turne into crooked flat cods like a sickle wherein is contained the seed tasting like Cicer or Legumen The whole plant is hoarie like
to drinke the distilled water of Broome floures against surfets and diseases thereof arising Sir Thomas Fitzherbert Knight was woont to cure the blacke iaundice with this drinke onely Take as many handfuls as you thinke good of the dried leaues of Broom gathered and brayed to pouder in the moneth of May then take vnto each handfull of the dried ãâã one spoonful and a halfe of the seed of Broom braied into pouder mingle these together and let the sicke drinke thereof each day a quantitie first and last vntill he finde some ãâã The medicine must be continued and so long vsed vntil it be quite extinguished for it is a disease not very ãâã cured but must by little and little be dealt withall Orobanch or Broom rape sliced and put into oyle Oliue to insuse or ãâã in ãâã same as ye do Roses for oile of Roses scoureth and putteth away all spots lentils freck les pimples wheals and pushes from the face or any part of the body being annointed therewith Dioscorides writeth that Orobanch may be ãâã either raw ãâã boiled in manner as we vse to eat the sprigs or young shoots of Asparagus The floures and seeds of Spanish Broome are good to be drunke with Mead or honied water in the quantitie of a dram to cause one to vomite with great force and violence euen as white Hellebor or neesing pouder If it be taken alone it looseneth the belly driueth forth great quantitie of waterie and filthie humours CHAP. 18. Of base Broome or greening weed ¶ The Description 1 THis base kinde of Broom called Greene weed or Diers weed hath many tough branches proceeding from a wooddie root whereon do grow great store of leaues of a deep green colour somewhat long like those of Flax the floures grow at the top of the branches not much vnlike the leaues of Broome but smaller of an exceeding faire yellow colour which turne into small flat cods wherein is contained a little flat seed 2 Carolius Clusius setteth forth another kinde of Broome which Dodonaeus calleth Genistatinctoria being another sort of Diers weed it groweth like the Spanish Broome vpon whose branches do grow long and small leaues like Flax greene on the vpper side and of an hoarie shining colour on the other The floures grow at the top of the stalks spike fashion in forme and colour like the former the roots are thicke and wooddie 3 Carolus Clusius setteth forth two kindes of Broome The first is a low and base plant creeping and lying flat vpon the ground whose long branches are nothing else but as it were stalkes consisting of leaues thicke in the middest and thinne about the edges and as it were diuided with small nicks at which place it beginneth to continue the same leafe to the end and so from leafe to leafe vntill it haue increased a great sort all which doe as it were make one stalke and hath none other leaues sauing that in some of the nicks or diuisions there commeth forth a small leafe like a little eare At the end of those flat and leafed stalks come forth the ãâã much like the floures of the common Greening weed but lesser and of a yellow colour which turne into small cods The roots are very long tough and wooddie ful of fibres closing at the top of the root from whence they proceed as from one body 4 This kinde of Greenweed called of some Chamaesparium hath a thicke wooddie root from which rise vp diuers long leaues consisting as it were of many pieces set together like a paire of Beads as may better be perceiued by the figure than expressed by words greene on the vpper side and whitish vnderneath very tough and as it were of a rushie substance among which rise vp very small naked rushie stalkes on the top whereof groweth an eare or spike of a chaffie matter hauing here and there in the said care diuers yellow floures like Broome but very small or little 1 Genistella tinctoria Greeneweed or Diers weed 2 Genistella infectoria Wooddie Diers weed 3 Genistella pinnata Winged Greeneweed 4 Genistella globulata Globe Greene weed 5 The fist Greeneweed hath a wooddie tough root with certaine strings annexed thereto from which rise vp diuers long flat leaues tough very hard consisting as it were of many little leaues set one at the end of another making of many one entire leafe of a greene colour amongst which come forth diuers naked hard stalks very small and stiffe on the tops whereof stand spikie ãâã of yellow floures like those of Broome in shape like that great three leafed grasse called Lagopus ãâã like the Fox-taile grasse after which come flat cods wherein is inclosed small seed like to Tares both in taste and forme 5 Genistella Lagopoides maior Hares foot Greeneweed 6 Genistella Lagopoides minor Small Greenweed with Hares foot floure 6 This differeth not from the precedent in stalks roots and leaues the floures consist of a flockie soft matter not vnlike to the grassie tuft of Foxtaile resembling the floure of Lagopus or Hares-foot but hauing small yellow floures lesser than the former wherein it chiefely differeth from the other of his kinde ¶ The Place The first being ãâã common Diers-weed groweth in most fertile pastures and fields almost euery where The rest are strangers in England ¶ The Time They floure from the beginning of Iuly to the end of August ¶ The Names The first of these Greenweeds is named of most Herbarists Flos Tinctorius but more rightly Genista Tinctoria of this Pliny hath made mention The Greenweeds saith he do grow to dye cloths with in his 18. booke 16. Chapter It is called in high Dutch Ferblumen and Ackerbrem in Italian Cerretta and Cosaria as Matthiolus writeth in his chapter of Lysimachia or Loose-strifie in ãâã Diers Greening weed base Broome and Woodwaxen The rest we refer to their seuerall titles ¶ The Temperature and Vertues These plants are like vnto common Broome in bitternesse and therefore are hot and drie in the second degree they are likewise thought to be in vertues equall notwithstanding their vse is not so well known and therefore not vsed at all where the other may be had we shall not need to speak of that vse that Diers make thereof being a matter impertinent to our Historie CHAP. 19. Of Spanish base Broomes ¶ The Description â¡ 1 THis growes to the height of a cubit and is couered with a crested and rough ãâã and diuided into many longish branches crested green which at their first springing vp haue some leaues vpon them which fall away as soon as the plant comes to floure from the sides of the branches come forth long foot-stalks whereon hang some small yellow floures which are succeeded by short round yellowish red cods which commonly containe but one seed ãâã two and these hard and blacke and like a little Kidney which when it is ripe will rattle in the cod being shaken â¡ 1 Pseudospartum Hispanicum Aphyllum
red or murrey colour and the leaues soft and downy â¡ â¡ 2 This whose figure was formerly by our Author giuen for the last described though verie much different from it is a very pretty and elegant ãâã it in roots and leaues is not vnlike to the vsuall medow Grasse the stalke riseth to the height of a foot and at the top thereof it beareth a beautifull pannicle whence the French and Spanish Nations call it Amourettes that is the Louely Grasse This head consists of many little eares shaped much like those of the ordinarie Quaking Grasse longer and flatter being composed of more scales so that each of them somewhat resembles the leafe of a small Ferne whence I haue called it Ferne-Grasse These tops when they are ripe are white and are gathered where they grow naturally to beautifie garlands â¡ â¡ 1 Gramen tomentosum arundinaceum Feather-top or Woolly Reed-grasse 2 Gramen panniculatum elegasis Ferne-grasse 3 ãâã syluaticum majus The greater Wood-grasse â¡ 4 This in leaues stalks roots manner and place of growing is like the last described the onely difference betweene them is That this hath much lesse yet sharper or rougher eares or tufts The figure and description of this was formerly giuen by our Author in the sixteenth chapter and ninth place vnder the title of Gramen syluaticum minus But because the difference between the last described and this is so small we haue spared the figure to make roome for others more ãâã and note-worthy ¶ The Time and Place 1 This kinde of Grasse growes in fettil fields and pastures 2 The second growes in diuers places of Spaine and France The other two grow in Woods ¶ The Names 1 Lobelius in Latine calls this Gramen tomentosum Acerosum Some haue taken it for the second kinde of ãâã but most commonly it is called Gramen plumosum and in English a Bent or Feather-top Grasse 2 Gramen panniculatum is called by some Heragrostis in Greeke Lobel calls this Gramen panniculosum phalaroides And it is named in the Hist. Lugd. Gramen filiceum seu polyanthos that is Ferne or many-floured Grasse â¡ 3 Gramen syluaticum or as it pleaseth others Gramen nemorosum is called in our tongue wood Grasse or shadow Grasse CHAP. 7. Of great Fox-taile Grasse ¶ The Description 1 THe great Fox-taile Grasse hath many threddy roots like the common Medow grasse and the stalke riseth immediatly from the root in fashion like vnto Barley with two or three leaues or blades like Otes but is nothing rough in handling but foft and downie and somewhat hoarie bearing one eare or tuft on the top and neuer more fashioned like a Fox-taile whereof it tooke his name At the approch of Winter it dieth and recouereth it selfe the next yeare by falling of his seed 1 Gramen Alopecuroides majus Great Fox-taile Grasse â 2 Gramen Alopecuroides minus Small Fox-taile Grasse 2 The lesser Fox-taile Grasse hath a tuffe and hard root compact of many small strings yeelding a strawie stalke like the former though somwhat lesser with the like top or crest but of a whitish colour 3 Great bastard Fox-taile Grasse hath a strawie stalke or stemme which riseth to the height of a cubit and an halfe hauing a small root consisting of many fibres His leafe is small and grassie and hath on his top one tuft or spike or eare of a hard chaffie substance some three inches long composed of longish seeds each hauing a little beard or awne 4 Small bastard Fox-taile Grasse doth resemble the former sauing that this kinde doth not send forth such large stalkes and eares as the other but smaller and not so close packed together neither hauing so long beards or awnes â 3 Gramen Alopecurinum majus Great bastard Fox-taile Grasse 4 Gramen Alopecurinum ãâã Small bastard Fox-taile Grasse ¶ The Place and Time These wilde bastard Fox-taile Grasses doe grow in the moist furrowes of fertile fields towards the later end of Sommer ¶ The Names â¡ The first by Lobel and Tabern is called Gramen phalaroides The other Lobel calleth 2 Gramen Alopecuroides 3. minus 4. minus alterum CHAP. 8. Of Great Cats-taile Grasse ¶ The Description 1 GReat Cats-taile Grasse hath very small roots compact of many small skins or threds which may easily be taken from the whole root The stalke riseth vp in the middest and is somewhat like vnto wilde Barley kneed and ioynted like corne of a foot high or thereabout bearing at the top a handsome round close compact eare resembling the Cats-taile 2 The small Cats-taile grasse is like vnto the other differing chiefely in that it is lesser than it The root is thicke and cloued like those of Rush Onions or Ciues with many small strings or hairie threads annexed vnto it Gramen Typhinum minus Small Cats-taile Grasse ¶ The Place and Time These kindes of Grasses do grow very well neere waterie places as Gramen Cyperoides doth and flourish at the same time that all the others doe â¡ The latter may be found by the bridge entring into Chelsey field as one goeth from Saint Iames to little Chelsey ⡠¶ The Names The Latines borrow these names of the Greekes and call it Gramen Typhinum of Typha a Cats taile and it may in English as wel be called round Bent-grasse as Cats-taile Grasse â¡ The last described is by ãâã who first gaue the figure and description thereof in his Prodomus pag. 10. called Gramen Typhoides maximum spica longissima that is The largest Foxe-taile Grasse with a very long eare â¡ CHAP. 9. Of Cyperus Grasse 1 Gramen Cyperoides Cyperus Grasse 2 Gramen Iunceum aquaticum Rushy Water-Grasse ¶ The Description 1 CYperus Grasse hath roots somewhat like Cyperus whereof it tooke his name his leaues are long and large like vnto the common reed the stalke doth grow to the height of a cubit in some places vpon which groweth little scaly knobs or eares spike fashion somewhat like vnto Cats-taile or Reed-mace very chaffie rough and rugged 2 Rushy Water-grasse hath his roots like the former with many fibres or strings hanging at them and creepeth along vpon the vppermost face of the earth or rather mud wherein it groweth bearing at each ioynt one slender benty stalke set with a few small grassie blades or leaues bringing forth at the top in little hoods small feather-like tufts or eares ¶ The Place Time and Names They grow as I haue insinuated in myrie and muddy grounds in the same season that others do And concerning their names there hath been said enough in their titles CHAP. 10. Of Water-Grasse 1 Gramen aquaticum Water-grasse 2 Gramen aquaticum spicatum Spiked Water-grasse ¶ The Description â 1 WAter-grasse or as we terme it Water Burre-grasse hath a few long narrow slender and ioynted leaues among which riseth vp a stalke of two foot high bearing vpon his small and tender branches certaine little rough knobs or brownish sharpe pointed seeds made vp
haue called Zea or Spelta by the name of Far as Dionysius Halicarnassaeus doth sufficiently testifie The old Romans saith he did call sacred marriages by the word ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã because Zea siue Speltae Spelt Corne. the Bride and Bridegroome did eate of that Far which the Grecians do call ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã The same thing Asclepiades affirmeth in Galen in his ninth Booke according to the places affected writing thus Farris quod Zea appellant that is to say Far which is called Zea c. And this Far is also named of the Latines Ador ãâã and Semen adoreum ¶ The temper Spelt as Dioscorides reporteth nourisheth more than Barley Galen writeth in his Bookes of the Faculties of simple Medicines Spelt is in all his temperature in a meane betweene Wheat and Barley and may in vertue be referred to the kindes of Barley and Wheat being indifferent to them both ¶ The vertues The floure or meale of Spelt corne boyled in water with the pouder of red Saunders and a little oyle of Roses and Lillies vnto the forme of a Pultesse and applied hot taketh away the swelling of the legs gotten by cold and long standing â¡ Spelt saith Turner is common about Weisenburgh in high Almanie eight Dutch miles on this side Strausbourgh and there all men vse it for wheat for there groweth no wheat at all yet I neuer saw fairer and pleasamer bread in any place in all my life than I haue eaten there made onely of this Spelt The Corne is much lesse than Wheat and somewhat shorter than Rie but nothing so blacke â¡ CHAP. 49. Of Starch Corne. ãâã Amyleum Starch Corne. ¶ The Description THis other kind of Spelta or Zea is called of the Germane Herbarists Amyleum Frumentum or Starch corne and is a kinde of grain sowen to that end or a three moneths graine and is very like vnto wheat in stalke and seed but the eare thereof is set round about and made vp with two ranks with certaine beards almost after the manner of Barley and the seed is closed vp in chaffie huskes and is sowen in the Spring ¶ The place Amil corne or Starch corne is sowen in Germanie Polonia Denmarke and other those Easterne Regions as well to feed their cattel and pullen with as also to make starch for the which purpose it doth very fitly serue ¶ The time It is sowen in Autumne or the fall of the leafe and oftentimes in the Spring and for that cause hath beene called Trimestre or three months grain it bringeth his seed to ripenesse in the beginning of August and is sowen in the Low-Countries in the Spring of the yeare ¶ The Names Because the Germanes haue great vse of it to make starch with they do call it ãâã Wee thinke good to name it in Latine Amyleum frumentum in English it may be called ãâã after the Germane word and may likewise be called Starch Corne. Tragus and Fuchsius tooke it to be Triticum ãâã or three moneths wheat but it may rather be referred to the Farra ãâã Columella speaketh of a graine called Far Halicastrum which is sowen in the Spring and for that cause it is named Trimestre or three moneths Far. If any be desirous to learne the making of Starch let them reade Dodoneus last edition where they shall be fully taught my selfe not willing to spend time about so vaine a thing and not pertinent to the story It is vsed onely to feed cattell pullen and make starch and is in nature somewhat like to wheat or Barley CHAP. 50. Of Barley ¶ The Description BArley hath an helme or straw which is shorter and more brittle than that of Wheat and hath more joints the leaues are broader and rougher the eare is armed with long rough and prickly beards or ailes and set about with sundry rankes sometimes two otherwhiles three foure or six at the most according to ãâã but eight according to Tragus The graine is included in a long chaffie huske the roots be slender and grow thicke together Barley as Pliny writeth is of all graine the softest and least subiect to casualtie yeelding fruit very quickely and profitably 1 Hordeum Distichon Common Barley 2 Hordeum Polystichum vernum Beare Barley or Barley Big 1 The most vsuall Barley is that which hath but two rowes of Corne in the eare each graine set iust opposite to other and hauing his long awne at his end is couered with a huske sticking close thereto 2 This which commonly hath foure rowes of corne in the eare and sometimes more as wee haue formerly deliuered is not so vsually sowen with vs the eare is commonly shorter than the former but the graine very like so that none who knowes the former but may easily know the later at the first sight ¶ The place They are sowen as Columella teacheth in loose and dry ground and are well knowne all Europe through 2 The second is sowen commonly in some parts of Yorke shire and the Bishopricke of Durham ¶ The Names 1 The first is called of the Grecians ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã in high Dutch ãâã in Low Dutch ãâã in Italian Orzo in Spanish ãâã in French Orge in English Barley 2 The second is called of the Grecians ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã and also ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã Columella calleth it Galaticum and Hippocrates ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã of our English Northerne people Big and Big Barley Crimmon saith Galen in his Commentaries vpon the second booke of Hippocrates his Prognosticks is the grosser part of Barley meale being grossely ground Malt is well knowne in England insomuch that the word needeth no interpretation notwithstanding because these Workes may chance into the hands of Strangers that neuer heard of such a word or such a thing by reason it is not ãâã where made I thought good to lay downe a word of the making thereof First it is steeped in water vntill it swell then is it taken from the water and laid as they terme it in a Couch that is spred vpon an euen floore the thicknesse of some foot and an halfe and thus is it kept vntill it Come that is vntill it send forth two or three little strings or fangs at the end of each Corne then it is spred vsually twice a day each day thinner than other for some eight or ten daies space vntill it be pretty dry and then it is dried vp with the heate of the fire and so vsed It is called in high Dutch ãâã in low Dutch ãâã in Latine of later time Maltum which name is borrowed of the Germanes Actius a Greeke Physitian nameth Barley thus prepared ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã or Bine The which Author affirmeth That a plaister of the meale of Malt is profitably laid vpon the swellings of the Dropsie Zythum as Diodorus Siculus affirmeth is not onely made in Aegypt but also in Galatia The aire is so cold saith he writing of Galatia that the country bringeth forth neither wine nor
grow starre-like yellow floures otherwise like the white Asphodill 3 Asphodelus ãâã rubente Red Asphodill 4 Asphodelus ãâã Yellow Asphodill â¡ 5 Asphodelus minimus Dwarfe Asphodil â¡ 5 Besides these there is an Asphodill which Clusius for the smalnesse calls Asphodelus minimus The roots thereof are knotty and tuberous resembling those of the formerly described but lesse from these arise fiue or sixe very narrow and long leaues in the middest of which growes vp a stalk of the height of a foot round and without branches bearing at the top thereof a spoke of floures consisting of six white leaues a piece each of which hath a streake running alongst it both on the inside and outside like as the first described It floures in the beginning of Iuly when as the rest are past their floures It loseth the leaues in Winter and gets new ones againe in the beginning of Aprill ⡠¶ The time and place They floure in May and Iune beginning below and so flouring vpward and they grow naturally in France Italy Spaine and most of them in our London Gardens ¶ The Names Asphodill is called in Latine Asphodelus Albucum ãâã and Hastula Regia in Greeke ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã in English Asphodill not Daffodil for Daffodill is Narcissus another plant differing from Asphodill Pliny writeth That the stalke with the floures is called Anthericos and the root that is to say the bulbs Asphodelus Of this Asphodill ãâã maketh mention in his Works where he saith ãâã fooles know not how much good there is in the Mallow and in the Asphodill because the roots of Asphodill are good to be eaten Yet Galen doth not beleeue that he meant of this Asphodill but of that bulbed one whereof we will make mention hereafter And he himselfe testifieth that the bulbes thereof are not to be ãâã without very long seething and therefore it is not like that Hesiod hath commended any such ãâã he seemeth to vnderstand by the Mallow and the Asphodil such kinde of food as is easily prepared and soone made ready ¶ The nature These kindes of Asphodils be hot and dry almost in the third degree ¶ The vertues After the opinion of Dioscorides and ãâã the roots of Asphodill eaten prouoke vrine and the termes effectually especially being stamped and strained with wine and drunke One dram thereof taken in wine in manner before rehearsed helpeth the paine in the sides ruptures convulsions and the old cough The roots boiled in dregs of wine cure foule eating vlcers all inflammations of the dugges or ãâã and easeth the felon being put thereto as a pultesse The iuyce of the root boyled in old sweet Wine together with a little myrrh and saffron maketh an excellent Collyrie profitable for the eyes Galen saith the roots burnt to ashes and mixed with the grease of a ducke helpeth the Alopecia and bringeth haire againe that was fallen by that disease The weight of a dram thereof taken with wine helpeth the drawing together of sinews cramps and burstings The like quantitie taken in broth prouoketh vomit and helpeth those that are bitten with any venomous beasts The iuyce of the root cleanseth and taketh away the white morphew if the face be annointed therewith but first the place must be chafed and wel rubbed with a course linnen cloath CHAP. 71. Of the Kings Speare 1 Asphodelus luteus minor The Kings Speare 2 Asphodelus Lancastriae ãâã Asphodil â¡ 3 Asphodelus Lancastriae verus The true Lancashire Asphodil ¶ The Description 1 THe leaues of the Kings Speare are long narrow and chamfered or furrowed of ãâã blewish greene colour The stalk is round of a cubit high The floures which grow ãâã from the middle to the top are very many in shape like to the floures of the other which being past ãâã come in place thereof little round heads or seed-vessels wherein the seed is contained The roots in like manner are very many long and slender smaller than those of the other yellow sort Vpon the sides whereof grow forth certaine strings by which the plant it selfe is easily encreased and multiplied 2 There is found in these dayes a certaine waterie or marish Asphodill like vnto this last described in stalke and floures without any difference at all It bringeth forth leaues of a beautifull greene somwhat chamfered like to those of the Floure de-luce or corne-flag but narrower not full a span long The stalke is strait a foot high whereupon grow the floures consisting of sixe small leaues in the middle whereof come sorth small yellow chiues or threds The seed is very small contained in long sharpe pointed cods The root is long ioynted and creepeth as grasse doth with many small strings â¡ 3 Besides the last described which our Author I feare mistaking termed Asphodelus Lancastriae there is another water Asphodill which growes in many rotten moorish grounds in this kingdome and in Lancashire is vsed by women to die their haire of a yellowish colour and therefore by them it is termed Maiden-haire if we may beleeue Lobell This plant hath leaues of some two inches and an halfe or three inches long being somewhat broad at the bottome and so sharper towards their ends The stalke seldome attaines to the height of a foot and it is smooth without any leaues thereon the top thereof is adorned with pretty yellow star-like floures wherto succeed longish little cods vsually three yet sometimes foure or fiue square and in these there is contained a small red seed The root consists onely of a few small strings ⡠¶ The place 1 The small yellow Asphodill groweth not of it selfe wilde in these parts notwithstanding we haue great plenty thereof in our London gardens 2 The Lancashire Asphodill groweth in moist and marish places neere vnto the Towne of Lancaster in the moorish grounds there as also neere vnto Maudsley and Martom two Villages not farre from thence where it was found by a Worshipfull and learned Gentleman a diligent searcher of simples and feruent louer of plants M. Thomas Hesket who brought the plants thereof vnto me for the encrease of my garden I receiued some plants thereof likewise from Master Thomas Edwards Apothecarie in Excester learned and skilfull in his profession as also in the knowledge of plants He found this Asphodill at the foot of a hill in the West part of England called ãâã hill neere vnto a village of the same name â¡ This Asphodill figured and described out of Dodonaeus and called Asphodelus Lancastriae by our Author growes in an heath some two miles from Bruges in Flanders and diuers other places of the Low-countries but whether it grow in Lancashire or no I can say nothing of certaintie but I am certaine that which I haue described in the third place growes in many places of the West of England and this yeare 1632 my kinde friend M. George Bowles sent mee some plants thereof which I keepe yet growing Lobell also affirmes this to be the Lancashire
pessarie made thereof like a finger and put vp bringeth downe the termes in yong Wenches and such like The seedes of Zazintha beate to powder and giuen in the decreasing of the Moone to the quantitie of a spoonefull taketh away warts and such like excrescence in what part of the body soeuer they be the which medicine a certaine ãâã of Padua did much vse whereby he gained great sums of mony as reporteth that ancient Physition Ioachimus Camerarius of Noremberg a famous citie in Germanie And Matthiolus affirmes that he hath knowne some helped of warts by once eating the leaues hereof in a Sallade CHAP. 32. Of Dandelion ¶ The Description 1 THe herbe which is commonly called Dandelion doth send forth from the root long leaues deepely cut and gashed in the edges like those of wilde Succorie but smoother vpon euery stalke standeth a floure greater than that of Succorie but double and thicke set together of colour yellow and sweet in smell which is turned into a round downie blowball that is carried away with the winde The root is long slender and full of milkie juice when any part of it is broken as is the Endiue or Succorie but bitterer in taste than Succorie â¡ There are diuers varieties of this plant consisting in the largenesse smallnesse deepenesse or shallownesse of the diuisions of the leafe as also in the smoothnesse and roughnesse thereof â¡ 1 Dens ãâã Dandelion â¡ 3 Dens Leonis bulbosus Knottie rooted Dandelion 2 There is also another kinde of Succorie which may be referred heereunto whose leaues are long cut like those of broad leafed Succorie the stalkes ãâã ãâã vnlike being diuided into branches as those of Dandelion but lesser which also vanisheth into downe when the seed is ripe hauing a long and white root â¡ 3 There is another Dens Lconis or Dandelion which hath many knotty and tuberous roots like those of the Asphodil the leaues are not so deeply cut in as those of the common Dandelion but larger and somewhat more hairy the floures are also larger and of a paler yellow which flie away in such downe as the ordinary ⡠¶ The Place They are found often in medowes neere vnto water ditches as also in gardens and high waies much troden ¶ The Time They floure most times in the yeere especially if the winter be not extreame cold ¶ The Names These plants belong to the Succory which Theophrastus Pliny call Aphaca or Aphace Leonardus Fuchsius thinketh that Dandelion is Hedypnois Plinij of which he writeth in his 20. booke and eighth chapter affirming it to be a wilde kinde of broad leafed Succorie and that Dandelion is Taraxacon but Taraxacon as Auicen teacheth in his 692. chapter is garden Endiue as Serapio mentioneth in his 143. chapter who citing Paulus for a witnesse concerning the faculties setteth down these words which Paulus writeth of Endiue and Succorie Diuers of the later Physitions do also call it Dens Leonis or Dandelion it is called in high Dutch ãâã in low-Dutch ãâã in French Pissenlit ou couronne de prestre or Dent de lyon in English Dandelion and of diuers Pisseabed The first is also called of some and in shops Taraxacon Caput monach Rostrum porcinum and Vrinaria The other is Dens ãâã Monspeliensium of ãâã and Cichoreum Constant inopolitanum of ãâã ¶ The Temperature and Vertues Dandelion is like in temperature to Succorie that is to say to wilde Endiue It is cold but it drieth more and doth withall clense and open by reason of the bitternesse which it hath ioyned with it and therefore it is good for those things for which Succory is â¡ Boiled it strengthens the weake stomacke and eaten raw it stops the bellie and helpes the Dysentery especially being boyled with Lentiles The juice drunke is good against the vnuoluntary effusion of seed boyled in vineger it is good against the paine that troubles some in making of water A decoction made of the whole plant helpes the yellow jaundice â¡ CHAP. 20. Of Sow-thistle â 1 Sonchus asper Prickly Sow-thistle â¡ 2 Sonchus asperior The more ãâã Sow-thistle ¶ The Kindes THere be two chiefe kindes of Sow-thistles one tenderer and softer the other more pricking and wilder but of these there be sundry sorts more found by the diligence of the later Writers all which shall be comprehended in this chapter and euery one be distinguished with a seuerall description ¶ The Description 1 THe prickly Sow-thistle hath long broad leaues cut very little in but full of smal prickles round about the edges something hard and sharpe with a rough and hollow stalke the floures stand on the tops of the branches consisting of many small leaues single and yellow of colour and when the seed is ripe it turneth into downe and is carried away with the winde The whole plant is full of a white milky iuyce â¡ 2 There is another kinde of this whose leaues are sometimes prettily deepe cut in like as those of the ordinarie Sow-thistle but the stalkes are commonly higher than those of the last described and the leaues more rough and prickly but in other respects not differing from ãâã of this kinde It is also sometimes to be found with the leaues lesse diuided â¡ â 3 Sonchus Laeuis Hares Lettuce 4 Sonchus laeuis latifolius Broad leaued Sow-thistle 3 The stalke of Hares Lettuce or smooth-Thistle is oftentimes a cub it high edged and hollow of a pale colour and sometimes reddish the leaues be greene broad set round about with deepe cuts or gashes smooth and without prickles The floures stand at the top of the branches yellow of colour which are caried away with the winde when the seed is ripe â¡ This is sometimes found with whitish and with snow-white floures but yet seldome whence our Authour made two kindes more which were the fourth and fifth calling the one The white floured Sowthistle and the other The snow-white Sow-thistle Both these I haue omitted as impertinent and giue you others in their stead â¡ 4 Broad leaued Sow-thistle hath a long thicke and milky root as is all the rest of the Plant with many strings or fibres from the which commeth forth a hollow stalke branched or diuided into sundry sections The leaues be great smooth sharpe pointed and greene of colour the floures be white in shape like the ãâã â¡ The floures of this are for the most part yellow like as the former â¡ â¡ 5 Wall Sow-thistle hath a fibrous wooddy root from which rises vp a round stalke not crested the leaues are much like to those of the other Sow-thistles broad at the setting on then narrower and after much broader and sharpe pointed so that the end of the leafe much resembles the shape of an iuy leafe these leaues are very tender and of somewhat a whitish colour on the vnder side the top of the stalke is diuided into many small branches which beare little yellow floures that fly away in downe 6 This hath longish narrow
smel vpon which plant if any should chance to rest and sleepe he might very well report to his friends that he had reposed himselfe among the chiese of Scoggins heires ¶ The Place It groweth vpon dunghills and in the most filthy places that may be found as also about the common pissing places of great princes and Noblemens houses Sometime it is found in places neere bricke kilns and old walls which doth somewhat alter his smell which is like tosted cheese but that which groweth in his naturall place smells like stinking salt-fish whereof it tooke his name Garosmus ¶ The Time It is an herbe for a yeare which springeth vp and when the seed is ripe it perisheth and recouereth it selfe againe of his owne seed so that if it be gotten into a ground it cannot be destroyed ¶ The Names Stinking Orach is called of Cordus Garosmus because it smelleth like stinking fish it is likewise called Tragium Germanicum and Atriplex ãâã olens by Pena and Lobel for it smelleth more stinking than the rammish male Goat whereupon some by a figure haue called it Vulvaria and it may be called in English stinking Mother-wort ¶ The Nature and Vertues There hath been little or nothing set down by the Antients either of his nature or vertues notwithstanding it hath beene thought profitable by reason of his stinking smell for such as are troubled with the mother for as Hyppocrates saith when the mother doth stifle or strangle such things are to be applied vnto the ãâã as haue a ranke and stinking smell CHAP. 47. Of Goose-foot ¶ The Description 1 GOose-foot is a common herbe and thought to be a kinde of Orach it riseth vp with a stalke a cubit high or higher somewhat chamfered and branched the leaues be broad smooth sharpe pointed shining hauing certaine deepe cuts about the edges and resembling the foot of a goose the floures be small something red the seed standeth in clusters vpon the top of the branches being very like the seed of wilde Orach and the root is diuided into sundry strings â¡ 2 This differs from the last described in that the leaues are sharper cut and more diuided the seed somewhat smaller and the colour of the whole plant is a deeper or darker greene â¡ 1 Atriplex syluestris latifolia siue Pes Anserinus Goose-foot â¡ 2 Atriplex syluestris latifolia ãâã The other Goose-foot ¶ The Place It growes plentifully in obscure places neere old walls and high-waies and in desart places ¶ The Time It flourisheth when the Orach doth whereof this is a wilde kinde ¶ The Names The later Herbarists haue called it Pes anserinus and Chenopodium of the likenesse the leaues haue with the foot of a Goose in English Goose-foot and wilde Orach ¶ The Temperature This herbe is cold and moist and that no lesser than Orach but as it appeareth more cold ¶ The Vertues It is reported that it killeth swine if they do eate thereof it is not vsed in Physicke and ãâã lesse as a sallade herbe CHAP. 48. Of English Mercurie Bonus Henricus English Mercurie or good Henrie ¶ The Description GOod Henrie called Tota bona so named of the later Herbarists is accounted of them to be one of the Dockes but not properly This bringeth forth very many thicke stalkes set with leaues two foot high on the branches wherof towards the top stand greene floures in clusters thicke thrust together The seed is flat like that of the Orach whereof this is a kinde The leaues be fastened to long foote-stalkes broad behinde and sharpe pointed fashioned like the leaues of Aron or Wake-robin white or grayish of colour and as it were couered ouer with a fine meale in handling it is fat and olious with a very thicke root and parted into many diuisions of a yellow colour within like the sharpe pointed Docke ¶ The Place It is commonly found in vntilled places and among rubbish neere common waies old walls and by hedges in fields ¶ The Time It floureth in Iune and Iuly especially ¶ The Names It is called of some ãâã Anserinus and Tota bona in English All-Good and Good Henrie in Cambridgshire it is called Good king Harry the Germanes call it Guter Heinrick of a certaine good qualitie it hath as they also name a certaine pernicious herbe Malus Henricus or bad Henry It is taken for a kinde of Mercurie but vnproperly for that it hath no participation with Mercurie either in forme or quality except yee will call euery herbe Mercurie which hath power to loose the belly ¶ The Temperature Bonus Henricus or Good Henrie is moderately hot and dry clensing and scouring withall ¶ The Vertues The leaues boiled with other pot-herbes and eaten maketh the body soluble The same brused and laid vpon greene wounds or foale and old vlcers doth scoure mundisie and heale them CHAP. 49. Of Spinach Spinacia Spinach ¶ The Description 1 SPinach is a kinde of Blite after ãâã notwithstanding I rather take it ãâã kinde of Orach It bringeth ãâã ãâã and tender leaues of a darke greene colour full ãâã juice sharpe pointed and in the largest part ãâã neather end square parted oftentimes with a deepe gash on either side next to the ãâã foot-stalke the stalke is round a foot high ãâã within on the tops of the branches stand little floures in clusters in whose places doth ãâã ãâã prickly seed The root consisteth of many small threds 2 There is another sort found in our ãâã like vnto the former in goodnesse as also in ãâã sauing that the leaues are not so great ãâã ãâã deepely gasht or indented and the seed ãâã prickles at all for which cause it is called ãâã Spinach ¶ The Place It is sowne in gardens without any great ãâã or industrie and forsaketh not any ground being but indifferent fertill ¶ The Time It may be sowne almost at any time of ãâã yeere but being sowne in the spring it quickly groweth vp and commeth to perfection within two moneths but that which is sowne in the fall of the leafe groweth not so soone to perfection yet continueth all the win terand seedeth presently vpon the first spring ¶ The Names It is called in these daies Spinachia of some Spinacheum olus of others Hispanicum olus ãâã nameth it ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã the Arabians and Serapio call it Hispane the Germanes Spinet in ãâã Spinage and Spinach in French Espinas ¶ The Nature Spinach is euidently cold and moist almost in the second degree but rather moist It is ãâã the pot-herbes whose substance is waterie and almost without taste and therefore quickly ãâã deth and looseth the bellie ¶ The Vertues It is eaten boiled but it yeeldeth little or no nourishment at all it is something windie and easily causeth a desire to vomit it is vsed in sallades when it is young and tender This herbe of all other pot-herbes and sallade herbes maketh the greatest diuersitie of ãâã and sallades CHAP. 50. Of Pellitorie of the wall ¶ The
it is brought into Persia Arabia Asia the lesse and also into Portingale and other parts of Europe but that is preferred which groweth in Cambaya ¶ The Names It is called of the Arabians Persians and Turkes Turbith and in Guzarata ãâã in the prouince Canara in which is the city Goa Tiguar likewise in Europe the learned call it diuersly according to their seuerall fancies which hath bred sundry controuersies as it hath fallen out aswell in Hermodactyls as in Turbith the vse and possession of which we cannot seeme to want but which plant is the true Turbith we haue great cause to doubt Some haue thought ãâã Tripolium marinum described in the former chapter to be Turbith others haue supposed it to be one of the Tithymales but which kinde they know not Guillandinus saith that the root of Tithymalus myrsinitis is the true Turbith which caused Lobeltus and Pena to plucke vp by the roots all the kindes of Tithymales and drie them very curiously which when they had beheld and throughly tried they found it nothing so The Arabians and halfe Moores that dwell in the East parts haue giuen diuers names vnto this plant and as their words are diuers so haue they diuers significatious but this name Turbith they seeme to interpret to be any milky root which doth strongly purge flegme as this plant doth So that as men haue thought good pleasing themselues they haue made many and diuers constuctions which haue troubled many excellent learned men to know what root is the true ãâã But briefly to set downe my opinion not varying from the iudgment of men which are of great experience I thinke assuredly that the root of Scammony of Antioch is the true and vndoubted Turbith one reason especially that moueth me so to thinke is for that I haue taken vp the roots of Scammony which grew in my garden and compared them with the roots of Turbith between which I found little ãâã no difference at all â¡ Through all Spain as Clusius in his notes vpon Garcias testifies they vse the roots of Thapsia for Turbith which also haue been brought hither and I keepe some of them by me but they purge little or nothing at all being drie though it may be the green root or juice may haue some purging faculty ⡠¶ The Temperature and Vertues The Indian physitions vse it to purge flegme to which if there be no feuer they adde ginger otherwise they giue it without in the broth of a chicken and sometimes in faire water Mesues writeth that Turbith is hot in the third degree and that it voideth thicke tough flegme out of the stomacke chest sinewes and out of the furthermost parts of the body but as he saith it is slow in working and troubleth and ouerturneth the stomacke and therefore ginger masticke and other spices are to be mixed with it also oile of sweet almondes or almondes themselues or sugar least the body with the vse herof should pine and fall away Others temper it with Dates sweet Almonds and certaine other things making thereof a composition that the Apothecaries call an Electuarie which is named ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã common in shops and in ãâã vse among expert Physitions There is giuen at one time of this Turbith one dram more or lesse two at the most but in the decoction or in the infusion three or foure CHAP. 95. Of Arrow-head or Water-archer 1 Sagittaria maior Great Arrow-head 2 Sagittaria minor Small Arrow-head ¶ The Description 1 THe first kinde of Water-archer or Arrow-head hath large and long leaues in shape like the signe Sagittarius or rather like a bearded broad Arrow head Among which riseth vp a fat and thicke stalke two or three foot long hauing at the top many prettie white floures declining to a light carnation compact of three small leaues which being past there come after great rough knops or burres wherein is the seed The root consisteth of many strings 2 The second is like the first and differeth in that this kinde hath smaller leaues and floures and greater burres and roots 3 The third kinde of Arrow-head hath leaues in shape like the broad Arrow-head standing vpon the ends of tender foot stalkes a cubit ãâã among which rise vp long naked smooth stalks of a greenish colour from the middle whereof to the top doe grow floures like to the ãâã The root is small and threddie ¶ The Place These herbes doe grow in the watrie ditches by Saint George his field neere vnto London in the Tower ditch at London in the ditches neere the wals of Oxford by Chelmesford in Essex and many other places as namely in the ditch neere the place of execution called Saint Thomas Waterings not far from London ¶ The Time They floure in May and Iune ¶ The Names Sagittaria may be called in English the Water-archer or Arrow-head â¡ Some would haue it the ãâã of Theophrastus and it is the Pistana Magonis and Sagitta of ãâã lib. 21. cap. 17. ¶ The Nature and Vertues I finde not any thing extant in writing either concerning their vertues or temperament but doubtlesse they are cold and drie in qualitie and are like Plantaine in facultie and temperament CHAP. 96. Of Water Plantaine 1 Plantago aquatica maior Great Water Plantaine 2 Plantago aquatica minor stellata Starry headed small Water ãâã 3 Plantago aquatica humilis Dwarfe water Plantaine ¶ The Description 1 THe first kinde of water Plantaine hath faire great large leaues like the land Plaintaine but smoother and full of ribs or sinewes among which riseth vp a tall stemme foure foot high diuiding it selfe into many slender branches garnished with infinit small white floures which being past there appeare triangle huskes or buttons wherein is the seed The root is as it were a great tuft of threds or thrums â¡ 2 This plant in his roots and leaues is like the last described as also in the stalke but much lesse in each of them the stalke being about some foot high at the top whereof stand many pretty starre-like skinny seed-vessels containing a yellowish seed â¡ 3 The second kinde hath long little and narrow leaues much like the Plantaine called Ribwoort among which rise vp small and feeble stalks branched at the top whereon are placed white floures consisting of three slender leaues which being fallen there come to your view round knobs or rough burs the root is threddy ¶ The Place 1 This herbe growes about the brinkes of riuers ponds and ditches almost euery where â¡ 2 3 These are more rare I found the second a little beyond Ilford in the way to Rumford and Mr. Goodyer found it also growing vpon Hounslow heath I found the third in the Company of Mr. William Broad and Mr. Leonard Buckner in a ditch on this side Margate in the Isle of Tenet ⡠¶ The Time They floure from Iune till August ¶ The Names The first kinde is called Plantago ãâã that is water Plantaine â¡ The second
the waters in all places for the most part The seuenth groweth in Yorkshire in a place called the Hooke neer vnto a close called a Cow pasture from whence I had these plants which doe grow in my garden very goodly to behold for the decking vp of houses and gardens â¡ The eighth I haue not yet found growing The ninth growes wild in some places of this kingdome but I haue seene it only in Gardens The tenth growes by the ponds and waters sides in Saint Iames his Parke in Tuthill fields and many other places â¡ The eleuenth groweth hard by the Thames as you goe from a place called the Diuels Neckerchiefe to Redreffe neere vnto a stile that standeth in your way vpon the Thames banke among the plankes that doe hold vp the same banke It groweth also in a ditch side not farre from the place of execution called Saint Thomas Waterings â¡ The other varieties of this grow in wet places about ditches and in woods and such like moist grounds ⡠¶ The Time These herbes floure in Iune and Iuly and oftentimes vntill August ¶ The Names Lysimachia as Dioscorides and Pliny write tooke his name of a speciall vertue that it hath in appeasing the strife and vnrulinesse which falleth out among oxen at the plough if it bee put about their yokes but it rather retaineth and keepeth the name Lysimachia of King Lysimachus the sonne of Agathocles the first finder out of the nature and vertues of this herb as Pliny saith in his 25. book chap. 7. which retaineth the name of him vnto this day and was made famous by Erasistratus Ruellius writeth that it is called in French Cornelle and Corneola in Greeke ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã of the Latines Lysimachium of Pliny Lysimachia of the later Writers Salicaria in high Dutch ãâã in English Willow herbe or herbe Willow and Loose strife Chamaenerium is called of Gesner Epilobton in English Bay Willow or bay yellow herbe â¡ The names of such as I haue added haue been sufficiently set sorth in their titles and Histories ⡠¶ The Nature The yellow Lysimachia which is the chiefe and best for Physicke vses is cold and drie and very astringent ¶ The Vertues The iuice according to Dioscordies is good against the bloudy flix being taken either by potion or Clister It is excellent good for greene wounds and stancheth the bloud being also put into the nosthrils it stoppeth the bleeding at the nose The smoke of the burned herbe driueth away serpents and killeth flies and gnats in a house which Pliny speaketh of in his 25. book chap. 8. Snakes saith he craull a way at the smell of Loos-strife The same Authour affirmeth in his 26 booke last chap. that it dieth haire yellow which is not very vnlike to be done by reason the floures are yellow The others haue not been experimented wherefore vntill some matter worthy the ãâã doth offer it selfe vnto our consideration I will omit further to discourse her ãâã The iuice of yellow Lysimachia taken inwardly stoppeth all fluxe of bloud and the Dysenteria or bloudy flix The iuice put into the nose stoppeth the bleeding of the same and the bleeding of wounds and mightily closeth and healeth them being made into an vnguent or salue The same taken in a mother suppositorie of wooll or cotton bound vp with threds as the manner thereof is well knowne to women staieth the inordinate flux or ouermuch flowing of womens termes It is reported that the fume or smoke of the herbe burned doth driue away flies and gnats and all manner of venomous beasts CHAP. 130. Of Barren-woort Epimedium Barren Woort ¶ The Description THis rare and strange plant was sent to me from the French Kings Herbarist Robinus dwelling in Paris at the signe of the blacke head in the street called Du bout du Monde in English The end of the world This herbe I planted in my garden in the beginning of May it came sorth of the ground with small hard woodie crooked stalks whereupon grow rough sharpe pointed leaues almost like Alliaria that is to say Sauce alone or lacke by the hedge Lobel and Dod. say that the leaues are somewhat like Iuie but in my indgement they are rather like Alliaria somewhat snipt about the edges and turning themselues flat vpright as a man turneth his hand vpwards when hee receiueth money Vpon the same stalkes come forth small floures consisting of soure leaues whose outsides are purple the edges on the inner side red the bottomeyellow the middle part of a bright red colour and the whole floure somewhat hollow The root is smal and creepeth almost vpon the vppermost face of the earth It beareth his seed in very small cods like Saracens Consound â¡ to wit that of our Author ãâã described pag. 274. â¡ but shorter which came not to ripenesse in my garden by reason that it was dried away with the extreme and vnaccustomed heat of the Sun which happened in the yeare 2590. since which time from yeare to yeare it bringeth seed to perfection Further Dioscorides and Pliny do report that it is without floure or seed ¶ The place â It groweth in the moist medowes of Italie about Bononia and Vincentia it groweth in the garden of my friend Mr. Iohn Milion in Old-street and some other gardens about towne ¶ The Time It floureth in Aprill and May when it hath taken sast hold and setled it selfe in the earth a yeare before ¶ The Names It is called Epimedium I haue thought good to call it Barren woort in English not because that Dioscorides saith it is barren both of floures and seeds but because as some authors affirme being drunke it is an enemie to conception ¶ The Temperature and Vertues Galen affirmeth that it is moderately cold with a waterie moisture we haue as yet no vse hereof in Physicke â¡ CHAP. 131. Of Fleabane â¡ 1 Conyza maior Great Fleawoort â¡ 2 Conyza minor vera Small Fleabane â¡ THe smalnesse of the number of these plants here formerly mentioned the confusion notwithstanding in the figures their nominations historie not oneagreeing with another hath caused me wholly too mit the descriptions of our Authour and to giue you new agreeable to the figures together with an addition of diuers other plants ãâã to this kindred Besides there is one thing I must aduertise you of which is that our Authour in the first place described the Bacchar is Monspeliensium of Lobel or Conyza maior of Matthiolus it is that which grows in Kent and Essex on chalkie hils yet he gaue no figure of it but as it were forgetting what he had don allotted it a particular chap. afterwards where also another figure was put for it but there you shall now finde it though I must confesse that this is as sit or a fitter place for it but I will follow the course of my Authour whose matter not method I indeauour to amend ¶ The Description 1 This great
forth of the ground in tufts like Pseudo-Moly that is our common herbe called Thrift amongst the leaues come forth slender stalkes an handfull high loden with small yellow floures like vnto the common Prick-Madam after which come little thicke sharpe pointed cods which containe the seed which is small flat and yellowish ¶ The Place The former of these groweth in gardens in the Low-countries in other places vpon stone wals and tops of houses in England almost euery where The other groweth about ãâã in the borders of fields and in other places that lye open to the Sunne ¶ The Time They floure in the Sommer moneths ¶ The Names The lesser kinde is called in Greeke ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã in Latine Sedum and Semperuivum minus of the Germanes Kleyn Donderbaer and Kleyn Hauszwurtz of the Italians Semperuino minore of the Frenchmen Tricque-madame of the English men Pricke-Madam Dwarfe House-leeke and small Sengreene The second kinde is named in shops Crassula minor and they syrname it minor for difference betweene it and the other Crassula which is a kinde of Orpin it is also called Vermicularis in Italian Pignola Granellosa and Grasella in low-Dutch Blader loosen in English Wilde Pricke-Madam Great Stone-crop or Worme-grasse â¡ That which is vulgarly knowne and called by the name of Stone-crop is the Illecebra described in the following chapter and such as grow commonly with vs of these small Houseleekes mentioned in this chapter are generally named PrickeMadames but our Author hath confounded them in this and the next chapter which I would not alter thinking it sufficient to giue you notice thereof ⡠¶ The Temperature and Vertues All these small Sengreens are of a cooling nature like vnto the great ones and are good for those things that the others be The former of these is vsed in many places in sallads in which it hath a fine relish and a pleasant taste it is good for the heart-burne â¡ CHAP. 144. Of diuers other small Sengreenes ¶ The Description â¡ 1 THe stalke of this small water Sengreene is some spanne long reddish succulent and weake the leaues are longish a little rough and full of iuyce the floures grow vpon the tops of the stalkes consisting of six purple or else flesh-coloured leaues which are succeeded by as many little cods containing a small seed the root is small and threddy and the whole plant hath an insipide or waterish taste This was found by Clusius in some waterie places of Germany about the end of Iune and he calls it Sedum minus 3 siue palustre 2 This second from small fibrous and creeping roots sends vp sundry little stalkes set with leaues like those of the ordinary Pricke-Madam yet lesse thicke and flatter and of a more ãâã taste the floures which are pretty large grow at the tops of the branches and consist of siue pale yellowish leaues It growes in diuers places of the Alps and floures about the end of Iuly and in August This is the Sedum minus 6. or Alpinum 1. of Clusius 3 This hath small little and thicke leaues lying bedded or compact close together and are of an Ash colour inclining to blew the stalkes are some two inches long slender and almost naked vpon which grow commonly some three floures consisting of fiue white leaues apiece with some yellow threds in the middle This mightily encreases and will mat and couer the ground for a good space together It floures in August and growes vpon the craggy places of the Alpes Clusius calls it ãâã minus nonum siue Alpinum 3. 4 The leaues of this are somewhat larger and longer yet thicke and somewhat hairy about their edges at first also of an acide taste but afterwards bitterish and hot it also sendeth forth shoots and in the middest of the leaues it puts forth stalkes some two inches high which at the top as in an vmbel carry some six little floures consisting of ãâã leaues apiece hauing their bottomes of a yellowish colour It is found in the like places and floures at the same time as the former Clusius makes it his Sedum minus 10. Alpinum 4. and in the ãâã Lugd. It is called Iasme montana â¡ 1 Sedum minus palustre Small water Sengreene â¡ 2 Sedum Alpinum 1. Clusij Small Sengreene of the Alps. â¡ Sedum Alpinum ãâã ãâã White Sengreene ãâã the Alpes â¡ 4 Sedum Alpinum 4. Clusij Hairy Sengreene of the Alpes â¡ 5 Sedum petraeum Bupleurifolio Long leaued Rocke Sengreene 5 For these foure last described we are beholden to Clusius and for this fifth to ãâã who thus describes it It hath one ãâã and large root with few or no fibres but ãâã ãâã bunching out here and there it ãâã ãâã with a thicke barke and is of a ãâã ãâã colour on the outside the ãâã ãâã ãâã long and narrow lying spred ãâã ãâã ãâã the stalke grows some ãâã high and is round and naked and at the top carries ãâã ãâã of 7 sharpe pointed pale yellow leaues which are succeeded by seeds like ãâã ãâã ãâã and of a strong smell It ãâã ãâã the middle of Iuly and the seed is ãâã ãâã the middle of August ãâã who ãâã obserued this growing ãâã ãâã ãâã in Italy sets it forth by the ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã Bupleurifolio ãâã hath it by ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã Alpina Graminco folio and ãâã angustisolium Alpinum ¶ The Temper and ãâã The three first described without doubt are cold and partake in vertues with the ãâã small Sengreenes but the two last ãâã ãâã of an hot and attenuating ãâã ãâã ãâã them are commonly knowne or ãâã in Physicke â¡ CHAP. 145. Of Stone-crop called Wall-pepper ãâã siue Illecebra minor acris Wall-Pepper or Stone-crop ¶ The Description THis is a low and little herbe the stalks be slender and short the leaues about these stand very thicke and small in growth full bodied sharpe pointed and ãâã ãâã the floures stand on the top and ãâã ãâã little of colour yellow ãâã of a ãâã ãâã taste the root is nothing but ãâã ¶ The Place It groweth ãâã where in stony and dry places and in chinks and crannies of ãâã wals and on the tops of houses it is alwaies green and therefore it is very fitly placed among the Sengreenes ¶ The Time It floureth in the Sommer moneths ¶ The Names This is Tertium sempervivum Dioscoridis ãâã Dioscorides his third Sengreene which he saith is called of the Grecians ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã and ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã and of the Romanes Illecebra Pliny also witnesseth that the Latines name it ãâã Yet there is another ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã and another ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã the Germanes call this ãâã ãâã and Katzen treuble the French men ãâã ãâã the Low-countrey men Muer Pepper the English men Stone-crop and Stone hore little Stone-crop Pricket Mouse-taile Wall-Pepper Countrey Pepper and Iacke of the Butterie ¶ The Temperature This little herbe is sharpe and biting
mihi suaue rubet sed inest quoque succus amarus Qui juvat obsessum bile aperitque jecur My floure is sweet in smell bitter my iuyce in taste Which purge choler and helps liuer that else would waste CHAP. 164. Of Calues snout or Snapdragon ¶ The Description 1 THe purple Snapdragon hath great and brittle stalks which diuideth it selfe into many fragile branches whereupon do grow long leaues sharpe pointed very greene like vnto those of wilde flax but much greater set by couples one opposite against another The floures grow at the top of the stalkes of a purple colour fashioned like a frogs mouth or rather a dragons mouth from whence the women haue taken the name Snapdragon The ãâã is blacke contained in round huskes fashioned like a calues snout whereupon some haue called it Calues snout or in mine opinion it is more like vnto the bones of a sheeps head that hath beene long in the water the flesh consumed cleane away 2 The second agreeth with the precedent in euery part except in the colour of the floures for this plant bringeth forth white floures and the other purple wherein consists the difference 3 The yellow Snapdragon hath a long thicke wooddy root with certain strings fastned thereto from which riseth vp a brittle stalke of two cubits and a halfe high diuided from the bottome to the top into diuers branches whereupon doe grow long greene leaues like those of the former but greater and longer The floures grow at the top of the maine branches of a pleasant yellow colour in shape like vnto the precedent 4 The small or wilde Snapdragon differeth not from the others but in stature the leaues are lesser and narrower the floures purple but altogether smaller the heads or seed-vessels are also like those of the former â¡ 5 There is another kinde hereof which hath many slender branches lying oft times vpon the ground the leaues are much smaller than these of the last described the floures and seed-vessels are also like but much lesser and herein consists the onely difference â¡ 1. 2. ãâã purpureum sinc album Purple or white floured Snapdragon 3 ãâã ãâã Yellow ãâã 4 Antirrhinum minus Small Snapdragon â¡ 5 Antirrhinum ãâã repens Small creeping Snapdragon ¶ The Place The three first grow in most gardens but the yellow kinde groweth not common except in the gardens of curious Herbarists â¡ The fourth and fifth grow wilde amongst corne in diuers places ⡠¶ The Time That which hath continued the whole Winter doth floure in May and the rest of Sommer afterwards and that which is planted later and in the end of Sommer floureth in the spring of the following yeare they do hardly endure the iniurie of our cold Winter ¶ The Names Snapdragon is called in Greeke ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã in Latine also Antirrhinum of Apuleius Canis cerebrum Herba Simiana Venustaminor Opalis grata and Orontium it is thought to be Leo herba which Columella lib. 10. reckons among the floures yet Gesner hath thought that this Leo is Columbine which for the same cause he hath called ãâã but this name seemeth to vs to agree better with Calues snout than with Columbine for the gaping floure of Calues snout is more like to Lyons snap than the floure of Columbine it is called in Dutch ãâã in Spanish Cabeza de ternera in English Calues snout Snapdragon and Lyons snap in French Teste de chien and Teste de Veau ¶ The Temperature They are hot and dry and of subtill parts ¶ The Vertues The seed of Snapdragon as Galen saith is good for nothing in the vse of physicke and the herb it selfe is of like facultie with Bubonium or Star-wort but not so effectuall They report saith Dioscorides that the herbe being hanged about one preserueth a man from being bewitched and that it maketh a man gracious in the sight of people Apuleius writeth that the distilled water or the decoction of the herbe and root made in water is a speedy remedy for the watering of eyes proceeding of a hot cause if they be bathed therewith CHAP. 165. Of Tode-Flax 1 Linaria vulgaris lutea Great Tode-flax 2 Linaria purpurea odorata Sweet purple Tode-flax ¶ The Description 1 LInaria being a kinde of Antyrrhinum hath small slender blackish stalkes from which do grow many long narrow leaues like flax The floures be yellow with a spur hanging at the same like vnto a Larkes spur hauing a mouth like vnto a frogs mouth euen such as is to bee seene in the common Snapdragon the whole plant before it come to floure so much resembleth Esula minor that the one is hardly knowne from the other but by this old verse Esula lactescit sine lacte Linaria crescit â¡ Esula with milke doth flow Toad-flax without milke doth grow â¡ 2 The second kinde of Tode-flax hath leaues like vnto Bellis maior or the great Dasie but not so broad and somewhat iagged about the edges The stalke is small and tender of a cubit high beset with many purple floures like vnto the former in shape The root is long with many threds hanging thereat the floures are of a reasonable sweet sauour 3 The third being likewise a kinde of Tode-flax hath small and narrow leaues like vnto the first kinde of Linaria the stalke is a cubit high beset with floures of a purple colour in fashion like Linaria but that it wanteth the taile or spurre at the end of the floure which the other hath The root is small and threddie â 4 Linaria Valentina hath leaues like the lesser Centorye growing at the bottome of the stalke by three and three but higher vp towards the top without any certaine order the stalkes are of a foot high and it is called by Clusius Valentina for that it was found by himselfe in Agro Valentino about Valentia in Spaine where it beareth yellow floures about the top of the stalke like common Linaria but the mouth of the floure is downie or mossie and the taile of a purple colour It floureth at Valentia in March and groweth in the medowes there and hath not as yet been seene in these Northerne parts 5 Osyris alba hath great thick and long roots with some threds or strings hanging at the same from which rise vp many branches very tough and pliant beset towards the top with floures not much vnlike the common Toad-flaxe but of a pale whitish colour and the inner part of the mouth somewhat more wide and open and the leaues like the common Tode-flax 3 Linaria purpurea altera Variable Tode-flax 4 Linaria Valentia Clus. Tode-flax of Valentia 5 Osyris alba Lob. White Tode-flax 6 Osyris purpurocaerulea is a kinde of Tode-flax that hath many small and weake branches trailing vpon the ground beset with many little leaues like flaxe The floures grow at the top of the stalke like vnto the common kinde but of a purple colour declining to blewnesse The root is small
â¡ 5 Clinopodium Austriacum Austrian field Basill â¡ 6 Clinopodium Alpinum Wilde Basill of the Alpes â¡ 4 It may be our Authour would haue described this in the first place as I coniecture by those words which he vsed in mentioning the place of their growing and Clinopodium ãâã groweth in great plentie vpon Longfield downs in Kent but to this neither figure nor description did agree wherefore I will giue you the Historie therof It sends vp many little square stalks some handful and an halfe high seldome diuided into branches at each ioint stand two smal greenish leaues little hairy and not diuided or snipt about the edges and much like those of the next described as you see them exprest in the figure the little hollow and somewhat hooded floures grow in roundles towards the tops of the stalkes as in the first described and they are of a blewish violet colour The seeds I haue not yet obserued the root is fibrous and wooddie and lasts for many yeares The whole plant hath a pretty pleasing but weake smell It floures in Iuly and August I first obserued it Anno 1626 a little on this side Pomfret in Yorkshire and since by Datford in Kent and in the I le of Tenet I haue sometimes seene it brought to Cheapside market where the herbe women called it Poley mountaine some it may bee that haue taken it for Polium montanum misinforming them Clusius first tooke notice of this plant and called it Acinos Anglicum finding it growing in Kent Anno 1581. and he thinkes it to be the Acinos of Dioscorides now the vertues attributed by Dioscorides to his Acinos are set downe at the end of the chapter vnder the letter B. 5 This which Clusius hath also set forth by the name of ãâã or Acinos Austriacum doth not much differ from the last described for it hath tender square hard stalkes like those of the last described set also with two leaues at each joint heere and there a little snipt which is omitted in the figure the floures grow onely at the tops of the stalkes and these pretty large and of a violet colour yet they are sometimes found white they hang commonly forward and at is were with there vpper parts turned downe The seed vessels are like those of the first described and containe each of them foure little blacke seeds This floures in May and the seed is ripe in Iune It growes about the bathes of Badon and in diuers places of Austria 6 Pena also hath giuen vs knowledge of another that from a sibrous root sends vp many quadrangular rough branches of the height of the two former set also with two leaues at each joint and these rough and lightly snipt about the edges the floures grow thicke together at the tops of the stalkes of a darke red colour and in shape like those of the mountaine Calaminte It floures in the beginning of Iuly and growes vpon mount Baldus in Italy Pona sets it forth by the name of Clinopodium Alpinum 7 To these I thinke fit to adde another whose description was sent me by Mr. Goodyer and I question whether it may not be the plant which Fabius Columna ãâã ãâã ãâã sets forth by the name of Acinos Dioscoridis for he makes his to be endued odore ãâã ãâã but to the purpose Acinos odoratissimum This herbe hath foure fiue or more foure square hard wooddy stalkes growing from one root diuided into many branches couered with a soft white hairinesse two or three foot long or longer not growing vpright but trailing vpon the ground the leaues grow on little-short footstalkes by couples of a light greene colour somewhat like the leaues of Basill very like the leaues of Acinos Lobelij but smaller about three quarters of an inch broad and not fully an inch long somewhat sharpe pointed lightly notched about the edges also couered with a light soft hoary hairinesse of a very sweete smell little inferiour to Garden Marjerome of a hot biting taste out of their bosomes grow other smaller leaues or else branches the floures also grow forth of the bosomes of the leaues toward the tops of the stalkes and branches not in whorles like the said Acinos but hauing one little short footstalke growing forth of the bosome of each leafe on which is placed three foure or more small floures gaping open and diuided into foure vnequall parts at the top like the floures of Basill and very neare of the likenesse and bignesse of the floures of Garden Marjerome but of a pale blewish colour tending towards a purple The seed I neuer obserued by reason it floured late This plant I first found growing in the Garden of Mr. William Yalden in Sheete neere Petersfield in Hampshire ãâã 1620. amongst sweete Marjerome and which by chance they bought with the seedes thereof It is to be considered whether the seedes of sweete Marjerome degenerate and send forth this herbe or not 11. October 1621. Iohn Goodyer ⡠¶ The Place The wilde kindes doe grow vpon grauelly grounds by water sides and especially I found the three last in the barren plaine by an house in Kent two miles from Dartford called Saint Iones in a village called Sutton and Clinopodium vulg are groweth in great plentie vpon Long field downes in Kent â¡ One of the three last of our Authors description is omitted as you may finde noted at the end of the chapter yet I cannot be persuaded that euer he found any of the foure he described euer wilde in this kingdome vnlesse the secoad which growes plentifully in Autumne almost by euery hedge also the fourth being of my description growes neere Dartford and in many such dry barren places in sundry parts of the kingdome ⡠¶ The Time These herbes floure in Iune and Iuly ¶ The Names Vnprofitable Basil or wilde Basill is called by some Clinopodium ¶ The Nature The seed of these herbes are of complexion hot and dry ¶ The Vertues Wilde Basill pound with wine appeaseth the paine of the eyes and the juice doth mundifie the same and putteth away all obscurity and dimnesse all catarrhes and flowing humors that fall into the eies being often dropped into the same â The stone Basill howsoeuer it be taken stoppeth the laske and courses and outwardly applied it helpes hot Tumors and inflammations â¡ These plants are good for all such effects as require moderate heate and astriction â¡ CHAP. 224. Of Basill Valerian ¶ The Description 1 THe first kinde of Ocymastrum called of Dodonaeus Valerianarubra bringeth forth long and brittle stalkes two cubits high sull os knots or joints in which place is joined long leaues much like vnto great Basill but greater broader and larger or rather like the leaues of Woade At the top of the stalkes do grow very pleasant and long red floures of the fashion of the floures of Valerian which hath caused Dodonaeus to call this plant red Valerian which being past the seedes are caried
nothing to the contrary but that there may be many plants with soft downie leaues fit to make Candle weeke of in English it is generally called French Sage wee may call it Sage Mulleine ¶ The Temperature As these be like in vertues to the others going before so they be likewise dric in temperature ¶ The Vertues Dioscorides saith that the leaues are stamped and laied in manner of a pultis vpon burnings and scaldings CHAP. 267. Of Clarie 1 Gallitricum ãâã Horminum Common Clarie 2 Gallitricum alterum Small Clarie â¡ 3 Horminum syluestre Fuchsij Fuchsius his wilde Clarie ¶ The Description 1 THe first kinde of Clarie which is the right bringeth forth thick stalks foure square two foot long diuided into branches it hath many leaues growing both from the rootes and along the stalkes and branches by distances one against another by two and two great a handfull broad or broader somewhat rough vnequall whitish and hairie as be also the stalkes The floures are like those of Sage or of dead Nettle of colour white out of a light blew after which grow vp long toothed huskes in stead of cods in which is blacke seed The root is full of strings the whole herbe yeeldeth forth a rank and strong smell that stuffeth the head it perisheth after the seed is ripe which is in the second yeare after it is sowne 2 The second kinde of Clarie hath likewise stalkes foure square a foot and a halfe high the leaues also be rough and rugged lesser and not so white The floures be alike of colour purple or blew the rootes bee as those of the former are This hath not so strong a sent by a great deale 3 There is a kinde of Clarie which Fuchsius pictureth for wilde Clarie that hath shorter stalkes hairie and also foure square the leaues lesser long deeper indented the floures blew of colour sweet of smell but not so sweet as those of 4 Colus Iouis Iupiters ãâã the right Clarie the husks or cods when they are ripe bend downwards the seed is blackish the roots in like manner are blacke and full of strings 4 The fourth kind of Horminum called Iovis Colus representeth in the highest top of the stalke a distaffe wrapped about with yellow flax whereof it tooke his name hauing knobbie roots with certaine strings annexed thereto like Galcopsis or like vnto the roots of Clarie which doe yeeld forth sundry foure square rough stalks two cubits high whereon do grow leaues like tl ose of the Nettle rough sharpe pointed and of an ouerworne greene colour the floures do grow alongst the top of the stalks by certaine spaces set round about in smal coronets or wharles like those of Sage in forme but of a yellow colour ¶ The Place These doe grow wilde in some places notwithstanding they are manured and planted in Gardens almost euery where except Iupiters distaffe beeing a kinde thereof which I haue in my Garden ¶ The Time They floure in Iune Iuly and August ¶ The Names Clarie is called of the Apothecaries Gallitricum it is likewise named Oruala of some Tota bona but not properly of others Scarlea Sclarea Centrum Galli and Matrisaluia in Iralian Sciaria in French Oruale in High Dutch Scharlach in Low Dutch Scharleye in English Clarie or Cleere eie Iupiters distaffe is called Colus Iovis of some Galeopsis lutea but not properly of diuers Horminum luteum or yellow Clarie and Horminum Tridentinum or Clarie of Trent ¶ The Temperature Clarie is hot and drie in the third degree ¶ The Vertues The seed of Clarie poudered finely searced and mixed with hony taketh away the dimnesse of the eies and clecreth the sight The same stamped infused or laied to steepe in warme water the mussilag or slimie substance taken and applied plaisterwise draweth forth splinters of wood thornes or any other thing fixed in the bodie it also scattereth and dissolueth all kindes of swellings especially in the ioints The seed poudered and drunke with wine stirreth vp bodily lust The leaues of Clarie taken any manner of way helpeth the weaknesse of the backe proceeding of the ouermuch flowing of the whites but most effectually if they be fried with egges in manner of a Tansie either the leaues whole or stamped CHAP. 268. Of wilde Clarie or Oculus Christi ¶ The Description 1 OCulus Christi is also a kinde of Clarie but lesser the stalkes are many a cubite high squared and somewhat hairie the leaues be broad rough and of a blackish green colour The floures grow alongst the stalkes of a blewish colour The seed is round and blackish the root is thicke and tough with some threds annexed thereto â¡ This is Hormini syluestris 4. quinta species of Clusius â¡ 2 The purple Clarie hath leaues somewhat round layd ouer with a hoarie cottony substance not much vnlike Horehound among which rise vp small hairie square stalks set toward the top with little leaues of a purple colour which appeare at the first view to be floures and yet are nothing else but leaues turned into an excellent purple colour and among these beautifull leaues come forth small floures of a blewish or watchet colour in fashion like vnto the floures of Rosemarie which being withered the husks wherein they did grow containe certaine blacke seed that falleth forth vpon the ground very quickely because that euery such huske doth turne and hang downe his head toward the ground The root dieth at the first approch of Winter 1 Horminum syluestre Wilde Clarie or Oculus Christi 2 Horminum syluestre folijs purpurcis Clarie with purple leaues â¡ 3 Horminum syluestre latifolium Broad leaued wilde Clarie â¡ 4 Horminum syluestre flore albo White floured wilde Clarie â¡ 5 Horminum syluestre flore rub ro Red floured wilde Clarie 4 This hath long leaues next vnto the ground growing vpon prettie long stalkes broad at their setting on and so ending by little and little in sharpe points they are not deeply cut in but onely lightly snipt about the edges they are also wrinckled on the vpper side and whitish but hairie on the vnder side The square ãâã are some cubite high iointed and set with two leaues at each ioint The floures grow alongst the tops of the branches and are of a snow white colour There is a varietie of this with the leaues greener and the floures of an elegant deepe purple colour This is the Horminum syluestris quarti species prima of Clusius and the varietie with the white floures is his Hormini syluestris quarti ãâã prima and the figure that our Authour gaue in the first place was of ãâã 5 There is another variety of the last described which also hath square stalks set with rough snipt leaues which end in sharp points but are narrower at the lower end than the former and they are greene of colour vpon the tops of the stalkes grow red hooded floures and those not very large the seed is small and blacke and
in the North part of England called Crag close and in the foot of the mountaine called Ingleborow Fels â¡ The sourth may be found in some gardens with vs. The fifth growes in the East Indies in the ãâã of Mandou and Chito in the kingdome of Bengala and Decan The last growes in Prouince in France neere a little city called Gange ⡠¶ The Time The leaues grow to withering in September at which time they smell more pleasantly than when they flourished and were greene ¶ The Names Nardus is called in Pannonia or Hungarie of the countrey people Speick of some Bechi ãâã that is the herbe of Vienna because it doth grow there in great aboundance from whence it is brought into other countries of Gesner Saliunca in English Celticke Spikenard of the Valletians ãâã and Nardus Celtica ¶ The Temperature and Vertues Celticke Narde mightily prouokes vrine as recordeth Rondeletius who trauelling through the desart countrey chanced to lodge in a monasterie where was a Chanon that could not make his water but was presently helped by the decoction of this herbe through the aduice of the said ãâã â¡ The true Spikenard or Indian Nard hath a heating and drying facultie being according to Galen hot in the first degree yet the Greeke copy hath the third and dry in the second It is composed of a sufficiently astringent substance and not much acride heate and a certaine light bitternesse Consisting of these faculties according to reason both inwardly and outwardly vsed it is conuenient for the liuer and stomacke It prouoketh vrine helps the gnawing paines of the stomacke dries vp the defluxions that trouble the belly and intrals as also those that molest the head and brest It stayes the fluxes of the belly and those of the wombe being vsed in a pessarie and in a bath it helpes the inflammation thereof Drunke in cold water it helpes the nauseousnesse gnawings and windinesse of the stomacke the liuer and the diseases of the kidneyes and it is much vsed to be put into Antidotes It is good to cause haire to grow on the eye lids of such as want it and is good to be strewed vpon any part of the body that abounds with superfluous moisture to dry it vp The Celticke-Nard is good for all the forementioned vses but of lesse esficacie vnlesse in the prouoking of vrine It is also much vsed in Antidotes The mountaine Nard hath also the same faculties but is much weaker than the former and not in vse at this day that I know of â¡ CHAP. 442. Of Larkes heele or Larkes claw ¶ The Description 1 THe garden Larks spur hath a round stem ful of branches set with tender iagged leaues very like vnto the small Sothernwood the floures grow alongst the stalks toward the tops of the branches of a blew colour consisting of fiue little leaues which grow together and make one hollow floure hauing a taile or spur at the end turning in like the spurre of Tode-flax After come the seed very blacke like those of Leekes the root perisheth at the sirst approch of Winter 2 The second Larks spur is like the precedent but somewhat smaller in stalkes and leaues the floures are also like in forme but of a white colour wherein especially is the difference These floures are sometimes of a purple colour sometimes white murrey carnation and of sundry other colours varying infinitely according to the soile or countrey wherein they liue â¡ 3 Larks spur with double floures hath leaues stalkes roots and seeds like the other single kinde but the floures of this are double and hereof there are as many seuerall varieties as there be of the single kinde to wit white red blew purple blush c. 4 There is also another varietie of this plant which hath taller stalkes and larger leaues than the common kinde the floures also are more double and larger with a lesser heele this kind also yceldeth vsually lesse seed than the former The colour of the floure is as various as that of the former being either blew purple white red or blush and sometimes mixed of some of these â¡ 5 The wilde Larks spur hath most sine iagged leaues cut and hackt into diuers parts consusedly set vpon a small middle tendrell among which grow the floures in shape like the others but 1 Consolida regalis satiua Garden Larks heele 2 Crnsoliaa ãâã ãâã ãâã vel ãâã White or red Larks spur â¡ 3 Consolida regalis flore duplict Double Larks spur â¡ 4 Consolida reg elatior ãâã ãâã Great double Larks spur 5 Consolidaregalis syluestris Wilde Larkes heele ¶ The Place These plants are set and sowne in gardens the last groweth wilde in corne fields and where corn hath grown â¡ but not with vs that I haue yet obserued though it be frequently found in such places in many parts of Germanie ⡠¶ The Time They floure for the most part all Sommet long from Iune to the end of August and oft-times after ¶ The Names Larks heele is called Flos Regius of diuers Consolida regalis who make it one of the Consounds or Comfreyes It is also thought to be the Delphinium which Dioscorides describes in his third booke wherewith it may agree It is reported by Gerardus of Veltwijcke who remained Lieger with the great Turke from the Emperor Charles the fifth That the said Gerard saw at Constantinople a copy which had in the chap. of Delphinium not leaues but floures like Dolphines for the floures and especially before they be perfected haue a certaine shew and likenesse of those Dolphines which old pictures and armes of certain antient families haue expressed with a crooked and bending figure or shape by which signe also the heauenly Dolphine is set forth And it skilleth not though the chapter of Delphinium be thought to be falsified and counterfeited for although it be some other mans and not of Dioscorides it is notwithstanding some one of the old Writers out of whom it is taken and foisted into Dioscorides his bookes of some it is called Bucinus or Bucinum in English Larks spur Larks heele Larks toes and Larks claw in high-Dutch ãâã spooren that is Equitis calcar Knights spur in Italian Sperone in French Pied d' alouette ¶ The Temperature These herbes are temperate and warme of nature ¶ The Vertues We finde little extant of the vertues of Larks heele either in the antient or later writers worth the noting or to be credited for it is set downe that the seed of Larks spur drunken is good against the stingings of Scorpions whose vertues are so forcible that the herbe onely thrown before the Scorpion or any other venomous beast causeth them to be without force or strength to hurt insomuch that they cannot moue or stirre vntill the herbe be taken away with many other such trifling toyes not worth the reading CHAP. 443. Of Gith or Nigella ¶ The Kindes THere be diuers sorts of Gith or Nigella differing some in the colour of the
high a finger thicke ãâã ãâã or surrowed and couered ouer with an hairy mossines which diuide ãâã into sundry smal branches ãâã with leaues consisting of sundry little leaues ãâã vpon a middle rib like the wilde Vetch placed on the small pliant branches like feathers which are ãâã couered ouer with a woollie ãâã in taste astringent at the first but afterwards burning hot among these leaues come forth many small white floures in fashion like the floures of ãâã which before their opening seeme to be somewhat yellow the root is maruellous great and large considering the smalnesse ãâã the plant for sometimes it groweth to the bignesse of a mans arme keeping the same bignesse for the space of a span in length and after diuideth it selfe into two or more forks or branches blacke without and wrinckled white within hard and wooddie and in taste vnpleasant which being dried becommeth harder than an horne 1 Astragalus Lusitanicus Clusij Portingale milke Vetch 2 Astragalus Syriacus Assyrian milke Vetch 2 The second kinde of Astragalus is a rare and gallant plant and may well be termed Planta ãâã guminosa by reason that it is accounted for a kinde of Astragalus resembling the same in the ãâã of his stalkes and leaues as also in the thicknesse of his rootes and the creeping and folding thereof and is garnished with a most thicke and pleasant comlinesse of his delectable red floures growing vp together in great tufts which are very seemly to behold 3 There hath been some controuersie about this third kinde which I am not willing to prosecute or enter into it may very well be Astragalus of Matthiolus his description or else his Polygala which doth exceeding well resemble the true Astragalus his small stalkes grow a foot high ãâã with leaues like Cicer or Galega but that they are somewhat lesser among which come forth small Pease like floures of an Orange colour very pleasant in sight the root is tough and flexible of a finger thicke â¡ 3 Astragalus Matthioli Matthiolus his milke Vetch â¡ 4 Astragaloides Bastard Milke Vetch 4 The fourth is called of ãâã and other learned Herbarists Astragaloides for that it resembleth the true Astragalus which groweth a cubit high and in shew resembleth Liquorice the floures grow at the tops of the stalks in shape like the Pease bloome of a faire purple colour which turne into small blacke cods when they be ripe the root is tough and very long creeping vpon the vpper part of the earth and of a wooddy substance The Place They grow amongst stones in open places or as ãâã writeth in places subiect to winds and couered with snow Dioscorides copies do adde in shadowie places it groweth plentifully in Phenea a citie in Arcadia as Galen and Pliny report in Dioscorides his copies there is read in Memphis a citie of Arcadia but Memphis is a citie of Egypt and in Arcadia there is none of that name some of them grow in my garden and in sundrie other places in England wilde they grow in the medowes neere Cambridge where the schollers vse to sport themselues they grow also in sundrie places of Essex as about Dunmow and Clare and many other places of that countrey â¡ I should be glad to know which or how many of these our Authour heere affirmes to grow wilde in England for as yet I haue not heard of nor seene any of them wilde nor in gardens with vs except the last ãâã which growes in some few gardens ⡠¶ The Time They floure in Iune and Iuly and their seed is ripe in September ¶ The Names Milke Vetch is called of Matthiolus Polygala but not properly of most it is called Astragalus in Spanish Garauancillos in the Portingales tongue Alphabeca in Dutch Cleyne Ciceren ¶ The Temperature and Vertues Astragalus as Galen saith hath astringent or binding roots and therefore it is of the number of those simples that are not a little drying for it glueth and healeth vp old vlcers and staieth the flux of the belly if they be boiled in wine and drunke the same things also touching the vertues of Astragalus Dioscorides hath mentioned the root saith he being drunke in wine staieth the laske and prouoketh vrine being dried and cast vpon old vlcers it cureth them it likewise procureth great store of milke in cattell that do eat thereof whence it tooke his name It stoppeth bleeding but it is with much ado beaten by reason of his hardnesse CHAP. 521. Of Kidney Vetch ¶ The Description 1 KIdney Vetch hath a stalke of the height of a cubit diuiding it selfe into other branches whereon do grow long leaues made of diuers leaues like those of the Lentill couered as it were with a softwhite downinesse the floures on the tops of the stalks of a yellow colour verie many ioined together as it were in a spokie rundle after which grow vp little cods in which is contained small seed the root is slender and of a wooddie substance â¡ This is sometimes found with white floures whereupon ãâã gaue two figures calling the one Lagopodium flore luteo and the other Lagopodium flo albo Our Author vnfitly gaue this later mentioned figure in the chapter of Lagopus by the name of Lagopum maximum â¡ 1 Anthyllis Leguminosa Kidney Vetch 2 Stella leguminosa ãâã Kidney Vetch 2 The Starry Kidney Vetch called Stella leguminosa or according to Cortusus Arcturo hath many small flexible tough branches full of small knots or knees from each of which springeth forth one long small winged leafe like birds foot but bigger from the bosome of those leaues come forth little tender stems on the ends whereof do grow small whitish yellow floures which are very slender and soone vaded like vnto them of Birds-foot these floures turne into small sharpe pointed cods standing one distant from another like the diuisions of a ãâã or as though it consisted of little hornes wherein is contained small yellowish seeds the root is tough and deeply growing in the ground 3 There is another sort of Kidney Vetch called Birds-foot or Ornithopodium which hath very many small and tender branches trailing here and there close vpon the ground set full of small and ãâã leaues of a whitish greene in shape like the leaues of the wilde Vetch but a great deale lesser and siner almost like small feathers amongst which the floures doe grow that are very small yellowish and sometimes whitish which being vaded there come in place thereof little crooked ãâã fiue or six growing together which in shew and shape are like ãâã a small birds foot and each and euery cod resembling a claw in which are inclosedsmall seed like that of Turneps â¡ 3 ãâã ãâã The great Birds-foot â¡ 4 Ornithopodium minus Small Birds-foot â¡ 5 Scorpoides Leguminosa Small Horned pulse 4 There is also another kinde of Ornithopodium or Birds-foot called small Birds-foot which is very like vnto the first but that it is much smaller the branches or sprigs grow not
a weake and feeble heart vnlesse this stone called Lapis Cyaneus be quite left out Therefore he that is purposed to vse this composition against beatings and throbbings of the heart and swounings and that not as a purging medicine shall do well and wisely by leauing out the stone Cyaneus for this being taken in a little weight or small quantitie cannot purge at all but may in the meane season trouble and torment the stomacke and withall thorow his sharpe and venomous qualitie if it be oftentimes taken be very offensiue to the guts and intrailes and by this meanes bring more harme than good Moreouer it is not necessarie no nor expedient that the bristle died with Cochenele called Chesmes as the Apothecaries terme it should be added to this composition for this bristle is not died without Auripigmentum called also Orpiment and other pernitious things ioyned therewith whose poysonsome qualities are added to the iuyces together with the colour if either the bristle or died silke be boyled in them The berries of the Cochenele must be taken by themselues which alone are sufficient to dy the iuices and to impart vnto them their vertue neither is it likewise needfull to boile the raw silke together with the graines as most Physitians thinke this may be left out for it maketh nothing at all for the strengthning of the heart CHAP. 34. Of the great Skarlet Oke ¶ The Description THe great Skarlet Oke or the great Holme Oke groweth many times to the full height of a tree sometimes as big as the Peare tree with boughes far spreading like the Acorne or ãâã Mast trees the timber is firme and sound the leaues are set with prickles round about the edges like those of the former Skarlet Oke the leaues when the tree waxeth old haue on them no prickles at all but are somwhat bluntly cut or indented about the edges greene on the vpper side and gray vnderneath the Acorne standeth in a prickly cup like our common Oke Acorne which when it is ripe becommeth of a browne colour with a white kernel within of taste not vnpleasant There is found vpon the branches of this tree a certaine kinde of long hairy mosse of the colour of ashes not vnlike to that of our English Oke â¡ This tree is euer greene and at the tops of the branches about the end of May here in England carrieth diuers long catkins of mossie yellow floures which fall away and are not succeeded by the acornes for they grow out vpon other stalks Clusius in the yeare 1581 obserued two trees the one in a garden aboue the Bridge and the other in the priuat garden at White-Hall hauing lesser leaues than the former The later of these is yet standing and euery yeare beares small Acornes which I could neuer obserue to come to any maturitie â¡ Ilex maior Glandifera The great Skarlet Oke â¡ Ilicis ramus floridus The floures of the great Skarlet Oke ¶ The Place In diuers places there are great woods of these trees hills also and vallies are beautified therewith they grow plentifully in many countries of Spaine and in Languedocke and Prouence in great plenty It is likewise found in Italy It beareth an Acorne greater and of a larger size than doth the tame Oke in some countries lesser and shorter they are strangers in England notwithstanding there is here and there a tree thereof that hath been procured from beyond the seas one groweth in her Maiesties Priuy Garden at White-Hall neere to the gate that leadeth into the street and in some other places here and there one ¶ The Time It is greene at all times of the yeare it is late before the Acornes be ripe Clusius reporteth that he saw the floures growing in clusters of a yellow colour in May. ¶ The Names This Oke is named in Greeke ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã in Latine Ilex in Spanish Enzina in Italian Elize in French Chesneuerd in English Barren Skarlet Oke or Holme Oke and also of some French or Spanish Oke The Spaniards call the fruit or Acorne Bellota or Abillota Theophrastus seemeth to call this tree not Prinos but Smilax for he maketh mention but of one Ilex onely and that is of Scarlet Oke and he sheweth that the Arcadians do not call the other Ilex but Smilax for the name Smilax is of many significations there is Smilax among the Pulses which is also called Dolichus and Phaseolus and Smilax aspera and Laeuis amongst the Binde-weeds likewise Smilax is taken of Dioscorides to be Taxus the Yew tree Of Smilax Theophrastus writeth thus in his third booke the inhabitants of Arcadia do call a certaine tree Smilax being like vnto the Skarlet Oke the leaues thereof be not set with such sharpe prickles but tenderer and softer Of this Smilax Pliny also writeth in his sixteenth booke chap. 6. There be of Ilex saith he two kindes Ex ijs in Italia folio non multum ab oleis distant called of certain Grecians Smilaces in the proninces Aquifolia in which words in stead of Oliue trees may perchance be more truly placed Suberis or the Corke tree for this kinde of Ilex or Smilax is not reported of any of the old writers to haue the leafe of the Oliue tree but Suber in Greeke called Phellos or the Corke tree hath a little leafe ¶ The Temperature and Vertues The leaues of this Oke haue force to coole and repell or keepe backe as haue the leaues of the Acornes or Mast trees being stamped or beaten and applied they are good for soft swellings and strengthen weake members The barke of the root boiled in water vntill it be dissolued and layd on all night maketh the haire blacke being first scoured with Cimolia as Dioscorides saith Clusius reporteth that the Acorne is esteemed of eaten and brought into the market to be sold in the city of Salamanca in Spaine and in many other places of that countrey and of this Acorne Pliny also hath peraduenture written lib 16. cap. 5. in these words Moreouer at this day in Spain the Acorne is serued for a second course CHAP. 35. Of the great Holme-Oke 1 Cerris maiore Glande The Holme Oke with great Acornes 2 Cerris minore Glande The Holme Oke with lesser Acorns ¶ The Description â¡ Cerri minoris ãâã cum flore A branch of the smaller Holme Oke with floures 2 The second is altogether like the first sauing that this beareth smaller Acornes and the whole tree is altogether lesse wherein consisteth the difference â¡ Both this the former cary floures clustering vpon long stalkes like as in the common Oke but the fruit doth not succeed them but grow forth in other places ⡠¶ The Place This Oke groweth in vntoiled places it is seldome times found and that but in Woods onely it is for the most part vnknowne in Italy as Pliny reporteth ¶ The Time They bring forth their fruit or ãâã in the fall of the leafe ¶ The Names This Oke
the middle as much as may containe a Hasell Nut. 13 In this table are foure seuerall fruits described by Clusins Exot. lib. 2. c. 21. The first is called Baruce and is said to grow vpon a high tree in Guyana called Hura it consisted of many Nuts of some inch long strongly fastened or knit together each hauing a hard wooddy shell falling into two parts containing a round and smooth kernell couered with an ash coloured silme They say the natiues there vse this fruit to purge and vomite The second called Arara growes in Kaiana but how it is not knowne it was some inch long couered with a skin sufficiently hard and blacke fastened to a long and rugged stalke that seemed to haue carried more than one fruit the kernell is blacke and of the bignesse of a wilde Oliue The natiues vse the decoction hereof towash maligne vlcers and they say the kernell will loose the belly The third named Orukoria is the fruit of a tree in Wiapock called Iuruwa they vse this to cure their wounds dropping the iuice of the fruit into them This fruit is flat almost an inch broad and two long but writhen like the cod of the true Cytisus but much bigger very wrinckled of an ash colour containing a smooth seed The fourth called Cropiot is a small and shriuelled fruit not much vnlike the particular ioints of the Aethiopian pepper The sauages vse to take it mixed amongst their Tabaco to asswage head-ache there were diuers of them put vpon a string as you may see in the figure the better to dry them 14 This which by Clusius Lobel is thought to be the Guanabanus mentioned by Scaliger Exerc. 281. part 6. is a thicke fruit some foot and halfe long couered with a thicke and hard rinde freezed ouer with a soft downinesse like as a Quince is but of a greenish colour with some veines or rather furrowes running alongst it as in ãâã the lower end is somewhat sharp at the vpper end it is fastened to the boughes with a firme hard and fibrous stalke this fruit containes a whitish pulpe which the Ethiopians vse in burning seuers to quench the thirst for it hath a pleasant tartnesse this dried becomes friable so that it may be brought into pouder with ones fingers yet retaineth its aciditie in this pulp lye seeds like little Kidneis or the seeds of the true ãâã of a black shining colour with some fibres comming out of their middles these sowne brought forth a plant hauing leaues like the Bay tree but it dyed at the approch of Winter Clus. 15 Ananas Pinias or Pine Thistle is a plant hauing leaues like the Aizoon aquaticum or water â¡ 16 Fabae Aegyptiae affinis â¡ 17 Coxco Cypote Amygdalae Peruanae Almonds of Peru. â¡ 18 Buenas Noches â¡ 19 Fructus tetragonus The square Coco â¡ 20 Arboris laniferae siliqua A cod of the wooll-bearing tree 16 The forme of this is somewhat strange for it is like a large Poppy head cut off nigh the top the substance thereof was membranous and wrinckled of a brownish colour very smooth the circumference at the top is about nine inches and so it growes smallerand smaller euen to the stalke which seems to haue carried a floure whereto this fruit succeeded the top of the fruit was euen and in it were orderly placed 24. cauities in each whereof was contained a little Nut like an Acorn almost an inch long and as much thick the vpper part was of a brownish colour the kernel within was rank and all mouldy Clusius could learne neither whence this came nor how it grew but with a great deale of probability thinks it may be that which the Antients described by the name of Faba Aegyptia 17 The former of these two Clusius receiued by the name of Coxco Cypote that is the Nut Cypote It is of a dusky browne colour smooth and shining but on the lower part of an ash colour rough which the Painter did not well expresse in drawing the figure The 2. hee receiued by the name of Almendras del Peru i. Almonds ãâã Peru the shell was like in colour and substance to that of an almond and the kernell not vnlike neither in substance nor taste yet the forme of the shell was different for it was triangular with a backe standing vp and two sharp sides and these very rough 18 This was the fruit of a large kind of Convolvulus which the Spaniards called Buenas noches or Goodnight because the floures vse to ãâã as soone as night came The seeds were of a sooty colour as big as large Pease being three of them contained in a skinny three cornered head You may see more hereof in Clusius Exot. lib. 2. cap. 18. 19 This is the figure of a square fruit which Clusius coniectures to haue been some kind of Indian Nut or Coco it was couered with a smooth rinde was seuen inches long and a foot and halfe about being foure inches and a halfe from square to square 20 About Bantam in the East Indies growes a tall tree sending forth many branches which are set thicke with leaues long and narrow bigger than those of Rosemary it carries cods six inches long and fiue about couered with a thin skin wrinckled and sharp pointed which open themselues from below into fiue parts and are full of a soft woolly or Cottony matter wherewith they stuffe cushions pillowes and the like and also spin some for certaine vses amongst the downe lye blacke seeds like those of Cotton but lesse and not fastened to the downe 21 This which Clus calls Palma ãâã ãâã or the Bag Date because it carries the figure of an Hippocras bag was found in a desart Island in the Antlantick ocean by certaine Dutch mariners who obserued whole woods thereof these bags were some of them 22. or more inches long and some seuen inches broad in the broadest place strongly woue with threds crossing one another of a brownish yellow colour These sachels as they report who cut them from the tree were filled with fruit of the bignesse of a Walnut huske and all within these were others as round as if they had bin torned and so hard that you could scarce breake them with a hammer in the midst of these were white kernels tasting at the first ãâã like pulse but afterwards bitter like a Lupine 22. The tree which carries this rough cod is very large as I haue been told by diuers some who saw it in Persia others that obserued it in Mauritius Island Clusius also notes that they haue bin brought from diuers places the cod is some three inches long and some two inches broad of a duskie red colour and all rough and prickly in these cods are contained one two or more round nuts or seeds of a grayish ash colour hauing a little spot on one side where they are fastened to the cod they are exceeding hard and difficult to breake but broken they shew a white kernel
very bitter and vnpleasant of taste I haue seen very many and haue some of these and some haue offered to sel them sor East Indian Beazor whereto they haue some small resemblance though nothing in facultie like them if I may credit report which I had rather do than make tryall for I haue been told by some that they are poisonous and by others that they strongly procure vomit ãâã The long cod expressed in this figure is called in the East Indies as Clusius was told Kaye ãâã it was round the thicknesse of ones little finger and six inches long the ãâã was thick black hard and wrinckled and it contained a hard pulpe of a sowrish taste which they affirm was eatable The other was a cod of some inch and halfe long and some inch broad membranous rough and of a brownish colour sharp pointed and opening into two parts and distinguished with a thin ãâã into foure cels wherein were contained ãâã Peare fashioned little berries hauing golden spots especially in the middles This growes in Brasile and as Clusius was informed was called ãâã â¡ 21 Palma saccifera The Sachell Date â¡ 22 Lobus ãâã Beazor Nuts â¡ 23 Kaie baka ãâã â¡ 24 Nucula Indica racemosa The Indian or rather Ginny Nut. â¡ 25 Fructus ãâã Scalie fruits â¡ 26 Fructus alij Exotici Other strange fruits â¡ 26 Fructus ãâã Exotici Other strange fruits 25 These scaily fruits are set forth by Clusius Exot. l. 2 c. 3. The first was three inches long and two inches about and had in it a longish hard sollid kernell with many veines dispersed ouer it and such kernels are somtimes polished whereby they become white and then their blacke veines make a fine shew which hath giuen occasion to som e ãâã s to put them to saile for rare and precious stones The second was small round and scaily and the scailes turned their points downwards towards the stalke The third was also scaily of the bignesse of a Walnut in his huske with the scailes very orderly placed and of a brownish colour it had a kernel which ratled in it when it was shaken 26 The first of the two in the former table was brought from Ginny it was of the bignesse and shape of a plum two inches long and one and halfe broad of a thicke fungous substance somewhat wrinckled and blackish on the outside and within containing a certaine whitish insiped friable pulpe wherein lay a few small seeds The second was some inch and halfe long an inch thicke couered with an ash coloured skin composed within of many fibres almost like the huske of the Nut Faufell at the lower end it stood in a double cup and it was sharp pointed at the vpper end in this skin was contained a kernell or rather nut blacke hard and very wrinckled not much vnlike to that of Faufell whereto I refer it as a kinde thereof These two are treated of by Clusius Exot. lib. 2. c. 23. The first of the second table wherein are contained foure figures was of a round forme yet a little flat on one side distinguished vnder the blacke and shining coat wherewith it was couered with furrowes running euery way not vnlike to the Nut Faufell taken forth of his couer the inner pulpe was hard and whitish first of a salt and then of an ãâã ingent taste The second of these was an inch long but rather the kernell of a fruit than a fruit it selfe it was round except at the one end and all ouer knobby though the picture expresse not so much there was also some shew of a triangular forme at each end The third was two inches and a halfe long and in the broadest part some inch and more broad it was somewhat crooked the backe high and rising the top narrow and the lower part sharp pointed of an ash colour with thicke and eminent nerues running alongst the back from the top to the lower part exprest with such art as if they had been done by some curious hand it seemed to haue bin couered ouer with another ãâã but it was worne off by the beating of the waues of the sea vpon the shore The fruit Cunane figured in the fourth place of this table was two inches long and an inch broad at the head and so smaller by little little with a back standing out smooth black and shining hauing three holes at the top one aboue two below they said it grew vpon a smal tree called Morremor and was yet vnripe but when it was ripe it would be as big again and that the natiues where itgrew which was as I take it about Wiapock rost it vpon the coles and eate it against the headache Clusius sets forth these foure in his Exot. l. 2. c. 22. he describes Cunane cap. 21. â¡ CHAP. 160. Of Sun-Dew Youth woort Ros Solis 1 Ros Solis folio rotundo Sun-Dew with round leaues 2 Ros Solis folio oblongo Sun-Dew with longish leaues ¶ The Description 1 SVn-Dew is a little herb and groweth very low it hath a few leaues standing vpon ãâã stems very small something round a little hollow and like an eare picker hairy and reddish as be also the stems hauing dew and moisture vpon them at the driest time of the yeare and when the Sun shineth hottest euen at high noone and a moneth after there spring vp little stalks a hand breadth high on which stand small whitish floures the roots are very slender and like vnto haires 2 The second kinde is like vnto the former in stalks and floures but larger and the leaues are longer and not so round wherein consisteth the difference ¶ The Place They grow in desart sandie and sunny places but yet waterie and seldome other-where than among the white marish mosse which groweth on the ground and also vpon bogs ¶ The Time Sun-Dew flourisheth in Sommer it floureth in May or Iune it is to be gathered when the weather is most dry and calme The distilled water hereof that is drawne forth with a glasse still is of a glittering yellow colour like gold and coloureth siluer put therein like gold ¶ The Names It is called in Latine Ros Solis of diuers Rorella it is named of other Salsi Rosa of the dew which hangeth vpon it when the Sun is at the hottest it is called in high Dutch Sondaw and Suidaw in low Dutch Loopichecruit which in English signifieth Lustwoort because sheepe and other ãâã if they do but onely taste of it are prouoked to lust It is called in English Sun-Dew Ros Solis Youth-woort in the Northern parts Red Rot because it rotteth sheepe and in Yorkeshire Moore grasse ¶ The Temperature It is a ãâã or causticke herbe and very much biting being hot and drie in the fourth degree ¶ The Vertues The leaues being stamped with salt do exulcerate and raise blisters to what part of the body soeuer they be applied The later Physitions haue thought this herbe to be a rare and
liked by ãâã lib. ãâã cap. 22. At this day in Candy where it ãâã growes it is called Adracla It is rather a shrub than a tree delighting in rockie and mountanous places and keeping greene VVinter and Sommer hauing leaues so like those of Bayes that they are distinguishable only by the smell which these are destitute of The barke of the bole and all the branches is so smooth red and shining that they shew like branches of Corall this barke crackes or breakes off in Sommer and pills off in thinne fleakes at which time it is neither red nor shining but in a meane betweene yellow and ash-colour It hath floures twice in a yeere like as the Arbutus or Strawberry tree and that so like it that you can scarse know the one from the other yet this differs from it in that it growes onely in the mountaines hath not the leaues jagged neither a rough barke the wood hereof is very hard and so brittle that it will not bend and they vse it to burne and to make whorles for their womens spindles Theophrastus reckons vp this tree amongst those which die not when their barkes are taken off and are alwaies greene and retaine their leaues at their tops all winter long which to be so Honorius Bellus obserued Bellonius also obserued this tree in many places of Syria The fruit in Temperature as in shape is like that of the Stawberry-tree CHAP. 11. Of the Cherry-Bay ¶ The Description THe Cherry-bay is one of the euergreen trees it rises vp ãâã an indifferent height and is diuided into sundry branches couered ouer with a swart green barke that of the yonger shoots is wholly green the leaues alternately ingirt the branches they are long smooth thick green and shining snipt also lightly about the edges when the tree is growne to some height at the tops of the branches amongst the leaues of the former yeares growth vpon a sprig of some fingers length it puts forth a great many little white floures consisting of fiue leaues a piece with many little chiues in them these floures quickly fall away and the fruit that succeeds them is a berry of an ovall figure of the bignesse of a large Cherry or Damson and of the same colour and of a sweet and pleasant Laurocerasi flos The Cherry-bay in floure ãâã fructus The Cherry-bay with the fruit taste with a stone in it like to a Cherry stone This floures in May and ripens the fruit in August or September it was first sent to Clusius from Constantinople and that by the name of Trabison curmasi 1. Trapezuntina dactylus the Date of Trapeson but it hath no affinitie with the Date ãâã refers it to the second Lotus mentioned by Theophrastus hist. plant lib. 4. cap. 4. but therewith it doth not agree Clusius and most since cal it fitly Laurocerasus or ãâã folio Laurino It is now got into many of our choise English gardens where it is well respected for the beauty of the leaues and their lasting or continuall greenenesse The fruit hereof is good to be eaten but what physicall vertues the tree or leaues thereof haue it is not yet knowne CHAP. 12. Of the Euer-greene Thorne THis plant which Lobel and some other late writers haue called by the name of Pyracantha is the Oxyacantha mentioned by Theophrastus lib. 1. cap. 15. lib. 3. cap. 4. hist. plant among the euer green trees and I thinke rather this than our white Thorn to be the Oxyacantha of ãâã lib. 1. c. 123. and certainely it was no other than this Thorne which Virgil makes mention of by the name of Acanthus lib. 2. ãâã in these words ãâã semper frondentis Acanthi That is And the berries of the ãâã greene Thorn Oxyacantha Theophrasti The Euer-greene Thorne ¶ The Description THis growes vp like a bush vnlesse you keepe it with ãâã and then it will ãâã time grow to the ãâã of a smal tree as the Hawthorne whereto it is of affinitie ãâã the wood is white and hard like it and couered ouer with the like barke but the leaues are somwhat like those of the Damson tree longish sharp pointed and snipt about the edges they grow alongst the branches without any order yet sometimes they keep this maner of growing at each knot where commonly there is a sharpe prickle growes out one of the larger leaues which may be some inch and halfe long and some three quarters of an inch broad then vpon the prickle and at the comming out therof are three or soure more or lesse much smaller leaues now these leaues are of a ãâã and shining green aboue but paler vnderneath and they keep on al the yeare At the ends and oft times in the middles of the branches come forth clusters or vmbels of little whitish blush coloured floures consisting of fiue leaues apiece with some little chiues in their middles then follow clusters of berries in shape taste and bignesse like those of the Hawthorne and of the same but much more orient and pleasing colour and containing in ãâã the like seed now these berries hang long vpon the tree make a gallant shew amongst the greene leaues and chiefely then when as the Autumne blasts haue depriued other trees of their wonted verdure This floures in May and Iune and ripens the fruit in September and October it growes wilde in sundry places of Italy and Prouince in France but is kept in gardens with vs where it is held in good esteeme for his euer greenesse and pliablenesse to any worke or forme you desire to impose vpon him The fruit haue the same faculties that are formerly attributed to Hawes in the foregoing booke pag. 1328. and therefore I will not here repeat them CHAP. 13. Of the Aegyptian Nap or great ãâã tree ¶ The Description THis tree which for his leaues and manner of growing I thinke may fitly be referred to the Iuiubes tree is of two sorts that is the one prickly and the other not prickly in other respects they are both alike so that one figure and historie may serue for them both which I will giue you ãâã of Clusius who receiued this figure together with a description thereof from Honorius Bellus and also added therto that which Prosper Alpin hath written of it in his 5. chap. de Plant. Aegypt It grows to the height of an indifferent Peare-tree and the bodie and branches thereof are couered with a whitish ash coloured barke the leaues are like those of the Iuiubes tree two inches long and one broad with three nerues running alongst them of a deepe shining greene aboue and more whitish vnderneath and they grow alternately vpon the branches and at their comming forth grow ãâã of little white floures hanging vpon single long foot-stalks after these followes the fruit like vnto a small Apple of the bignesse for the most part of a large Cherry and sometimes as big as a VValnut of a sweet taste containing therein a kernell or stone like
perisheth when the seed is ripe I first gathered seeds of this plant in the garden of my good friend Mr. Ioh. Parkinson an Apothecary of London Anno 1616. Fabaveterum serratis ãâã Boelij This is like the other wilde Beane in stalks floures cods fruit and clasping tendrels but it differeth from it in that the leaues hereof especially those that grow neere the tops of the stalks are notched or indented about the edges like the teeth of a saw The root also perisheth when the seed is ripe The seeds of this wilde Beane were gathered by Boelius a Low-country man in Baetica a part of Spaine and by him sent to Mr. William Coys who carefully preserued them and also imparted seeds thereof to me in Anno 1620. Iul. 31. 1621. Pisum maculatum Boelij They are like to the small common field Peason in stalkes leaues and cods the difference is the floures are commonly smaller and of a whitish greene colour the Peason are of a darke gray colour spotted with blacke spots in shew like to blacke Veluet in taste they are also like but somewhat harsher These peason I gathered in the garden of Mr. Iohn Parkinson a skilfull Apothecarie of London and they were first brought out of Spaine by Boelius a low-Countrey man Lathyrus aestivus flore ãâã Iuly 28. 1621 This is like Lathyris latiore folio ãâã in stalks leaues and branches but smaller the stalks are two or three foot long made flat with two skins with two exceeding small leaues growing on the stalks one opposite against another betweene which spring vp flat foot-stalks an inch long bearing two exceeding narrow sharpe pointed leaues three inches long betweene which grow the tendrels diuided into many parts at the top and taking hold therwith the floures ãâã smal and grow forth of the bosomes of the leaues on each foot-stalk one floure wholly yellow with purple strakes After each floure followeth a smooth cod almost round two inches long wherein is contained seuen round Peason somewhat rough but after a curious manner of the bignesse and taste of field Peason and of a darke sand colour Lathyrus aestivus Baeticus flore caeruleo Boelij This is also like Lathyris ãâã folio Lobelij but smaller yet greater than that with yellow flours hauing also adioining to the flat stalkes two eared sharpe pointed leaues and also two other slender sharpe pointed leaues about foure inches long growing on a flat foot-stalke beetweene them an inch and a halfe long and one tendrel between them diuided into two or three parts the floures are large and grow on long slender foure-square foot-stalkes from the bosomes of the leaues on each foot-stalk one the vpper great couering leafe being of a light blew the lower smaller leaues of a deeper blew which past there come vp short flat cods with two filmes edges or skins on the vpper side like those of Eruilia Lobelij containing within foure or fiue great flat cornered Peason bigger than field Peason of a darke sand colour Lathyrus aestivus edulis Baeticus flore albo Boelij This is in flat skinny stalks leaues foot-stalks and cods with two skins on the vpper side and in all things else like the said Lathyrus with blew floures only the floures of this are milk white the fruit is also like Lathyrus aestivus flore miniato This is also in skinnie flat stalks and leaues like the said Lathyris latiore folio but far smaller not three foot high it hath also small sharp pointed leaues growing by couples on the stalke between which grow two leaues about three inches long on a flat foot-stalk half an inch long also between those leaues grow the tendrels the floures are coloured like red lead but not so bright growing on smooth short foot-stalks one on a foot-stalke after which follow cods very like those of the common field peason but lesser an inch and a halfe long containing foure fiue or sixe cornered Peason of a sand colour or darke obscure yellow as big as common field peason and of the same taste Lathyrus palustris Lusitanicus Boelij Hath also flat skinnie stalks like the said Lathyrus latiore folio but the paire of leaues which grow on the stalke are exceeding small as are those of Lathyrus ãâã luteo and are indeed scarce worthie to be called leaues the other paire of leaues are about two inches long aboue halfe an inch broad and grow ãâã betweene those small leaues on flat foot-stalks an inch long betweene which leaues also grow the tendrels the floures grow on foot-stalks which are fiue inches long commonly two on a foot-stalke the great vpper ãâã leaues being of a bright red colour and the vnder leaues are somewhat paler after commeth flat cods containing seuen or eight small round peason no bigger than a Pepper corne gray and blacke spotted before they are ripe and when they are fully ripe of a blacke colour in taste like common Peason the stalks leaues foot-stalkes and coddes are somwhat hairy and rough Lathyrus aestivus dumetorum Baeticus Boelij Hath also flat skinnie stalks like the said Lathyrus latiore folio but smaller and in the manner of the growing of the leaues altogether contrarie This hath also two small sharp pointed leaues adioyning to the stalke betweene which groweth forth a flat middle rib with tendrels at the top hauing on each side not one against another commonly rhree blunt topped leaues sometimes three on the one side and two on the other and sometimes but foure in all about an inch and a halfe long the floures grow on foot-stalks about two or three inches long each foot-stalk vsually bearing two floures the great couering leafe being of a bright red colour and the two vnder leaues of a blewish ãâã colour afterwhich follow smooth cods aboue two inches long containing fiue sixe or seuen smooth Peason of a browne Chestnut colour not round but somewhat flat more long than broad especially those next both the ends of the cod of the bignesse and taste of common field peason Iuniperus sterilis This shrub is in the manner of growing altogether like the Iuniper tree that beareth berries only the vpper part of the leaues of the youngest and tenderest bowes and branches are of a more reddish greene colour the floures grow forth of the bosoms of the leaues of a yellowish colour which neuer exceed three in one row the number also of each row of leaues each floure is like to a small bud more long than round neuer growing to the ãâã of a quarter of an inch being nothing else but very small short crudely chiues very thicke and close thrust together fastened to a very small middle stem in the end turning into small dust which flieth away with the winde not much vnlike that of Taxus sterilis on this shrub is neuer found any fruit 15. Maij. 1621. WHen the last sheets of this worke were on the Presse I receiued a Letter from from Mr. Roger Bradshaghe wherein he sent me inclosed a
into cornered heads his root is small and threddy â¡ The figure of this plant is not well exprest for it should haue had the leaues made narrower and ioynts exprest in them like as you may see in the Gramen junceum syluaticum which is the ninth in the sixteenth chapter for that and this are so like that I know no other difference betweene them but that this hath leaues longer and narrower than that and the heads smaller and whiter There is a reasonable good figure of this in the Historia Lugd. p. 1001. vnder the name of Arundo minima â¡ 2 Spiked Water-grasse hath long narrow ãâã the stalke is small single and naked without leaues or blades bearing alongst the same toward the top an eare or spike made of certaine small buttons resembling the buttonie floures of Sea Worme-wood His root is thick tough full of fibres or threds ¶ The Place and Time They differ not from the former kindes of Grasses in place and time and their names are manifest ¶ The Nature and Vertues Their nature and vertues are referred vnto Dogs Grasse whereof we will speake hereafter CHAP. 11. Of Flote-Grasse 1 Gramen fluviatile Flote-grasse 2 Gramen fluviatile spicatum Spiked Flote-grasse ¶ The Description â 1 FLote-grasse hath a long and round root somewhat thicke like vnto Dogs-grasse set on euen ioynts with small strings or threds from the which rise vp long and crooked stalkes crossing winding and folding one within another with many flaggie leaues which horses eate greedily of At the top of these stalks and somewhat lower there come forth very many little eares of a whitish colour composed of two ranks of little chaffie seeds set alternately each of these small eares being almost an inch in length 2 Spike Flote-Grasse or spiked Flote-grasse beareth at the top of each slender creeping stalke one spiked eare and no more and the other many which maketh a difference betwixt them otherwise they are one like the other His root is compact tufted and made of many thrummie threds ¶ The Place The first of these growes euery where in waters The second is harder to be found ¶ The Names The first is called Gramen fluviatile and also Gramen aquis innatans in English Flote-grasse Tragus calls it Gramen Anatum Ducks-grasse The second is called Gramen ãâã spicatum and fluviatile album by Tabernamontanus Likewise in English it is called Flote-grasse and Floter-grasse because they swimme and flote in the water CHAP. 12. Of Kneed-Grasse ¶ The Description 1 KNeed-grasse hath straight and vpright strawie stalkes with ioynts like to the straw of corne and beareth small grassie leaues or blades spiked at the top like vnto Pannick with a rough eare of a darke ãâã colour His roots are hairy and threddy and the ioynts of the straw are very large and conspicuous 1 Gramen geniculatum Kneed-grasse 2 Gramen geniculatum aquaticum Water Kneed-grasse 2 Water Kneed-grasse hath many long and slender stemmes ioynted with many knobby and gouty knees like vnto Reed set with broad flaggy leaues somewhat sharpe pointed bearing at the top a tuft or pannicle diuided into sundry small branches of a duskish colour His root is threddie like the other ¶ The Place Time and Names These Grasses do grow in fertile moist medowes not differing in time from others And they are called Geniculata because they haue large ioynts like as it were knees We haue nothing deliuered vs of their nature and properties CHAP. 13. Of Bearded Panicke Grasse 1 Gramen Paniceum Bearded Panick Grasse ¶ The Description 1 BEarded Panicke grasse hath broad and large leaues like barly somwhat hoarie or os an oner-worne russet colour The stalkes haue two or three ioynts at the most and many ãâã on the top without order vpon some stalkes more ãâã on others fewer much like vnto the eare of wilde Panicke but that this hath many ãâã or awnes which the other wants 2 Small Pannicke Grasse as Lobelius writeth in roots leaues ioynts and stalkes is like the former sauing that the eare is much lesse consisting of fewer rowes of seed contained in small chaffie blackish huskes This as the former hath many eares vpon one stalke â¡ 3 This small Pannicke Grasse from a threddy root sendeth forth many little stalkes whereof some are one handfull other-some little more than an inch high and each of these stalkes on the top sustaines one single eare in shape ãâã like vnto the eare of wilde Pannicke but about halfe the length The stalkes of this are commonly crooked and set with grassie leaues like to the rest of this kinde The figure hereof wà s vnfitly placed by our Author in the sixteenth place in the eighth chapter vnder the title of Gramen ãâã spicatum 2 Gramen paniceum parvum Small Panicke Grasse ¶ The Place and Time The first of these two doth grow neere vnto mud walls or such like places not manured yet fertile or fruitfull The second groweth in shallow waterie plashes of pastures and at the same time with others â¡ I haue not as yet obserued any of these three growing wilde â¡ â 3 Gramen Pannici effigie spica simplici Single eared Pannicke Grasse ¶ The Names and Vertues They are called Panicke Grasses because they are like the Italian corne called Panicke Their nature and vertues are not knowne CHAP. 14. Of Hedge-hog Grasse 1 Gramen palustre ãâã Hedge-hog Grasse 2 Gramen exile Hirsutum Hairy-grasse â¡ 3 Gramen Capitulis globosis Round headed Siluer-grasse ¶ The Description 1 HEdge-hog Grasse hath long stiffe flaggy leaues with diuers stalkes proceeding from a thicke spreading root and at the top of euery stalke growe certaine round and pricking knobs fashioned like an hedge-hog 2 The second is rough and hairie his roots do spred and creep vnder the mud and myre as Cyperus doth and at the top of the stalkes are certaine round soft heads their colour being browne intermixed with yellow so that they looke prettily when as they are in their prime â¡ 3 This Grasse whose figure was formerly in the first place in this Chapter hath a small and fibrous root from which rise leaues like those of Wheat but with some long white hairs vpon them like those of the last described at the tops of the stalks which are some foot or better high there grow two or three round heads consisting of ãâã and white downie threds These heads are said to shine in the night and therefore they in Italy call it according to Caesalpinus ãâã quia noctu lucet 4 To this I may adde another growing also in Italy and first described by Fabius Columna It hath small creeping ioynted roots out of which come small fibres and leaues little and very narrow at the first but those that are vpon the stalkes are as long againe incompassing the stalks as in Wheat Dogs-grasse and the like These leaues are ãâã all along and a little forked at the end the straw or stalke is very slender at
hath small creeping roots the stalks are some cubit high slender ioynted and set with short narrow leaues at the top of the stalke growes the eare long slender and bending composed of downy huskes containing a seed like to a naked Ote The seed is ripe in Iuly It growes in the mountainous and shadowie woods of Hungary Austria and Bohemia Our Author mistaking himselfe in the figure and as much in the title gaue the figure of this for Burnt Barley with this title Hordeum Distichon See the former edition pag. 66. 2 I cannot omit this elegant Grasse found by M. Goodyer vpon the wals of the antient city of Winchester and not described as yet by any that I know of It hath a fibrous and stringy root from which arise leaues long and narrow which growing old become round as those of Spartum or Mat-weed amongst these grassie leaues there growes vp a slender stalke some two foot long scarse standing vpright but oft times hanging down the head or top of the eare it hath some two ioints and at each of these a pretty grassy leafe The eare is almost a foot in length composed of many small and slender hairy tufts which when they come to maturitie looke of a grayish or whitish colour and do very well resemble a Capons taile whence my friend the first obseruer thereof gaue it the title of Gramen ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã or Capons-taile Grasse by which name I receiued the seed thereof which sowen tooke root and flourishes â¡ 1 Gra. montanum avenaceum Mountaine Hauer-grasse â¡ 2 Gramen murorum spica ãâã Capon-taile Grasse 3 Next to this I thinke fit to place the Gramen Cristatum or Cocks-combe grasse of ãâã This Grasse hath for the root many white fibrous threds thicke packt together the leaues are but short about the bignesse of the ordinarie medow grasse the stalks are some cub it and halfe high with some two or three knots a piece the leaues of the stalke are some foure or fiue inches long the eare is small longish of a pale greene colour somewhat bending so that in some sort it resembles the combe of a Cocke or the seed-vessell of that plant which is called Caput Gallinaccum This is ordinarily to be found in most medowes about Mid-summer 4 There is also commonly about the same time in our medowes to be found a Grasse growing to some cub it high hauing a small stalke at the top whereof there growes an eare some inch and an halfe or two inches long consisting as it were of two rankes of corne it very much resembles Rieboth in shape and colour and in his short bearded awnes wherefore it may very fitly be termed Gramen secalinum or Rie-grasse Yet is it not Gramen spica secalina which Bauhine describes in the fifty seuenth place in his Prodromus pag. 18. for that is much taller and the eare much larger than this of my description 5 In diuers places about hedges in Iuly and August is to be found a fine large tall Grasse which Bauhine who also first described it hath vnder the name of Gramen spica ãâã This hath stalkes as tall as Rie but not so thicke neither are the leaues so broad at the top of the stalk grow diuers pretty little flattish eares consisting of two rankes of ãâã huskes or seed-vessells which haue yellowish little floures like to those of Wheat 6 There is also commonly to be found about May or the beginning of Iune in medowes and such places that grasse which in the Historia Lugdun is set forth vnder the ãâã of Cramen Lanatum Daleschampij the stalkes and leaues are much like the common ãâã grasse but that they are more whitish and hairy the head or panicle is also soft and woolly and it is commonly of a gray or else a murrie colour 7 There is to be found in some bogs in Summer time about the end of Iuly a pretty rushie grasse some foote or better in height the stalke is hard and rushie hauing some three ioints at each whereof therecomes forth aleafe as in other grasses and out of the bosome of the two vppermost of these leaues comes out a slender stalke being some 2 or 3 inches high and at the top thereof growes as in a little vmble a prety white ãâã floure and at or nigh to the top of the maine stalke there grow three or foure such sloures clustering together vpon little short and slender foot stalkes the leaues are but small and some handfull or better long the roote I did not obserue This seemes to haue some ãâã with the ãâã junceum aquaticum formerly described in the ninth chapter I neuer found this but once and that was in the companie of M. Thomas Smith and M. Iames Clarke Apothecaries of London we riding into Windsore Forest ãâã the search of rare plants and we found this vpon a bogge neere the high way side at the ãâã ãâã the great parke I thinke it may very fitly be called Gramen ãâã leucanthemum White ãâã rush-grasse 8 The last yeare at Margate in the Isle of Tenet neere to the sea side and by the chalky ãâã I obserued a pretty litle grasse which from a small white fibrous roote sent vp a number of ãâã of an vnequall height for the longest which were those that lay partly spred vpon the ãâã were some handfull high the other that grew straight vp were not so much and of this one inch and halfe was taken vp in the spike or eare which was no thicker than the rest of the stalke and seemed nothing else but a plaine smooth stalke vnlesse you looked vpon it earnestly and then you might perceiue it to be like Darnell grasse wherefore in the Iournal that I wrot of this Simpling voyage I called it pag. 3. Gramen parvum marinum spica Loliacea I iudge it to be the ãâã that Bauhinc in his Prodromus pag. 19 hath set forth vnder the name of Gramen ãâã ãâã spica simplici It may be called in English Dwarfe Darnell Grasse 9 The Darnell grasse that I compared the eare of this last described vnto is not the Gramen ãâã which our Author called Darnel-grasse but another grasse growing in most places with stalkes about some span high but they seldome stand vpright the eare is made iust like that which hereafter chap. 58. is called Lolium rubrum Red Darnell of which I iudge this a variety differing little therefrom but in smallnesse of growth 10 Vpon Hampsted heath I haue often obserued a small grasse whose longest leaues are seldome aboue two or three inches high and these leaues are very greene small and perfectly round like the Spartum Austriacum or Feather-grasse I could neuer finde any stalke or eare vpon it wherefore I haue brought it into the Garden to obserue it better In the forementioned Iournall pag. 33. you may finde it vnder the name of Gramen Spartium capillacco folio minimum It may be this is that grasse which
vertues Such is the facultie of the roots of all the Irides before named that being pounding they prouoke ãâã and purge the head generally all the kinds haue a heating ãâã quality Xyris Stinking Gladdon They are effectuall against the cough they easily digest and consume the grosse humors which are hardly concocted they purge choler and tough flegme they procure sleepe and helpe the gripings within the belly It helpeth the Kings Euill and Buboes in the groine as Pliny saith If it be drunke in Wine it prouoketh the termes and being put in Baths for women to sit ouer it prouoketh the like effects most exquisitly The root put in manner of a pessarie hastneth the birth They couer with flesh bones that be bare being vsed in plaisters The roots boyled soft and vsed plaisterwise ãâã all old hard tumours and the ãâã of the throat called Strumae that is the Kings Euill and emplaistered with honey it draweth out broken bones The meale thereof healeth all the rifts of the fundament and the infirmities thereof called Condilomata and openeth Hemorrhoides The juice sniffed or drawne vp into the nose prouoketh sneesing and draweth downe by the nose great store of filthy excrements which would fall into other parts by secret and hidden waies and ãâã of the channels It profiteth being vsed in a pessarie to prouoke the termes and will cause abortion It preuaileth much against all euill affections of the brest and lungs being taken in a little sweet wine with some Spiknard or in Whay with a little Masticke The Root of Xyris or Gladdon is of great force against wounds and fractures of the head for it draweth out all thornes stubs prickes and arrow-heads without griefe which qualitie it effecteth as ãâã saith by reason of his tenuitie of parts and of his attracting drying and digesting facultie which chiefely consisteth in the seed or fruit which mightily prouoketh vrine The root giuen in Wine called in physicke Passum profiteth much against Convulsions Ruptures the paine of the huckle bones the strangury and the flux of the belly Where note That whereas it is said that the potion aboue named stayeth the flux of the belly hauing a purging qualitie it must be vnderstood that it worketh in that manner as Rhabarbarum and Asarum do in that they concoct and take away the cause of the laske otherwise no doubt it moueth vnto the stoole as Rheubarb Asarum and the other Irides do Hereof the Countrey people of Somersetshire haue good experience who vse to drinke the decoction of this Root Others do take the infusion thereof in ale or such like wherewith they purge themselues and that vnto very good purpose and effect The seed thereof mightily purgeth by vrine as Galen saith and the country people haue found it true CHAP. 44. Of Ginger ¶ The Description 1 GInger is most impatient of the coldnesse of these our Northerne Regions as my selfe haue found by proofe for that there haue beene brought vnto me at seuerall times sundry plants thereof fresh greene and full of juyce as well from the West Indies as from Barbary and other places which haue sprouted and budded forth greene ãâã in my garden in the heate of Sommer but as soone as it hath been but touched with the first sharp blast of Winter it hath presently perished both blade and root The true forme or picture hath not before this time beene set forth by any that hath written but the World hath beene deceiued by a counterfeit figure which the reuerend and learned Herbarist Matthias Lobell did set forth in his Obseruations The forme whereof notwithstanding I haue here expressed with the true and vndoubted picture also which I receiued from Lobelius his owne hands at the impression hereof The cause of whose former errour as also the meanes whereby he got the knowledge of the true Ginger may appeare by his owne words sent vnto me in Latine which I haue here inserted His words are these How hard and vncertaine it is to describe in words the true proportion of Plants hauing no other guide than skilfull but yet deceitfull formes of them sent from friends or other meanes they best do know who haue deepliest waded in this sea of Simples About thirty yeares past or more an honest and expert Apothecarie William Dries to satisfie my desire sent me from Antwerpe to London the picture of Ginger which he held to be truly and liuely drawne I my selfe gaue him credit easily because I was not ignorant that there had bin often Ginger roots brought greene new and full of juice from the Indies to Antwerpe and further that the same had budded and growne in the said Dries Garden But not many yeares after I perceiued that the picture which was sent me by my Friend was a ãâã and before that time had been drawne and set forth by an old Dutch Herbarist Therefore not suffering this error any further to spred abroad which I discouered not many yeares past at Flushing in Zeeland in the Garden of William of Nassau Prince of Orange of famous memorie through the means of a worthy person if my memorie faile me not called Vander Mill at what time he opened and loosed his first young buds and shoots about the end of Sommer resembling in leaues and stalkes of a foot high the young and tender shoots of the common Reed called Harundo vallatoria I thought it conuenient to impart thus much vnto Master Iohn Gerard an expert Herbarist and Master of happy successe in Surgerie to the end he might let posteritie know thus much in the painefull and long laboured trauels which now he hath in hand to the great good and benefit of his Countrey The plant it selfe brought me to Middleborrough and set in my Garden perished through the hardnesse of the Winter Thus much haue I set downe truly translated out of his owne words in Latine though too fauourably by him done to the commendation of my meane skill 1 ãâã ficta Icon. The feigned figure of ãâã 1 Zinziberis verior Icon. The true figure of Ginger ¶ The place Ginger groweth in Spaine Barbary in the Canary Islands and the Azores Our men which sacked Domingo in the Indies digged it vp there in sundry places wilde ¶ The time Ginger flourisheth in the hot time of Sommer and loseth his leaues in Winter ¶ The Names Ginger is called in Latine Zinziber and Gingiber in Greeke ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã In French Gigembre ¶ The nature Ginger heateth and drieth in the third degree ¶ The vertues Ginger as Dioscorides reporteth is right good with meate in sauces or otherwise in conditures for it is of an heating and digesting qualitie it gently looseth the belly and is profitable for the stomacke and effectually opposeth it selfe against all darknesse of the sight answering the qualities and effects of Pepper It is to be considered That canded greene or condited Ginger is hot and moist in qualitie prouoking Venerie and being dried it heateth and
Of double floured Oriental Hyacinths Of this kindred there are two or three more varieties whereof I wil giue you the description of the most notable and the names of the other two which with that I shall deliuer of this may serue for sufficient description The first of these which Clusius calls Hyacinthus Orientalis subvirescente flore or the greenish floured double Orientall Iacinth hath leaues roots and seeds like vnto the formerly described Oriental Iacinths but the floures wherin the difference consists are at the first before they be open greene and then on the out side next to the stalke of a whitish blew and they consist of six leaues whose tips are whitish yet retaining some manifest greenes then out of the midst of the floure comes forth another floure consisting of three leaues whitish on their inner side yet keeping the great veine or streake vpon the outer side each floure hauing in the middle a few chiues with blackish pendants It floures in Aprill 12 This varietie of the last described is called Hyacinthus Orientalis flore ãâã pleno The double blew Orientall Iacinth 13 This Hyacinthus Orientalis candidissimus flore pleno The milke-white double Orientall ãâã 14 This which Clusius calls Hyacinthus obsoletior Hispanicus hath leaues somewhat narrower and more flexible than the Muscari with a white veine running alongst the inside of them among these leaues there riseth vp a stalke of some foot high bearing some fifteene or sixteene floures more or lesse in shape much like the ordinarie English consisting of six leaues three standing much out and the other three little or nothing These floures are of a very dusky colour as it were mixt with purple yellow and greene they haue no smell The seed which is contained in triangular heads is smooth blacke scaly and round It floures in Iune 15 The lesser Spanish Hyacinth hath leaues like the Grape-floure and small floures shaped like the Orientall Iacinth some are of colour blew and other some white The seeds are contained in three cornered seed-vessels I haue giuen the figure of the white and blew together with their seed-vessels 16 This Indian Iacinth with the tuberous root saith Clusius hath many long narrow sharpe pointed leaues spread vpon the ground being somewhat like to those of Garlicke and in the middest of these rise vp many round firme stalkes of some two cubits high and oft times higher sometimes exceeding the thicknesse of ones little finger which is the reason that oftentimes ãâã they be borne vp by something they lie along vpon the ground These stalkes are at ãâã spaces ingirt with leaues which end in sharpe points The tops of these stalkes are adorned with many white floures somewhat in shape resembling those of the Orientall Iacinth The roots are knotty or tuberous with diuers fibres comming out of them ⡠¶ The place These kindes of Iacinths haue beene brought from beyond the Seas some out of one countrey and some out of others especially from the East countries whereof they tooke their names Orientalis ¶ The time They floure from the end of Ianuarie vnto the end of Aprill ¶ The nature The Hyacinths mentioned in this Chapter do lightly cleanse and binde the seeds are dry in the third degree but the roots are dry in the first degree and cold in the second ¶ The vertues The Root of Hyacinth boyled in Wine and drunke stoppeth the belly prouoketh vrine and helpeth against the venomous bitings of the field Spider The seed is of the same vertue and is of greater force in stopping the laske and bloudy flix Being drunke in wine it preuaileth against the falling sicknesse The roots after the opinion of Dioscorides being beaten and applied with white Wine ãâã or keepe backe the growth of haires â¡ The seed giuen with Southerne-wood in Wine is good against the Iaundice â¡ CHAP. 80. Of Faire baired Iacinth ¶ The Description 1 THe Faire haired Iacinth hath long fat leaues hollowed alongst the inside trough fashion as are most of the Hyacinths of a darke greene colour tending to rednesse The stalke riseth out of the middest of the leaues bare and naked soft and full of slimie juyce which are beset round about with many small floures of an ouerworne purple colour The top of the spike consisteth of a number of faire shining purple floures in manner of a tuft or bush of haires whereof it tooke his name Comosus or faire haired The seed is contained in small bullets of a shining blacke colour as are most of those of the Hyacinths The roots are bulbous or Onion fashion full of slimy juyce with some hairy threads fastned vnto rheir bottome 2 White haired Iacinth differeth not from the precedent in roots stalkes leaues or seed The floures hereof are of a darke white colour with some blacknesse in the hollow part of them which setteth forth the difference 3 Of this kinde I receiued another sort from Constantinople resembling the first hairy Hyacinth very notably but differeth in that that this is altogether greater as well in leaues roots and floures as also is of greater beauty without all comparison 1 Hyacinthus comosus Faire haired Iacinth 2 Hyacinthus comosus albus White haired Iacinth â¡ 3 Hyacinthus comosus Bizantinus Faire-haired Iacinth of Constantinople â¡ 5 Hyacinthus comosus ramosus elegantior Faire curld-haired branched Iacinth â¡ 4 There are two other more beautifull haired Iacinths nourished in the gardens of our prime Florists The first of these hath roots and leaues resembling the last described the stalke commonly riseth to the height of a foot and it is diuided into many branches on euery side which are small and threddy and then at the end as it were of these threddy branches there come forth many smaller threds of a darke purple colour and these spread and diuaricate themselues diuers wayes much after the manner of the next described yet the threds are neither of so pleasing a colour neither so many in number nor so finely curled This is called Hyacinthus comosus ramosus purpureus The faire haired branched Iacinth 5 This is a most beautiful and elegant plant and in his leaues and roots he differs little from the last described but his stalke which is as high as the former is diuided into very many slender branches which subdiuided into great plenty of curled threads variously spread abroad make a very pleasant shew The colour also is a light blew and the floures vsually grow so that they are most dilated at the bottome and so straiten by little and little after the manner of a Pyramide These floures keepe their beautie long but are succeeded by no seeds that yet could be obserned This by Fabius Columna who first made mention hereof in writing is called Hyacinthus ãâã panniculosa coma By others Hyacinthus comosus ramosus elegantior The faire curld-haire Iacinth These floure in May. â¡ 6 Hyacinthus botryoides ãâã Blew Grape-floure 7 Hyacinthus botryoides caeruleus major Great Grape-floure 6 The small
haue done Of whose temperature and vertues there hath not any thing beene said but kept in gardens to the end aforesaid CHAP. 83. Of two feigned Plants ¶ The Description 1 I Haue thought it conuenient to conclude this historie of the Hyacinths with these two bulbous Plants receiued by tradition from others though generally holden for feigned and adulterine Their pictures I could willingly haue omitted in this historie if the curious eye could elsewhere haue found them drawne and described in our English Tongue but because I finde them in none I will lay them downe here to the end that it may serue for excuse to others who shall come after which list not to describe them being as I said condemned for feined and adulterine nakedly drawne onely And the first of them is called ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã by others Bulbus Bomb cinus ãâã The description consisteth of these points viz. The floures saith the Author are no lesse strange than wonderfull The leaues and roots are like to those of Hyacinths which hath caused it to occupie this place The floures resemble the Daffodils or Narcissus The whole plant consisteth of a woolly or flockie matter which description with the Picture was sent vnto Dodonaeus by Iohannes Aicholzius It may be that Aicholzius receiued instructions from the Indies of a plant called in Greeke ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã which groweth in India whereof Theophrastus and Athenaeus do write in this manner saying The floure is like the Narcissus consisting of a flockie or woolly substance which by him seemeth to be the description of our bombast Iacinth 1 Bulbus Bombicinus Commentitius False bumbaste Iacinth 2 Tigridis flos The floure of Tygris 2 The second feigned picture hath beene taken of the Discouerer and others of later time to be a kinde of Dragons not seene of any that haue written thereof which hath moued them to thinke it a feigned picture likewise notwithstanding you shall receiue the description thereof as it hath come to my hands The root saith my Author is bulbous or Onion fashion outwardly blacke from the which spring vp long leaues sharpe pointed narrow and of a fresh greene colour in the middest of which leaues rise vp naked or bare stalkes at the top whereof groweth a pleasant yellow floure stained with many small red spots here and there confusedly cast abroad and in the middest of the floure thrusteth forth a long red tongue or stile which in time groweth to be the cod or seed-vessell crooked or wreathed wherein is the seed The vertues and temperature are not to be spoken of considering that we assuredly persuade our selues that there are no such plants but meere fictions and deuices as we terme them to giue his friend a gudgeon â¡ Though these two haue beene thought commentitious or feigned yet Bauhinus seemeth to vindicate the latter and Iohn Theodore de Bry in his Florilegium hath set it forth He giues two Figures thereof this which we here giue you being the one but the other is farre more elegant and better resembles a naturall plant The leaues as Bauhine saith are like the sword-flag the root like a leeke the floures according ãâã De Bries Figure grow sometimes two or three of a stalke the floure consists of two leaues and a long stile or pestill each of these leaues is diuided into three parts the vttermost being broad and large and the innermost much narrower and sharper the tongue or stile that comes forth of the midst of the floure is long and at the end diuided into three crooked forked points All that De Bry saith thereof is this Flos Tigridis rubet egregiè circa medium tamen pallet albusque est maculatus ex Mexico à Casparo Bauhino That is Flos Tigridis is wondrous red yet is it pale and whitish about the middle and also spotted it came from about Mexico I had it from Caspar Bauhine â¡ CHAP. 84. Of Daffodils ¶ The Kindes DAffodill or Narcissus according to Dioscorides is of two sorts the floures of both are white the one hauing in the middle a purple circle or coronet the other with a yellow cup circle or coronet Since whose time there hath been sundry others described as shall be set forth in their proper places 1 Narcissus medio purpureus Purple circled Daffodill â¡ 4 Narcissus medio croceus serotinus Polyanthos The late many floured Daffodill with the Saffron-coloured middle ¶ The Description 1 THe first of the Daffodils is that with the purple crowne or circle hauing small narrow leaues thicke fat and full of slimie juyce among the which riseth vp a naked stalke smooth and hollow of a foot high bearing at the top a faire milk-white floure growing forth of a hood or thinne filme such as the floures of onions are wrapped in in the middest of which floure is a round circle or small coronet of a yellowish colour purfled or bordered about the edge of the said ring or circle with a pleasant purple colour which beeing past there followeth a thicke knob or button wherein is contained blacke round seed The root is white bulbous or Onion fashion 2 The second kinde of Daffodill agreeth with the precedent in euery respect sauing that this Daffodill floureth in the beginning of Februarie and the other not vntill Aprill and is somewhat lesser It is called Narcissus medio purpureus praecox That is Timely purple ringed Daffodill The next may haue the addition praecocior More timely and the last in place but first in time praecocissimus Most timely or very early flouring Daffodill â¡ 5 Narcissus ãâã ãâã flore pleno Double floured ãâã circled Daffodill 6 Narcissus minor serotinus The late flouring small Daffodill 7 Narcissus medioluteus Primrose Pearles or the common white Daffodill 8 Narcissus medioluteus polyanthos French Daffodill 9 Narcissus Pisanus Italian Daffodill 10 Narcissus albus multiplex The double white Daffodill of Constantinople â¡ 11 Narcissus flore pleno ãâã The other double white Daffodill â¡ 12 Narcissus flore pleno medio luteo Double white Daffodil with the middle yellow 3 The third kind of Daffodil with the pnrple ring or circle in the middle hath many small narrow leaues very flat crookedly bending toward the top among which riseth vp a slender bare stalke at whose top doth grow a faire and pleasant floure like vnto those before described but lesser and floureth sooner wherein consisteth the difference â¡ There is also another somewhat lesse and flouring somewhat earlier than the last described 4 This in roots leaues and stalkes differeth very little from the last mentioned kindes but it beares many floures vpon one stalke the out-leaues being like the former white but the cup or ring in the middle of a saffron colour with diuers yellow threds contained therein 5 To these may be added another mentioned by Clusius which differs from these onely in the floures for this hath floures consisting of six large leaues fairely spread abroad within which are other
the three inner leaues are of a reddish purple the three out leaues are either wholly white or purplish on the middle in the inside or streaked with faire purple veins or spotted with such coloured spots all the leaues of the floure are blunter and rounder than in the common kinde 11 This in leaues roots manner and time of growing as also in the colour of the floures differs not from the first described but the floures as you may perceiue by the figure here expressed are very double and consist of many leaues â¡ 5 Colchicum montanum ãâã versicolore flore The lesser mountaine Saffron with a various coloured floure 6 Colchicum Illyricum Greeke medow Saffron 12 This Colchicum differs little from the first ordinarie one butthat the floures are somewhat lesse and the three out-leaues are somwhat bigger than the three inner leaues the colour is a little deeper also than that of the common one but that wherein the principall difference consists is That this floures twice in a yeare to wit in the Spring and Autumne and hence Clusius hath called it Colchicum biflorum Twice-flouring Mede Saffron 13 This also in the shape of the root and leaues is not much different from the ordinary but the leaues of the floure are longer and narrower the colour also when they begin to open and shew themselues is white but shortly after they are changed into a light purple each leafe of the floure hath a white thread tipt with yellow growing out of it and in the middle stands a white three forked one longer than the rest The floure growes vp between three or foure leaues narrower than those of the ordinarie one and broader than those of the small Spanish kinde Clusius to whom we are beholden for this as also for most of the rest calls it Colchicum vernum or Spring Mede-Saffron because it then floures together with the Spring Saffrons and Dogs Tooth 7 Colchicum Syriacum Alexandrinum Assyrian Mede Saffron 15 I giue you here in this place the true Hermodactill of the shops which probably by all is adiudged to this Tribe though none can certainly say what floures or leaues it beares the Roots are onely brought to vs and from what place I cannot tell yet I coniecture from some part of Syria or the adiacent countries Now how hard it is to iudge of Plants by one part or particle I shall shew you more at large when I come to treat of Pistolochia wherefore I will say nothing thereof in this place These roots which wanting the maligne qualitie of Colchicum either of their owne nature or by drinesse are commonly about the bignesse of a Chesnut smooth flattish and sharpe at the one end but somewhat full at the other and on the one side there is a little channell or hollownesse as is in the roots of Mede-Saffron where the stalke of the floure comes vp Their colour is either white browne or blackish on the outside and very white within but those are the best that are white both without and within and may easily be made into a fine white meale or pouder â¡ 8 Colchicum parvum montanum luteum Yellow mountaine Saffron ¶ The Place Medow Saffron or Colchicum groweth in Messinia and in the Isle of Colchis whereof it tooke his name The titles of the rest do set forth their natiue countries notwithstanding our London gardens are possessed with the most part of them The two first do grow in England in great aboundance in fat and fertile medowes as about Vilford and Bathe as also in the medowes neere to a small village in the West part of England called Shepton Mallet in the medowes about Bristoll in Kingstroppe medow neere vnto a Water-mill as you go from Northampton to Holmeby House vpon the right hand of the way and likewise in great plenty in Nobottle wood two miles from the said towne of Northampton and many other places â¡ The rest for the most part may be ãâã in the gardens of the Florists among vs. â¡ â¡ 9 Colchicum latifolium Broad leaued Mede Saffron â¡ 10 Colchicum ver sicolore flore Party-coloured Mede Saffron ¶ The Time The leaues of all the kindes of Mede-Saffron do begin to shew themselues in Februarie The seed is ripe in Iune The leaues stalkes and seed do perish in Iuly and their pleasant floures doe come forth of the ground in September ¶ The Names â¡ 11 Colchicum flore pleno Double floured Mede-Saffron â¡ 12 Colchicum biflorum Twice-flouring Mede-Saffron â¡ 13 Colchicumvernum Spring Mede-Saffron â¡ 14 Colchicum variegatum Chiense Checquered Mede Saffron of Chio. â¡ 15 Hermodactyli Officinarum The true Hermodactyls of the shops â¡ Our Author in this chapter was of many mindes for first in the deseription of Colchicum Anglicum being the second hee reproues such as make that white floured Colchicum the true Hermodactyl Then in the description of the eighth he hath these words which being omitted in that place I here set downe Of all these kindes saith he of Medow Saffrons it hath not beene certainly knowne which hath been the true Hermodactyll notwithstanding wee haue certaine knowledge that the Illyrian Colchicum is the Physicall Hermodactyll Yet when he comes to speake of the names after that out of Dodonaeus he had set downe the truth in these words But notwithstanding that Hermodactyll which we do vse in compound medicines differeth from this to wit Colchicum in many notable points for that the true Hermodactyll hath a bulbe or round root which being dried continueth very white within and without not wrinkled at all but full and smooth of a meane hardnesse and that he had out of the same Authour alledged the words of Valerius Cordus and Auicen which are here omitted he concludes contrarie to the truth his first admonition and second assertion That the white Medow Saffron which we haue in the West part of England growing especially about Shepton Mallet is the Hermodactyll vsed in shops Those we haue in shops seeme to be the Hermodactyls of Paulus ãâã yet not those of Nicholaus and Actuarius which were cordial and increasers of sperme the which the Authors of the Aduersaria pag. 55. thinke to be the Behen album rubrum of the Arabians And to these vnknowne ones are the vertues set downe by our Author in the third place vnder C to be referred ⡠¶ The Temperature Medow Saffron is hot and dry in the second degree ¶ The Vertues of Hermodactyls The roots of Hermodactyls are of force to purge and are properly giuen saith Paulus to those that haue the Gout euen then when the humors are in flowing And they are also hurtful to the stomacke The same stamped and mixed with the whites of egges barley meale and crums of bread and applied plaisterwise ease the paine of the Gout swellings and aches about the ioynts The same strengthneth nourisheth and maketh good iuyce encreaseth sperme or naturall seed and is also good to cleanse vlcers or rotten sores ¶ The correction
to them other two being by most Writers adiudged to be of the same Tribe or kindred The vertues of ãâã first were by our Author out of Dodonaeus formerly put to the Thlaspi Candiae Chapter 20. from whence I haue brought them to their proper place in the end of this present Chapter ¶ The Description â 1 The first hath crested slender yet firme stalkes of some foot long which are set with leaues of some inch in length broad at the setting on sinuated about the edges and sharpe pointed their colour is a whitish greene and taste acride the leaues that are at the bottome of the stalke are many and larger The tops of the stalkes are diuided into many branches of an vnequall length and sustain many floures each whereof consists of soure litle white leaues so that together they much resemble the vmbell of the Elder when it is in floure Little swolne seed vessels diuided into two cells follow the fading floures the seed is whitish about the bignesse of millet the root also is white slender and creeping â 2 This hath creeping roots from which arise many branches lying vpon the ground here and there taking root also the leaues which vpon the lower branches are many are in forme and colour much like those of the last described but-lesse and somewhat suipt about the edges The stalkes are about a handfull high or somewhat more round greene and hairy hauing some leaues growing vpon them The floures grow spoke fashion at the top of the stalkes white and consisting of foure leaues which fallen there follow cods conteining a small red seed 1 Draba Dioscoridis Turkie Cresses â¡ 2 Draba prima repens The first creeping Cresse 3 From a small and creeping root rise vp many shootes which while they are young haue many thicke juicy and darke greene leaues rose fashion adorning their tops out of the middest of which spring out many slender stalkes of some foot high which at certain spaces are encompassed as it were with leaues somewhat lesser then the former yet broader at the bottome the floures cods and seed are like the last mentioned 4 There is a plant also by some refer'd to this Classis and I for some reasons thinke good to make mention thereof in this place It hath a strong and very long root of colour whitish and of as sharpe a taste as Cresses the stalkes are many and oft times exceed the height of a man yet slender and towards their tops diuided into some branches which make no vmbell but carry their floures dispersed which consist of foure small yellow leaues after the floure is past there follow long slender cods conteining a small yellowish acride seed The leaues which adorne this plant are long sharpe pointed and snipt about the edges somewhat like those of Saracens Confound but that these towards the top are more vnequally cut in â¡ 3 Draba altera repens The other creeping Cresse ¶ The Time The first of these floures in May and the beginning of Iune The 2 and 3 in Aprill The fourth in Iune and Iuly ¶ The Place None of these that I know of are found naturally growing in this kingdome ãâã last excepted which I thinke may be sound in some places ¶ The Names 1 This by a generall consent of ãâã Anguillara Lobell c. is iudged to be the Arabis or Draba of the Ancients 2 Draba alter a of Clusius 3 Draba tertia succulento folio of Clusius Eruca Muralis of Daleschampius 4 This by Camerarius is set forth vnder the name of Arabis quorundam and he affirmes in his Hor. Med. that he had it outof ãâã vnder the name of Solidago The which is very likely for without doubt this is the very plant that our Author mistooke for Solidago ãâã for he bewraies himselfe in the Chapter of Epimedium whereas he saith it hath cods like Sarraccens Consound when as both he and all other giue no cods at all to Sarracens Consound My very good friend Mr. Iohn Goodyer was the first I thinke that obserued this mistake in our Author for which his obseruation together with some others formerly and hereafter to be remembred I acknowledge my selfe beholden to him ¶ The Vertues attributed to the first 1 Dioscorides saith that they vse to eate the dryed seed of this herbe with meate as we do pepper especially in Cappadocia They vse likewise to boyle the herbe with the decoction of barly called Ptisana which being so boiled concocteth and bringeth forth of the chest tough and raw flegme which sticketh therein The rest are hot and come neere to the vertues of the precedent â¡ CHAP. 25. Of Shepheards-purse ¶ The Description 1 THe leaues of Shepheards purse grow vp at the first long gashed in the edges like those of Rocket spred vpon the ground from these spring vp very many little weake stalks diuided into sundry branches with like leaues growing on them but lesser at the top whereof are orderly placed small white floures after these come vp little seed vessels flat and cornered narrow at the stem like to a certaine little pouch or purse in which lieth the seed The root is white not without strings â¡ There in another of this kinde with leaues not sinuated or cut in â¡ 2 The small Shepheards purse commeth forth of the ground like the Cuckow floure which I haue Englished Ladie-smockes hauing small leaues deepely indented about the edges among which rise vp many small tender stalkes with floures at the top as it were chasse The huskes and seed is like the other before mentioned ¶ The Place These herbes do grow of themselues for the most part neere common high waies in ãâã and vntilled places among rubbish and old walls 1 Bursa Pastoris Shepheards purse 2 Bursa Pastoria minima Small Shepheards purse ¶ The Time They floure flourish and seed all the Sommer long ¶ The Names Shepheards purse is called in Latine Pastorus bursa or Pera pastoris in high Dutch ãâã in low-Dutch ãâã ãâã in French Bourse de pasteur on Curé in English Shepheards purse or scrip of some Shepheards pouch and poore mans Parmacetie and in the North part of England Toy-wort Pick-purse and Case-weed ¶ The Temperature They are of temperature cold and dry and very much binding after the opinion of Ruellius ãâã and Dodonaeus but Lobel and Pena hold them to be hot and dry iudging the same by their sharpe taste which hath caused me to insert them here among the kindes of Thlaspi considering the fashion of the leaues cods seed and taste ãâã which do so wel agree together that I might very well haue placed them as kindes thereof But rather willing to content others that haue written before than to please my selfe I haue followed their order in marshalling them in this place where they may stand for cousine germanes ¶ The Vertues Shepheards purse stayeth bleeding in any part of the body whether the iuyce or the decoction thereof be drunke or whether it be
ãâã and in Greeke ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã for they are reported to cleere their sight by conueying the juice heereof into their eyes ãâã calleth it Porcellia for it is numbred among the Succories they are called also Lampuca Yellow Hawkeweed is called of some ãâã diaboli or yellow Diuels bit for that the root doth very well resemble the bitten or cropt root of the common Diuels bit being like Scabious ⡠¶ The Names in particular 1 Matthiolus Fuchsius Dodonaeus and others call this Hieracium ãâã 2 3 These are varieties of the same plant the first of them being called by Fuchsius ãâã and Matthiolus Hieracium minus Lobell calls it Hieracium minus praemorsa radice That sort of this with more cut leaues is by Tabernamontanus ãâã Hieracium nigrum 4 Lobell calls this Hieracium folijs facie Chondrillae Bauhinus makes this to differ from ãâã which our Author gaue in this 4. place out of Tabern for he termes this Hieracium ãâã ãâã hirsutum and the other ãâã Chondrillae folio Glabrum the one smooth leaued the other rough yet that which growes frequently with vs and is very well represented by this figure hath smooth leaues as he also obserued it to haue in Italy and about Mountpelier in France 5 This is Hieracium alterum grandius and Hieracium montanum angustifolium primum of ãâã 6 Lobell calls this from the length of the root though sometimes it be not so long Hieracium Longius radicatum as also Taber Hieracium macrorhizon it is thought to be the Apargia of ãâã by Daleschampius in the Hist. Lugd. pag. 562. but the figure there that beares the title is of Huracium minus 7 Tabernamontanus first gaue this vnder the name of Hieracium intybaccum asperum Bauhine refers it to the wilde yellow Succories and calls it Cichoreum montanum angustifolium hirsutie asperum 8 This Lobell calls Hieracium Narbonense falcata siliqua 9 He calls this Hieracium facie Hedypnois and Caesalpinus termes this Rhagadiolus and the last mentioned Rhagadiolus alter 10 This by Tabernamontanus is called Hieracium montanum majus Latifolium The figure of this was giuen by our Author chap. 30. vnder the title of Chondrilla Hispanica 11 Tabernamontanus also stiles this Hieracium montanum Latifolium minus ⡠¶ The Nature The kindes of Hawkeweed are cold and dr ie and somewhat binding ¶ The Vertues They are in vertue and operation like to Sonchus or Sowthistle and being vsed after the same manner be as good to all purposes that it doth serue vnto They be good for the eie-sight if the juice of them be dropped into the eyes especially that which is called Diuels bit which is thought to be the best and of greatest force Therefore as Dioscorides writeth it is good for an hot stomacke and for inflammations if it be laid vpon them The herbe and root being stamped and applied is a remedie for those that be stung of the scorpion which effect not onely the greater Hawkeweeds but the lesser ones also doe performe CHAP. 35. Of Clusius Hawkeweed ¶ The Kindes THere be likewise other sorts of Hawkeweeds which Carolus Clusius hath set forth in his Pannonicke obseruations the which likewise require a particular chapter for that they do differ in forme very notably 1 Hieracium primum latifolium Clusij The first Hawkeweed of Clusius 2 Hieracium 5. Clusij Clusius his 5. kinde of Hawkeweed ¶ The Description 1 THe first of Clusius his Hawkeweeds haue great broad leaues spred vpon the ground somewhat hairie about the edges oftentimes a little iagged also soft as is the leafe of Mullen or Higtaper and sometimes dasht here and there with some blacke spots in shape like the garden Endiue full of a milkie juice among which riseth vp a thicke hollow stalke of a cubit high diuiding it selfe at the top into two or three branches whereupon do grow sweete smelling floures not vnlike to those of yellow Succorie set or placed in a blacke hoarie and woollie cup or huske of a pale bleake yellow colour which turneth into a downie blowball that is caried away with the winde the root entereth deepely into the ground of the bignesse of a finger full of milke and couered with a thicke blacke barke 2 The second sort of great Hawkeweed according to my computation and the 5. of Clusius hath leaues like the former that is to say soft and hoarie and as it were couered with a kinde of white woollinesse or hairinesse bitter in taste of an inche broad The stalke is a foot high at the top whereof doth grow one yellow floure like that of the great Hawkeweed which is caried away with the winde when the seed is ripe The root is blacke and full of milkie juice and hath certaine white strings annexed thereto 3 This kinde of Hawkeweed hath blacke roots a finger thicke full of milkie juice deepely thrust into the ground with some small fibers belonging thereto from which come vp many long leaues halfe an inch or more broad couered with a soft downe or hairinesse of an ouerworne ãâã colour and amongst the leaues come vp naked and hard stalkes whereupon doe grow yellow floures set in a woollie cup or chalice which is turned into downe and caried away with his seed by the winde 4 The fourth Hawkeweed hath a thicke root aboue a finger long blackish creeping vpon the top of the ground and putting out some fibres and it is diuided into some heads each whereof at the top of the earth putteth out some six or seuen longish leaues some halfe an inche broad and somewhat hoarie hairie and soft as are the others precedent and these leaues are snipt about the edges but the deepest gashes are neerest the stalkes where they are cut in euen to the middle rib which is strong and large The stalke is smooth naked and somewhat high the floures be yellow and double as the other 3 Hieracium 6. Clusij Clusius his 6. Hawkeweed 4 Hieracium 7. Clusij Clusius his 7. Hawkeweed â¡ 5 The same Author hath also set forth another Hieracium vnder the name of Hieracium parvum Creticum which he thus describes this is an elegant little plant spreading some six or more leaues vpon the top of the ground being narrower at that part whereas they adhere to the ãâã and broader at the other end and cut about the edges hauing the middle rib of a purple colour amongst these rise vp two or three little stalkes about a foot high without knot vntill you come almost to the top whereas they are diuided into two little branches at which place ãâã forth leaues much diuided the floures grow at the top of a sufficient bignesse considering the magnitude of the plant and they consist of many little leaues lying one vpon another on the vpper side wholly white and on the vnder side of a flesh colour The root is single longish growing small towards the end and putting forth stringy fibres on the sides Thus much Clusius who receiued this figure
and description from his friend Iaques Plateau of Tournay I coniecture this to be the same plant that Bauhine hath somewhat more accurately figured and described in his Prod. pag. 68. vnder the title of Chondrilla purpurascens foetida which plant being an annuall I haue seen growing some yeares since with Mr. Tuggy at Westminster and the last Summer with an honest and skilfull Apothecarie one Mr. Nicholas Swayton of Feuersham in Kent but I must confesse I did not compare it with Clusius yet now I am of opinion that both these figures and descriptions are of one and the same plant It floures in Iuly and August at the later end of which moneth the seeds also come to ripenesse 6 This other not described by Clusius but by Lobel hath long rough leaues cut in and toothed like to Dandelion with naked hairy stalkes bearing at their tops faire large and very double yellow floures which fading fly away in downe It growes in some medowes â¡ 5 Hieracium parvum Creticum Small Candy Hawk-weed â¡ 6 Hieracium Dentis leonis folio hirsutum Dandelion Hawk-weed ¶ The Place These kinds of Hawke-weeds according to the report of Clusius do grow in Hungarie and Austria and in the grassy dry hills and herby and barren Alpish mountaines and such like places notwithstanding if my memorie faile me not I haue seene them growing in sundry places in England which I meane God willing better to obserue hereafter as opportunitie shall serue me ¶ The Time He saith they floure from May to August at what time the seed is ripe ¶ The Names The Author himselfe hath not said more than here is set downe as touching the names so that it shall suffice what hath now been said referring the handling thereof to a further consideration ¶ The Nature and Vertues I finde not any thing at all set downe either of their nature or vertues and therefore I forbeare to say any thing else of them as a thing not necessarie to write of their faculties vpon my owne conceit and imagination CHAP. 36. â¡ Of French or Golden Lung-wort â¡ 1 Pulmonaria Gallica siue aurea latifolia Broad-leaued French or golden Lung-wort â¡ 2 Pulmonaria Gallica siue aurea ãâã Narrow leaued French or golden Lung-wort ¶ The Description â¡ 1 THis which I here giue you in the first place as also the other two are of the kinds of Hawke-weed or Hieracium wherefore I thought it most fit to treat of them in this place and not to handle them with the Pulmonaria maculosa or Sage of Ierusalem whereas our Author gaue the name Pulmonaria Gallorum and pointed at the description but his figure being false and the description imperfect I iudged it the best to handle it here next to those plants which both in shape and qualities it much resembles This first hath a pretty large yet fibrous and stringy root from the which arise many longish leaues hairy soft and vnequally diuided and commonly cut in the deepest neerest the stalke they are of a darke green colour and they are sometimes broader and shorter and otherwhiles narrower and longer whence Tabernamontanus makes three sorts of this yet are they nothing but varieties of this same plant Amongst these leaues grow vp one or two naked stalks commonly hauing no more than one leafe apiece and that about the middle of the stalke these stalks are also hairy and about a cubit high diuided at their tops into sundry branches which beare double yellow floures of an indifferent bignesse which fading and turning into downe are together with the seed carried away with the winde This whole plant is milky like as the other Hawk-weeds â¡ 3 Hieracium hortense latifolium siue Pilosella major Golden Mouse-eare or Grimme the Colliar 3 This plant which some also haue confounded with the first described hath a root at the top of a reddish or brownish colour but whitish within the earth on the lower side sending forth whitish fibres it bringeth forth in good and fruitfull grounds leaues about a foot long and two or three inches broad of a darke greene colour and hairy little or nothing at all cut in about the edges amongst these leaues riseth vp a stalke some cubit high round hollow and naked but that it sometimes hath a leafe or two toward the bottome and towards the top it puts forth a branch or two The floures grow at the top as it were in an vmbell and are of the bignes of the ordinarie Mouse-eare and of an orange colour The seeds are round blackish and are caried away with the downe by the wind The stalkes and cups of the floures are all set thicke with a blackish downe or hairinesse as it were the dust of coles whence the women who keep in it gardens for noueltie sake haue named it Grim the Colliar ¶ The Time All these floure in Iune Iuly and August about the later part of which moneth they ripen their seed ¶ The Place 1 I receiued some plants of this from Mr. Iohn Goodyer who first found it May 27 1631. in floure and the 3 of the following May not yet flouring in a copse in Godlemen in Surrey adioyning to the orchard of the Inne whose signe is the Antilope 2 This I had from my kinde friend Mr. William Coote who wrot to mee That he found them growing on a hill in the Lady Bridget Kingsmills ground in an old Romane campe close by the Decumane port on the quarter that regards the West-South-West vpon the skirts of the hill 3 This is a stranger and onely to be found in some few gardens ¶ The Names 1 This was first set forth by Tragus vnder the name of Auricula muris major and by Tabern who gaue three figures expressing the seuerall varieties thereof by the name of Pulmonaria Gallicasiue aurea Daleschampius hath it vnder the name of Corchorus 2 This was by Lobel who first set it forth confounded with the former as you may see by the title ouer the figure in his Obseruations pag. 317. yet his figure doth much differ from that of Tragus who neither in his figure nor description allowes so much as one leafe vpon the stalke and Tabernamontanus allowes but one which it seldome wants Now this by Lobels figure hath many narrow leaues and by the Description Aduers pag. 253. it is no more than an handfull or handfull and halfe high which very well agrees with the plant wee heere giue you and by no meanes with the former whose naked stalkes are at least a cubit high So it is manifest that this plant I haue described is different from the former and is that which Pena and Lobel gaue vs vnder the title of Pulmonaria Gallorum flore Hieracij Bauchine also confounds this with the former 3 Basil Besler in his Hortus Eystettensis hath well exprest this plant vnder the title of Hieracium latifolium peregrinum Phlomoides Bauhinus calls it Hieracium hortense floribus atropurpurascentibus and saith that some
many and diuers dishes both faire and good CHAP. 43. Of Blites ¶ The Description 1 THe great white Blite groweth three or foure foot high with grayish or white round stalkes the leaues are plaine and smooth almost like to those of the white Orach but not so soft nor mealy the floures grow thrust together like those of Orach after that commeth the seed inclosed in little round flat husky skinnes 2 There is likewise another sort of Blites very smooth and flexible like the former sauing that the leaues are reddish mixed with a darke greene colour as is the stalke and also the rest of the plant 3 There is likewise found a third sort very like vnto the other sauing that the stalkes branches leaues and the plant is altogether of a greene colour But this growes vpright and creepes not at all 4 There is likewise another in our gardens very like the former sauing that the whole Plant traileth vpon the ground the stalks branches and leaues are reddish the seed is small and clustering together greene of colour and like vnto those of Ruellius his Coronopus or Bucks-horne â¡ 1 Blitum majus album The great white Blite 2 Blitum majus rubrum The great red Blite ¶ The Place The Blites grow in Gardens for the most part although there be found of them wilde many times ¶ The Time They flourish all the Summer long and grow very greene in Winter likewise ¶ The Names It is called in Greeke ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã in Latine Blitum in English Blite and Blites in Fr ench Blites or Blitres â¡ 3 Blitum minus album The small white Blite â¡ 4 Blitum minus rubrum The small red Blite ¶ The Nature The Blite saith Galen in his sixth booke of the faculties of simple medicines is a pot-hearbe which serueth for meate being of a cold moist temperature and that chiefely in the second degree It yeeldeth to the body small nourishment as in his second booke of the faculties of nourishments he plainly shewes for it is one of the pot-herbes that be vnsauoury or without taste whose substance is waterish ¶ The Vertues The Blite doth nourish little and yet is fit to make the belly soluble though not vehemently seeing it hath no nitrous or sharpe qualitie whereby the belly should be prouoked I haue heard many old wiues say to their seruants Gather no Blites to put into my pottage for they are not good for the eye-sight whence they had those words I know not it may be of some Doctor that neuer went to schoole for that I can finde no such thing vpon record either among the old or later Writers CHAP. 44. Of Floure-Gentle ¶ The Kindes THere be diuers sorts of floure-Gentle differing in many points very notably as in greatnesse and smallnesse some purple and others of a skarlet colour and one aboue the rest wherewith Nature hath seemed to delight her selfe especially in the leaues which in variable colours do striue with the Parats feathers for beautie 1 Amaranthus purpureus Purple Floure-Gentle 2 Amaranthus ãâã Scarlet Floure-Gentle 3 Amaranthus tricolor Floramor and ãâã 4 Amaranthus Pannicula sparsa Branched Floure-Gentle ¶ The Description 1 PVrple floure Gentle riseth vp with a stalke a cubit high and sometime higher streaked or chamfered alongst the same often reddish toward the root and very smooth which diuideth it selfe toward the top into small branches about which stand long leaues broad sharpe pointed soft slippery of a greene colour and sometimes tending to a reddish in stead of floures come vp eares or spokie tufts very braue to looke vpon but without smell of a shining light purple with a glosse like veluet but far passing it which when they are bruised doe yeeld a iuyce almost of the same colour and being gathered doe keepe their beauty a long time after insomuch that being set in water it will reuiue againe as at the time of his gathering and it remaineth so many yeares whereupon likewise it hath taken its name The seed standeth in the ripe eares of colour blacke and much glittering the root is short and full of strings â¡ 5 Amaranthus pannicula incurua holoserica Veluet Floures Gentle 2 The second sort of floure Gentle hath leaues like vnto the former the stalke is vpright with a few small slender leaues set vpon it among which doe grow small clusters of scaly floures of an ouerworne scarlet colour The seed is like the former 3 It far exceedeth my skill to describe the beauty and excellency of this rare plant called Floramor and I thinke the pensill of the most curious painter wil be at a stay when he shall come to set him downe in his liuely colours but to colour it after my best manner this I say Floramor hath a thicke knobby root whereupon doe grow many threddy strings from which riseth a thicke stalke but tender and soft which beginneth to deuide himselfe into sundry branches at the ground and so vpward whereupon ãâã grow many leaues wherein doth consist his beauty for in few words euery leafe doth resemble in colours the most faire and beautifull feather of a Parrat especially those feathers that are mixed with most sundry colours as a stripe of red and a line of yellow a dash of white and a rib of green colour which I canot with words set forth such are the sundry mixtures of colours that nature hath bestowedin her greatest iollitie vpon this floure the floures doe grow betweene the foot-stalkes of those leaues and the body of the stalke or trunke base and of no moment in respect of the leaues being as it were little chassie husks of an ouerworne ãâã colour the seed is blacke and shining like burnished horne â¡ I haue not seene this thus variegated as our Author mentions but the leaues are commonly of three colours the lower part or that next to the stalke is greene the middle red and the end yellow or else the end red the middle yellow and the bottome greene â¡ 4 This plant hath a great many of threds and strings of which his roots doe consist From which doe rise vp very thicke fat stalkes crested and streaked exceeding smooth and of a shining red colour which begin at the ground to diuide themselues into branches whereupon doe grow many great and large leaues of a darke greene colour tending to rednesse in shew like those of the red Beet streaked and dasht here and there with red mixed with greene The floures grow alongst the stalkes from the middest thereof euen to the top in shape like Panicum that is a great number of chaffie confused eares thrust hard together of a deepe purple colour I can compare the shape thereof to nothing so ãâã as to the veluet head of a Stag compact of such soft matter as is the same wherein is the seed in colour white ãâã and bored through the middle â¡ 5 This in stalkes and leaues is much like the purple floure Gentle but the heads are larger
winter Cherrie is brought out of Spaine and Italy or other hot regions from whence I haue had of those blacke seeds marked with the shape of a mans hart white as aforesaid and haueplanted them in my garden where they haue borne floures but haue perished before the fruit could grow to maturitie by reason of those vnseasonable yeeres 1594. 95. 96. ¶ The Time The red winter Cherrie beareth his floures and fruite in August The blacke beareth them at the same time where it doth naturally grow ¶ The Names The red winter ãâã is called in Greeke ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã in Latine Vesicaria and Solanum Vesicarium in shops ãâã Plinie in his 21. booke nameth it Halicacabus and Vesicaria of the little bladders or as the same Author writeth because it is good for the bladder and the stone it is called in Spanish Vexiga de porro in French Alquequenges Bagenauldes and Cerises d'outre mer in English red Nightshade Winter Cherries and Alkakengie 1 ãâã ãâã Red winter Cherries 2 Halicacabum Peregrinum Blacke winter Cherries The blacke winter Cherrie is called Halacacabum Peregrinum Vesicaria Peregrina or strange ãâã Cherrie of Pena and Lobel it is called Cor Indum Cor Indicum of others Pisum ãâã in English the Indian heart or heart pease some haue taken it to be Dorycnion but they are greatly deceiued being in truth not any of the Nightshades it rather seemeth to agree with the graine named of Serapio Abrong or Abrugi of which he writeth in his 153. chapter in these words It is a little graine spotted with blacke and white round and like the graine Maiz with which notes this doth agree ¶ The Temperature The red winter Cherrie is thought to be cold and drie and of subtile parts The leaues differ not from the temperature of the garden Nightshade as Galen saith ¶ The Vertues The fruite brused and put to infuse or steepe in white wine two or three houres and ãâã boiled two or three bublings straining it and putting to the decoction a little sugar and cinnamon and drunke preuaileth very mightily against the stopping of vrine the stone and grauell the difficultie and sharpenes of making water and such like diseases if the griefe be old the greater quantity must be taken if new and not great the lesse it scoureth away the yellow jaundise also as some write CHAP. 58. Of the Maruell of the World Mirabilia Peruuiana flore luteo The maruell of Peru with yellowish floures â¡ Mirabilia Peruuiana flore albo The maruell of Peru with white floures The description THis admirable plant called the maruell of Peru or the maruell of the World springeth forth of the ground like vnto Basill in leaues amongst which it sendeth out a stalke two cubits and a halfe high os the thickenesse of a finger full of iuice very firme and of a yellowish greene colour knotted or ãâã with ioints somewhat bunching forth of purplish color as in the female Balsamina which stalke diuideth it selfe into sundrie branches or boughes and those also knottie like the stalke His branches are decked with leaues growing by couples at the ioints like the leaues of wilde Peascods greene fleshie and sull of ioints which beeing rubbed doe yeeld the like vnpleasant smell as wilde Peascods doe and are in taste also verie vnsauorie yet in the latter end they leaue a taste and sharpe smacke of Tabaco The stalkes towards the top are garnished with long hollow single flowers folded as it were into fiue parts before they be opened but being fully blowne doe resemble the flowers of Tabaco not ending into sharpe corners but blunt and round as the slowers of Bindeweede and larger than the flowers of Tabaco glittering oftentimes with a sine purple or Crimson colour many times of an horse-flesh sometime yellow sometime pale and sometime resembling an old red or yellow colour sometime whitish and most commonly two colours occupying halfe the flower or intercoursing the whole flower with streakes and orderly streames now yellow now purple diuided through the whole hauing sometime great sometime little spots of a purple colour sprinkled and scattered in a most variable order and braue mixture The ground or field of the whole flower is either pale red yellow or white containing in the middle of the hollownesse a pricke or pointell set round about with sixe small strings or chiues The flowers are verie sweet and pleasant resembling the ãâã or white Daffodill and are very suddenly fading for at night they are flowred wide open and so continue vntill eight of the clocke the next morning at which time they beginne to close or shut vp after the manner of the Bindeweede especially if the weather be very hot but if the aire be more temperate they remaine open the whole day and are closed onely at night and so perish one flower lasting but onely one day like the true Ephemerum or Hemerocailis This maruellous varietie doth not without cause bring admiration to all that obserue it For if the flowers be gathered and reserued in seuerall papers and compared with those flowers that will spring and flourish the next day you shall easily perceiue that one is not like another in colour though you should compare one hundreth which slower one day and another hundred which you gathered the next day and so from day to day during the time of their ãâã The cups and huskes which containe and embrace the flowers are diuided into fiue pointed sections which are greene and as it were consisting of skinnes wherein is contained one seede and no more couered with a blackish skinne hauing a blunt point whereon the flower groweth but on the end next the cup or huske it is ãâã with a little fiue cornered crowne The seed is as bigge as a pepper corne which os it ãâã ãâã with any light motion Within this seede is contained a white kernell which being bruised resolueth into a very white pulpe like starch The root is thicke and like vnto a great ãâã outwardly blacke and within white sharpe in taste wherewith is mingled a superficiall sweetnes It bringeth new floures from Iuly vnto October in infinite number yea euen vntill the ãâã ãâã cause the whole plant to perish notwithstanding it may be reserned in pots and set in chambers and cellars that are warme and so defended from the iniurie of our cold climate prouided alwaies that there be not any water cast vpon the pot or set forth to take any moisture in the aire vntill March following at which time it must bee taken forth of the pot and replanted in the garden By this meanes I haue preserued many though to small purpose because I haue sowne seeds that haue borne floures in as ample manner and in as good time as those reserued plants Of this wonderfull herbe there be other sorts but not so amiable ãâã so full of varietie and ãâã the most part their floures are ail of one color But I haue since by practise found out another
blew colour and the inner threds are yellow It ãâã in August and the floures quickly turne into downe and are carried away with the wind It grows in many Chalkie hils and I first obserued it in the company of Mr. George ãâã Mr. Iohn Bugs and others close by Farmingham in Kent and the last yeare Mr. William Broad found it growing at the Blockehouse at Grauesend Tragus calls it Tinctorius flos alter Dodonaeus because the floure quickly turns to downe makes it ãâã quartum and Gesner for that the root is hot and drawes rheume like as Pellitorie of Spaine which therefore is vsed against the Tooth-ache names it Dentelaria he also cals it Conyza muralis and Conyzoides Caerulea Tabernamontanus also calls it Conyza caerulea and lastly Fabius Columna hath it by the name of Amellus Montanus to which kinde it may in mine opinion be as fitly referred as to these Conyza's Our Author had the figure hereof in the third place in this Chapter ¶ The Place Time and Names All these haue beene sufficiently shewne in their particular Titles and Descriptions ⡠¶ The Nature Conyza is hot and drie in the third degree ¶ The Vertues The leaues and floures be good against the strangurie the iaundise and the gnawing or griping of the bellie The same taken with Vineger helpeth the Epilepsie or falling sicknesse If Women doe sit ouer the decoction thereof it greatly ãâã their paines of the Mother The Herbe burned where ãâã Gnats fleas or any venemous things are doth driue them away CHAP. 132. Of Starre-woort ¶ The Description 1 THe first kinde of ãâã or Inguinalis hath large broad leaues like Verbascum ãâã or the great Conyza among which riseth vp a stalke foure or fiue handfuls high hard rough and hairie beset with leaues like Rose Campions of a darke greene colour At the top of the said stalkes come forth ãâã of a shining and glistering golden colour and vnderneath about these floures grow fiue or six long leaues sharpe pointed and rough not much in shape vnlike the fish called Stella marina The floures turne into downe and are carried away with the winde The root is fibrous of a binding and sharpe taste â¡ 2 The second called Italian Starrewoort hath leaues not much vnlike Marigolds but of a darke greene colour and rough and they are somewhat round at the vpper end the stalkes are many and grow some cubite high and at their tops are diuided into sundry branches which beare ãâã blewish purple floures yellow in their middles and shaped like Marigolds and almost of the same bignesse whence some haue called them blew Marigolds â¡ 3 The third kinde hath leaues so like Italian Starwort that a man can scarcely at the sudden distinguish the one from the other The single stalke is a cubit long vpright and slender on the top whereof grow faire yellow floures like those of Enula Campana and they fly away in downe the root is small and threddie 4 The fourth kinde in talnesse and floure is not much vnlike that last before specified but in stalke and leaues more hairie and longer somewhat like our small Hounds-tongue and the rootes are lesse fibrous or threddie than the former 5 There is another sort that hath a browne stalke with leaues like the small Coniza The floures are of a darke yellow which turne into downe that flieth away with the wind like Conyza The root is full of threds or strings 6 There is also another that hath leaues like the great Campion somewhat hairie amongst which come vp crooked crambling stalkes leaning lamely many waies Whereupon doe growe faire yellow floures Starre-fashion which past the cups become so hard that they will scarcely be broken with ones nailes to take forth the seed The root is long and straight as a finger with some few strings annexed vnto the vppermost part thereof It groweth wilde in some parts of Spaine 1 ãâã ãâã Starrewoort â¡ 2 ãâã Italorum Italian ãâã 7 There groweth another kinde of Starrewoort which hath many leaues like ãâã but thinner and of a more greene colour couered with a woollie hairinesse sharpe and bitter in taste amongst which ãâã vp a round stalke more than a cubite high ãâã growing vnto a ãâã colour set with the like leaues but smaller and sharper pointed diuiding it selfe toward the top into some few branches whereon doe grow large yellow floures like Doronicum or Sonchus The root is thicke and crooked â¡ This is ãâã Pannonicus maior sive ãâã of Clus. and his ãâã primus 8 Wee haue seene growing vpon wilde Mountaines another sort which hath leaues much lesser than the former somewhat like to the leaues of Willow of a faire greene colour which doe adorne and decke vp the stalke euen to the top whereupon doe grow yellow floures starre fashion like vnto the former The root is small and tender creeping farre abroad whereby it mightily increaseth â¡ This is ãâã Pannonicus salignis ãâã sive ãâã 4. Austriacus 2. of Clusius It is ãâã luteum of Tabern And our Author gaue the Figure heereof for Aster Italorum â¡ 9 Clusius hath set forth a kinde that hath an vpright stalke somewhat hairy two cubits high beser with leaues somewhat woollie like to those of the Sallow hauing at the top of the stalke faire yellow floures like ãâã Campana which turne into down that is carried away with the wind the root is thicke with some ãâã or threds fastened thereto â¡ This is Aster lanuginoso folio sive 5. of Clusius Our Authour gaue the figure hereof vnder the title of Aster Hirsutus it is Aster ãâã ãâã of Taber 10 Hee hath likewise described another sort that hath leaues stalks floures and roots like the ninth but neuer groweth to the height of one cubite â¡ It bringeth forth many stalkes and the leaues that grow disorderly vpon them are narrower blacker harder and sharper pointed than the former not vnlike those of the common Ptarmica yet not snipt about the edges the floures are yellow and like those of the last described but lesse This is the Aster ãâã sive sextus of Clusius â¡ 11 There is likewise set forth in his Pannonicke obseruation a kind of Aster that hath many small hairie leaues like the common great Daisie among which riseth vp an hairy stalke of a foot high hauing at the top faire blew floures inclining to purple with their middle yellow which turn in the time of seeding into a ãâã downe that flieth away with the winde The whole plant hath a drying binding and bitter taste The root is threddie like the common Daisie or that of Scabious â¡ This is Asper Alpinus ãâã flore sive 7. of Clusius â¡ 3 Aster montanus flore amplo Mountaine Starwoort 4 Aster hirsutus Hairie Srarwoort â¡ 5 Aster Conyzoides Gesneri Fleabane Starrewoort â¡ 6 Aster Luteus supinus Clusij Creeping Starwoort â¡ 7 Aster luteus foliis Succisae Scabious leaued Starwoort â¡ 8 Aster Salicis
annua spuria One Sommers Nauell-woort ¶ The Description 1 THe Sea Nauel-woort hath many round thicke leaues like vnto little saucers set vpon small tender stalks bright shining and smooth of two inches long for the most part growing vpon the furrowed shels of cockles or the like euery small stem bearing vpon the end or point one little buckler and no more resembling a nauell the stalke and leafe set together in the middle of the same Whereupon the Herbarists of Montpelier haue called it ãâã Marinus or sea Nauel The ãâã and stalkes of this plant whilest they are yet in the water are of a pale ash colour but being taken forth ãâã presently waxe white as Sea Mosse called ãâã or the shel of a Cockle It is thought to be barren of seed and is in taste saltish 2 The second Androsace hath little smooth leaues spred vpon the ground like vnto the leaues of small Chickweed or Henbit whereof doubtles it is a kind among which riseth vp a slender stem hauing at the top certaine little chaffie floures of a purplish colour The seed is contained in small ãâã husks of a reddish colour a bitter taste The whole plant perisheth when it hath perfected his seede and must be sowne againe the next yeare which plant was giuen to Mathiolus by Cortusus who as he ãâã receiued it from Syria but I thinke hee said so to make Matthiolus more ãâã but surely I surmise he picked it out of one old wal or other where it doth grow euen as the small Chickweed or Naile-woort of the wall do â¡ The figure that was here was that vnperfect one of ãâã and the description of our Authour was framed by it vnlesse the last part therof which was taken out of the Aduersaria pag. 166. to amend both these we here present you with the true figure and description taken out of the workes of the iudicious and painfull Herbarist Carolus Clusius It hath saith he many leaues lying flat vpon the ground like to those of Plantaine but lesser and of a pale greene colour and ãâã about the edges soft also and iuicie and of somewhat a biting taste Amongst these leaues rise vp fiue or six stalkes of an handfull high commonly of a green vet sometimes of a purple colour naked and somewhat hairy which at their tops carry in a circle fiue roundish leaues also a little toothed and hairy from the midst of which arise fiue or more ãâã each bearing a greenish rough or hairie cup parted also into fiue little leaues or iags in the midst of which stands a little white floure parted also into fiue after which succeed pretty large seed vessels which containe an vnequall red seed like that of ãâã but bigger the root is single and slender and dies as soon as the seed is perfected It growes naturally in diuers places of Austria and amongst the corne about the Bathes of Baden whereas it floures in Aprill and ripens the seed in May and Iune ⡠¶ The Place Androsace will not grow any where but in water great store of it is about Frontignan by Montpellier in Languedoc where euery fisher-man doth know it The second groweth vpon old stone and mud walls notwithstanding I haue the more to grace Matthiolus great iewell planted it in my garden ¶ The Time The bastard Androsace floureth in Iuly and the seed is ripe in August ¶ The Names Androsace is of some called Vmbilicus marinus or sea Nauell â¡ The second is knowne and called by the name of Androsace altera ãâã ⡠¶ The Temperature The sea Nauell is of a diureticke qualitie and more drie than Galen thought it to be and lesse hot than others haue deemed it there can no moisture be found in it ¶ The Vertues Sea Nauelwoort prouoketh vrine and digesteth the filthinesse and sliminesse gathered in the ioints Two drams of it as Dioscorides saith drunke in wine bringeth downe great store of vrine out of their bodies that haue the dropsie and maketh a good plaister to cease the paine of the gout CHAP. 153. Of Rose-woort or Roseroot Rhodia radix Rose-root ¶ The Description ROsewoort hath many small thicke and fat stems growing from a thicke and knobby root the vpper end of it for the most part standeth out of the ground and is there of a purplish colour bunched knobbed like the root of Orpin with many hairy strings hanging therat of a pleasant smell when it is broken like the damaske rose whereof it tooke his name The leaues are set round about the stalks euen from the bottome to the top like those of the field Orpin but narrower and more snipt about the edges The floures grow at the top of a faint yellow colour ¶ The Place It groweth very plentifully in the North part of England especially in a place called Ingleborough Fels neere vnto the brookes sides and not elsewhere that I can as yet finde out from whence I haue had plants for my garden ¶ The Time It floureth and flourisheth in Iuly and the seed is ripe in August ¶ The Names Some haue thought it hath taken the name Rhodia of the Island in the Mediterranean sea called Rhodes but doubtlesse it took his name Rhodia radix of the root which smelleth like a rose in English Rose-root and Rose-woort ¶ The Vertues There is little extant in writing of the faculties of Rosewoort but this I haue found that if the root be stamped with oile of Roses and laid to the temples of the head it ãâã the paine of the head CHAP. 144. Of Sampier 1 Crithmum marinum Rocke Sampier 2 Crithmum Spinosum Thornie Sampier 3 ãâã chrysanthemum Golden Sampier ¶ The Description 1 ROcke Sampier hath many fat and thicke leaues somewhat like those of the lesser ãâã of a spicy taste with a certaine saltnesse amongst which riseth vp a stalke diuided into many smal spraies or sprigs on the top wherof doe grow ãâã tufts of whitefloures like the tufts of Fenell or Dill after that commeth the seed like the seed of Fenell but greater The root is thicke and knobbie being of smell delightfull pleasant 2 The second Sampier called ãâã marina or Sea Parsnep hath long fat leaues very much iagged or cut euen to the middle rib sharpe or prickley pointed which are set vpon large fat iointed stalks on the top whereof do grow ãâã of whitish or els reddish floures The seed is wrapped in thornie huskes The root is thick and long not vnlike to the Parsnep very good and wholesome to be eaten 3 Golden Sampier bringeth forth many stalks from one root compassed about with a multitude of long fat leaues set together by equall distances at the top whereof come yellow floures The seed is like those of the Rocke Sampier ¶ The Place Rocke Sampier groweth on the rockie cliffes at Douer VVinchelsey by Rie about South-hampton the Isle of VVight and most rockes about the West and North-west parts about England The second
like to those of the Walnut tree and of an ouerworne grayish colour somewhat snipt about the edges like the teeth of a saw The floures grow at the top of the stalks in scaly knaps like the great Knapweed the middle thrums whereof are of a light blew or sky colour when the seed is ripe the whole knap or head turneth into a downy ãâã like the head of an ãâã wherein is found a long smooth seed bearded at one end like those of ãâã Sattron called Cartamus or the seed of Cardus Benedictus The root is great long blacke on the outside and of a sanguine colour on the inside somewhat sweet in taste and biting the tongue 2 There is likewise another sort hauing great and large leaues like those of the water Docke somewhat snipt or toothed about the edges The stalke is shorter than the other but the root is more oleous or fuller of iuyce otherwise like The floure is of a pale yellow purplish colour and the seed like that of the former 1 Centaurium magnum Great Centorie â¡ 2 Centaurium maius alterum Whole leaued great Centorie ¶ The Place The great Centorie ioyeth in a fat and fruitfull soile and in Sunny bankes full of Grasse and herbes It groweth very plentifully saith Dioscorides in Lycia Peloponnesus Arcadia and Morea and it is also to be found vpon Baldus a mountaine in the territories of Verona and likewise in my garden ¶ The Time It floureth in Sommer and the roots may be gathered in Autumne ¶ The Names It is called in Greeke ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã of Theophrastus also Centauris in diuers shops falsly Rha Ponticum for Rha Ponticum is Rha growing in the countries of Pontus a plant differing from great Centorie Theophrastus and Pliny set downe among the kindes of Panaces or All-heales this great Centorie and also the lesser whereof we will write in the next chapter following Pliny reciting the words of Theophrastus doth in his twenty fifth booke and fourth chapter write that they were found out by Chiron the Centaure and syrnamed Centauria Also affirming the same thing in his sixth chapter where he more largely expoundeth both the Centauries hee repeateth them to be found out by Chiron and thereupon he addeth that both of them are named Chironia Of some it is reported That the said Chiron was cured therewith of a wound in his foot that was made with ãâã arrow that fell vpon it when he was entertaining Hercules into his house whereupon it was called Chironium or of the curing of the wounds of his souldiers for the which purpose it is most excellent ¶ The Temperature It is hot and dry in the third degree Galen ãâã by the taste of the root it sheweth contrarie qualities so in the vse it performeth contrarie effects ¶ The Vertues The root taken in the quantitie of two drams is good for them that be bursten or spit bloud against the crampe and shrinking of sinewes the shortnesse of wind or difficultie of breathing the cough and gripings of the belly There is not any part of the herbe but it rather worketh miracles than ordinarie cures in greene wounds for it ioyneth together the lips of simple wounds in the flesh according to the first intentention that is glewing the lips together not drawing to the place any matter at all The root of this Plant saith Dioscorides is a remedie for ruptures ãâã and cramps taken in the weight of two drams to be giuen with wine to those that are without a feuer and vnto those that haue with water Galen saith that the iuyce of the leaues thereof performeth those things that the root doth which is also vsed in stead of Lycium a kinde of hard iuyce of a sharpe taste CHAP. 163. Of Small Centorie ¶ The Description 1 THe lesser Centorie is a little herbe it groweth vp with a cornered stalke halfe a foot high with leaues in forme and bignesse of S. Iohns wort the floures grow at the top in a spoky bush or rundle of a red colour tending to purple which in the day time and after the Sun is vp do open themselues but towards euening shut vp againe after them come forth small seed-vessels of the shape of wheat cornes in which are contained very little seeds The root is slender hard and soone fading 2 The yellow Centorie hath leaues stalkes and seed like the other and is in each respect alike sauing that the floures ãâã are of a perfect yellow colour which setteth forth the difference â¡ This is of two sorts the one with broad leaues through which the stalkes passe and the other hath narrow leaues like those of the common Centorie â¡ 1 Centaurium parvum Small Centorie 2 Centaurium parvum luteum Lobelij Yellow Centorie ¶ The Place 1 The first is growing in great plenty throughout all England in most pastures and grassie fields 2 The yellow doth grow vpon the chalkie cliffes of Greenhithe in Kent and such like places ¶ The Time They are to be gathered in their flouring time that is in Iuly and August of some that gather them superstitiously they are gathered betweene the two Lady dayes ¶ The Names The Greekes call this ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã in Latine it is called Centaurium minus yet Pliny nameth it Libadion and by reason of his great bitternesse Fel terrae The Italians in Hetruria call it Biondella in Spanish Centoria in low-Dutch ãâã in English Small little or common Centorie in French Centoire ¶ The Temperature The small Centorie is of a bitter qualitie and of temperature hot and dry in the second degree and the yellow Centorie is hot and dry in the third degree ¶ The Vertues Being boyled in water and drunke it openeth the stoppings of the liuer gall and spleene it helpeth the yellow jaundice and likewise long and lingering agues it killeth the wormes in the bellie to be briefe it cleanseth scoureth and maketh thinne humors that are thicke and doth effectually performe whatsoeuer bitter things can Dioscorides and Galen after him report that the decoction draweth downe by siege choler and thicke humors and helpeth the Sciatica but though wee haue vsed this often and luckily yet could we not perceiue euidently that it purges by the stoole any thing at all and yet it hath performed the effects aforesaid This Centorie being stamped and laid on whilest it is fresh and greene doth heale and closevp greene wounds cleanseth old vlcers and perfectly cureth them The iuyce is good in medicines for the eyes mixed with honey it cleanseth away such things as hinder the sight and being drunke it hath a peculiar vertue against the infirmities of the ãâã as Dioscorides teacheth The Italian Physitions do giue the pouder of the leaues of yellow Centorie once in three daies in the quantitie of a dram with annise or caraway seeds in wine or other liquor which preuaileth against the dropsie and greene sicknesse Of the red floured Ioannes Postius hath thus written Flos
same very double When the floure hath long flourished and is waxen old then comes there in the middest of the floure a certaine browne yellow thrumme such as is in the midst of the Daisie which floure being gathered when it is young may be kept in such manner as it was gathered I meane in such freshnesse and well liking by the space of a whole yeare after in your chest or elsewhere wherefore our English women haue called it Liue-long or Liue for euer which name doth aptly answer his effects â¡ Clusius receiued this plant out of England and first set it forth by the name of Gnaphalium Americanum or Argyrocome â¡ 9 This plant hath three or foure small grayish cottony or woolly stalkes growing strait from the root and commonly diuided into many little branches the leaues be long narrow whitish soft and woolly like the other of his kinde the floures be round like buttons growing very many together at the top of the stalkes but nothing so yellow as Mouse-eare which turne into downe and are caried away with the winde 10 ãâã siue Herba impia Herbe impious or wicked Cudweed 11 Leontopodium siue Pes Leoninus Lions Cudweed 10 The tenth is like vnto the last before mentioned in stalkes leaues and floures but much larger and for the most part those floures which appeare first are the lowest and basest and they are ouertopt by other floures which come on younger branches and grow higher as children secking to ouergrow or ouertop their parents as many wicked children do for which cause it hath beene called Herbaimpia that is the wicked Herbe or Herbe Impious 12 Leontopodium ãâã Small Lyons Cudweed â¡ 13 Gnaphalium oblongo ãâã Long leaued Cudweed â¡ 14 Gnaphalium minus latiore ãâã Small broad leaued Cudweed 12 This small kinde of ãâã being likewise a kind of Cotton-weed neither by Dioscorides or any other antient writer once remembred hath one single stalke nine inches in height and the leaues of Gnaphalium montanum which leaues and stalkes are white with a thicke hoary woollinesse bearing at the top pale yellow floures like Gnaphalium montanum the root is slender and wooddy â¡ 13 This which Clusius calls Gnaphalium ãâã 2. hath small stalkes so ne handfull high or somewhat more of which some stand vpright others lie along vpon the ground being round hairy and vnorderly set with soft hoary leaues ingirting their stalkes at their setting on and sharpe pointed at their vpper ends The tops of the stalkes carry many whitish heads full of a yellowish downe the root is thicke and blackish with some fibres 14 This sends vp one stalke parted into seuerall branches set here and there with broad ãâã and hoarie leaues and at the diuision of the branches and amongst the leaues grow seuen or eight little heads thicke thrust together being of a grayish yellow colour and full of much downe the root is vnprofitable and perishes as soone as it hath perfected his seed Clusius calls this ãâã Plateau 3. he hauing as it seemes receiued them both from his friend Iaques Plateau ⡠¶ The Place The first groweth in the darke woods of Hampsted and in the woods neere vnto Deptford by London The second groweth vpon dry sandy bankes The third groweth at a place called Merezey six miles from Colchester neere vnto the sea side â¡ I also had it sent me from my worshipfull friend Mr. Thomas Glynn who gathered it vpon the sea coast of Wales â¡ The rest grow vpon mountaines hilly grounds and barren pastures The kinde of Gnaphalium newly set forth to wit Americanum groweth naturally neere vnto the Mediterranean sea from whence it hath beene brought and planted in our English gardens â¡ If this be true which our Author here affirmes it might haue haue had a fitter at least a neerer denomination than from America yet Bauhine affirmes that it growes frequently in Brasill and it is not improbable that both their assertions be true ⡠¶ The Time They floure for the most part from Iune to the end of August ¶ The Names Cotton-weed is called in Greeke Gnaphalion and it is called Gnaphalion because men vse the tender leaues of it in stead of bombaste or Cotton as Paulus Aegineta writeth Pliny saith it is called Chamaexylon as though he should say Dwarfe Cotton for it hath a soft and white cotton like vnto bombaste whereupon also it was called of diuers ãâã and ãâã of others Centunculus Centuncularis and Albinum which word is found among the bastard names but the later word by reason of the white colour doth reasonably well agree with it It is also called Bombax Humilis filago and Herba Impia because the yonger or those floures that spring vp later are higher and ouertop those that come first as many wicked children do vnto their parents as before touched in the description in English Cotton-weed Cud-weed Chaffe-weed and petty Cotton ¶ The Nature These herbes be of an astringent or binding and drying qualitie ¶ The Vertues Gnaphalium boyled in strong lee cleanseth the haire from nits and lice also the herbe being laid in ward-robes and presses keepeth apparell from moths The same boyled in wine and drunken killeth wormes and bringeth them forth and preuaileth against the bitings and stingings of venomous beasts The fume or smoke of the herbe dried and taken with a funnell being burned therein and receiued in such manner as we vse to take the fume of Tabaco that is with a crooked pipe made for the same purpose by the Potter preuaileth against the cough of the lungs the great ache or paine of the head and clenseth the brest and inward parts CHAP. 206. Of Golden Moth-wort or Cudweed ¶ The Description 1 GOlden Moth-wort bringeth forth slender stalkes somewhat hard and wooddy diuided into diuers small branches whereupon do grow leaues somewhat rough and of a white colour very much iagged like Southernwood The floures stand on the tops of the stalkes ioyned together in tufts of a yellow colour glittering like gold in forme resembling the scaly floures of Tansie or the middle button of the floures of Camomil which being gathred before they be ripe or withered remaine beautifull long time after as my selfe did see in the hands of Mr. Wade one of the Clerks of her Maiesties Counsell which were sent him among other things from Padua in Italy For which cause of long lasting the images and carued gods were wont to weare garlands thereof whereupon some haue called it Gods floure For which purpose ãâã King of Egypt did most diligently obserue them as Pliny writeth 1 Elyochryson siue Coma aurea Golden Moth-wort ¶ The Place It growes in most vntilled places of Italy and Spaine in medowes where the soile is barren and about the banks of riuers it is a stranger in England ¶ The Time It floures in August and September notwithstanding Theophrastus and Plmy reckon it among the floures of the Spring ¶ The Names Golden Moth-wort is called of Dioscorides Elichryson
Pliny and Theophrastus call it ãâã Gaza translates it Aurelia in English Gold-floure Golden Moth-wort ¶ The Temperature It is saith Galen of power to cut and make thinne ¶ The Vertues Dioscorides teacheth that the tops thereof drunke in wine are good for them that can hardly make water against stingings of Serpents paines of the huckle bones and taken in sweet wine it dissolueth congealed bloud The branches and leaues laid amongst cloathes keepeth them from moths whereupon it hath beene called of some Moth-weed or Mothwort CHAP. 207. Of Golden Floure-Gentle ¶ The Description 1 THis yellow Euerlasting or Floure-Gentle called of the later Herbarists Yellow Stoecas is a plant that hath stalkes of a span long and slender whereupon do grow narrow leaues white and downie as are also the stalks The floures stand on the tops of the stalks consisting of a scattered or disordered scaly tuft of a reasonable good smell of a bright yellow colour which being gathered before they be ripe do keep their colour and beauty a long time without withering as do most of the Cottonweeds or Cudweeds whereof this is a kinde The root is blacke and slender â¡ There is some varietie in the heads of this plant for they are sometimes very large and longish as Camerarius notes in his Epitome of ãâã otherwhiles they are very compact and round and of the bignesse of the ordinarie 2 This growes to some soot or more high and hath rough downie leaues like the former but broader the floures are longer but of the same yellow colour and long continuance as those of the last described This varies somthing in the bredth and length of the leaues whence Tabernamontanus gaue three figures thereof and therein was followed by our Author as you shall finde more particularly specified at the end of the chapter â¡ 3 About Nemausium and Montpelier there growes another kinde of Chrysocome or as Lobel termes it Stoechas Citrina altera but that as this plant is in all points like so in all points it is lesser and slenderer blacker and not of such beauty as the former growing more neere vnto an ash colour consisting of many small twigs a foot long The root is lesser and hath fewer strings annexed thereto and it is seldome found but in the cliffes and crags among rubbish and on walls of cities This plant is browne without sent or sauor like the other euery branch hath his own bunch of floures comming forth of a scaly or round head but not a number heaped together as in the first kinde It prospereth well in our London Gardens 1 ãâã Citrina siue Amaranthus luteus Golden Stoechas or Goldilockes 2 Amaranthus luteus latifolius Broad leaued Goldilockes 3 Chrysocome capitulis conglobatis Round headed Goldilockes 4 Amaranthus luteus floreoblongo Golden Cudweed 4 There is a kinde hereof beeing a very rare plant and as rare to be found where it naturally groweth which is in the woods among the Scarlet-Okes betweene Sommieres and Mountpellier It is a fine and beautifull plant in shew passing the last described Stoechas Citrina altera but the leaues of this kinde are broad and somewhat hoarie as is all the rest of the whole plant the stalke a foot long and beareth the very floures of Stoechas Citrina altera but bigger and longer and somewhat like the floures of Lactuca agrestis the root is like the former without any manifest smel little knowne hard to finde whose faculties be yet vnknowne 5 Heliochrysos syluectris Wilde Goldylockes 5 This is a wilde kinde which Lobel setteth forth that here may be inserted called Eliochrysos ãâã The woolly or flockey leafe of this plant resembleth Gnaphalium vulgare but that it is somewhat broader in the middle the floures grow clustering together vpon the tops of the branches of a yellow colour and almost like those of Maudline the roots are blacke and wooddie ¶ The Place The first mentioned growes in Italy and other hot countries and the second growes in rough and grauelly places almost euery where neere vnto the Rhene especially between Spires and Wormes ¶ The Time They floure in Iune and Iuly ¶ The Names Golden floure is called in Latine Coma aurea of his golden locks or beautifull bush and also Tineraria in shops Stoechas citrina Amaranthus luteus ãâã Tragi of some Linaria aurea but not truely in Greeke Chryscome in Dutch Reynbloemen and Motten cruyt in Italian Amarantho Giallo in English Gold-floure Gods floure Goldilockes and Golden Stoechas ¶ The Temperature and Vertues The floures of Golden Stoechados boiled in wine and drunke expell worms out of the bellie and being boiled in Lee made of strong ashes doth kill lice and nits if they bee bathed therewith The other faculties are refered to the former plants mentioned in the last chapter CHAP. 208. Of Costmarie and Maudelein ¶ The Description 1 COstmary groweth vp with round hard stalkes two foot high bearing long broad leaues finely nicked in the edges of an ouerworn whitish green colour The tuft or bundle is of a golden colour consisting of many little floures like clusters ioyned together in a rundle after the manner of golden Stoechados The root is of a wooddy substance by nature verie durable not without a multitude of little strings hanging thereat The whole plant is of a pleasant smell sauour or taste 2 Maudleine is somewhat like to Costmary whereof it is a kinde in colour smell taste and in the golden floures set vpon the tops of the stalks in round clusters It bringeth forth a number of stalkes slender and round The leaues are narrow long indented and deepely cut about the edges The cluster of floures is lesser than that of Costmarie but of a better smell and yellower colour The roots are long lasting and many 1 Balsamita mas Costmarie 2 Balsamita foemina sive Ageratum Maudelein â¡ 3 Ageratum folijs non serratis Maudelein with vncut leaues 4 Ageratum floribus albis White floured Maudlein â¡ 4 This differeth not from the common Maudelein but in the colour of the floures which are white when as those of the ordinarie sort are yellow ⡠¶ The Place They grow euery where in gardens and are cherished for their sweet floures and leaues ¶ The Time They bring forth their tufts of yellow floures in the Sommer moneths ¶ The Names Costmarie is called in Latine Balsamita maior or mas of some Costus ãâã it is also called Mentha Graeca and Saracenica Officinarum of Tragus Alisma of Matthiolus ãâã Graeca of others ãâã ãâã and Herbalassulata of some Herba D. Mariae in English Costmarie and Ale-coast in High Dutch Frauwenkraut in low Dutch ãâã windkraut in French Coq Maudlein is without doubt a kinde of Costmarie called of the Italians Herba Giulia of Valerius Cordus Mentha Corymbifera minor and Eupatorium Mesue It is iudged to be Dioscorides his Ageratum and it is the Costus minor hortensis of Gesner we
about as those doe of common Horehound but they are yellow and the wharles be narrower the root is wooddy and durable 1 ãâã Wilde Hore-hound 2 Stachys ãâã Wilde ãâã Horehound â¡ 3 Stachys spinosa Cretica Thorny Horehound â¡ 4 Stachys Lusitanica Portugall Wilde Horehound â¡ 5 Sideritis Scordioides Germander Ironwoort â¡ 6 Sideritis Alpina Hyssopifolia Hyssop-leaued Iron-wort 2 Besides this there is also another described by Fuchsius the stalkes hereof are thicke foure square now and then two or three foot long the leaues be broad long hoarie nicked in the edges hairie as are also the stalks and much broader than those of the common Horehound the floures in the whorles which compasse the stalke about are of a purple colour the seede is round and blackish the root hard somthing yellow â¡ 3 This thorny Stachys hath leaues before it comes to send forth the stalk like those of the lesser Sage but more white hairie those that grow vpon the stalkes are much narrower the stalks are square some foot high and at the parting of them into branches grow alwaies two leaues one opposit against another the tops of the branches end in long sharpe thornie prickles the floures grow about the toppes of the branches like those of Sage but of somewhat a lighter colour This grows naturally in Candy about a Towne called Larda where Honorius Bellus first obserued it there it is called Guidarothymo or Asses Tyme though it agree with Tyme in nothing but the place of growth Clusius sets it forth by the name of Stachys spinosa 4 Lobel hath giuen vs the figure and first description of this by the name of Stachys Lusitanica It hath creeping and downie stalkes some handfull and halfe high set with little leaues amongst which in rundles grow smal floures like those of the other wilde Horehounds the whole plant is of somewhat a gratefull smell â¡ 5 There is another wilde Horehound of Mountpelier called Sideritis Monspelliaca Scordioides siue Scordij folio being that kind of Sideritis or wilde ãâã which is like vnto Scordium or water Germander which groweth to the height of a handfull and a halfe with many small branches rising vpright of a wooddie substance hauing the tops and spokie coronets of Hyssop but the leaues do resemble Dioscorides his Scordium saue that they be somewhat lesser stiffer more wrinckled ãâã curled and hairie than ãâã or the Iudaicall herb the floures do ãâã those of the common Sauorie in taste bitter and of an aromaticall smell 6 Mountaine Sideritis beeing also of the kindes of Horehound was first found by Valerandus ãâã in the mountains of Sauoy resembling very wel the last described but the leaues are much narrower and like those of Hyssope the floures grow in small rough rundlets or tusts pale of ãâã like Marrubium or Tetrahit the root long and bending of a wooddie substance and purple colour bitter in taste but not vnpleasant whose vertue is yet vnknowne ¶ The Place These herbes are ãâã they grow in rough and barren places notwithstanding I haue them growing in my garden â¡ My kinde friend Mr. Buckner an Apothecary of London the last yeare being 1632 found the second of these growing wilde in Oxfordshire in the field ioyning to ãâã Parke a mile from the Towne ⡠¶ The Time They floure in the Sommer moneths and wither towards winter the root remaineth aliue a certaine time ¶ The Names The former is taken for the right Stachys which is called in Greeke ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã it is knowne in shoppes and euery where we name it in English yellow Horehound and wilde Horehoond â¡ Lobel calls it Stachys Lychnites spuria Flandrorum â¡ The other wilde Horehound seeing it hath no name is to be called Stachys spuria for it is not the right neither is it Sphacelus as most haue suspected of which Theophrastus hath made mention it is called in English purple Horehound bastard wild Horehound Fuchsius his wild Horehound â¡ Fabius Columna proues the second to be the Sideritis Heraclia of Dioscorides and the Antients ⡠¶ The Temperature These herbes are of a biting and bitter taste and are hot in the third degree according to ãâã â¡ The Stachys Fuchsij and Sideritides seem to be hot and drie in the first degree ⡠¶ The Vertues The decoction of the leaues drunk doth draw downe the menses and the secondine as Dioscorides teacheth â¡ 2 This is of singular vse as most of the herbes of this kinde are to keep wounds from inflammation and speedily to heale them vp as also to stay all fluxes and defluctions hauing a drying and moderate astrictiue facultie Aetius and Aegineta commend the vse of it in medicines vsed in the cure of the biting of a mad Dog â¡ â¡ CHAP. 232. Of the Fronwoorts or Alheales â¡ 1 Sideritis vulgaris Ironwoort or Alheale â¡ 2 Sideritis Angustifolia Narrow leaued Alheale ¶ The Kindes â¡ THere are many plants that belong to this kindred of the ãâã or Ironwoorts and some of them are already treated of though in seuerall places that not verie fitly by our Authour and one of them is also set forth hereafter by the name of Clownes Alheale these that are ãâã handled and properly belong to this Chapter are first the ãâã ãâã ãâã being in the fourth place of the 229. Chapter Secondly the Stachys Fuchsij being the first ãâã of ãâã described in the second place of the last chapter Thirdly the ãâã Scordioides set forth in the fift place and fourthly the Sideritis Alpina Hyssopisolia set forth in the ãâã place of the last chapter Now besides all these I will in this Chapter giue you the Descriptions ãâã some others like to them in face and Vertues and all of them may be referred to the first S. ãâã ãâã Dioscorides his description ¶ The Description 1 THis hath square stalkes some cubite high rough and iointed with two leaues at ãâã ioint which are wrinkled and hairie of an indifferent bignesse snipt about ãâã ãâã of a strong smell and of a bitterish and somewhat hottish taste almost ãâã ãâã ãâã ioint grow branches set with lesser leaues the floures which in roundles incompasse ãâã ãâã the stalks end in a spike being somewhat hooded whitish well smelling and marked on the ãâã with sanguine spots The seed is rough and blacke being contained in fiue cornered seed ãâã The root is hard and wooddie sending forth many stalkes This is the Sideritis ãâã of ãâã Cordus ãâã and others it hath a very great affinitie with the Panax Coloni or Clownes A of our Authour and the difference betweene them certainly is very small â¡ 3 Siderit is procumbens ãâã Creeping branched Ironwoort â¡ 3 Sideritis procumbens ãâã ãâã Not branched Creeping ãâã â¡ 6 Sideritis latifolia glabra Smooth broad leaued Alheale 3 This hath some branches lying along vpon the ground slender quadrangular hairie which at certain spaces are set with leaues growing by couples almost
like those of the last described And the seed also growes like vnto that of the Water ãâã last described 5 There is also another kinde of water Milfoile which hath leaues very like vnto water Violet smaller and not so many in number the stalke is small and tender bearing yellow gaping floures fashioned like a hood or the small Snapdragon which caused Pena to put vnto his ãâã this additament Galericulatum that is hooded The roots are small and threddy with some few knobs hanging thereat like the sounds of fish 2 Millesolium aquaticum Water Yarrow 3 Millesolium siue ãâã flore ãâã ãâã aquatici ãâã facie Crow-foot or water Milsoile â¡ 6 To these may we adde a small water Milfoile set sorth by Clusius It hath round greene stalkes set with many ioynts whereout come at their lower ends many hairy fibres whereby it taketh hold of the mud the tops of these stems stand some handfull aboue the water and at each ioynt stand fiue long finely winged leaues very greene and some inch long which wax lesse and lesse as they stand higher or neerer the top of the stalke and at each of these leaues about the top of the stem growes one small white floure consisting of six little leaues ioyned together and not opening themselues and these at length turne into little knobs with foure little pointals standing out of them Clusius calls this Myriophyllon aquaticum minus â¡ â¡ 4 Millefolium tenuifolium Fennell leaued water Milfoile â¡ 5 Millefolium palustre galericulatum Hooded water Milfoile ¶ The Place They be found in lakes and standing waters or in waters that run slowly I haue not found such plenty of it in any one place as in the water ditches adioyning to Saint George his field neere London ¶ The Time They floure for the most part in May and Iune ¶ The Names The first is called in Dutch water Uiolerian that is to say Viola aquatilis in English Water Gillofloure or water Violet in French Gyroflees d'eaue Matthiolus makes this to be also Myrophylli ãâã or a kinde of Yarrow although it doth not agree with the description thereof for neither hath it one stalke onely nor one single root as Myriophyllon or Yarrow is described to haue for the roots are full of strings and it bringeth forth many stalkes The second is called in Greeke ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã in Latine Millefolium and Myriophyllon and also Supercilium Veneris in shops it is vnknowne This Yarrow differeth from that of the land the rest are sufficiently spoken of in their titles ¶ The Nature and Vertues Water Yarrow as Dioscorides saith is of a dry facultie and by reason that it taketh away hot inflammations and swellings it seemeth to be of a cold nature for Dioscorides affirmeth that water Yarrow is a remedie against inflammations in greene wounds if with vineger it be applied greene or dry and it is giuen inwardly with vineger and salt to those that haue fallen from a high place Water Gillofloure or water Violet is thought to be cold and dry yet hath it no vse in physicke at all CHAP. 301. Of Ducks meate Lens palustris Ducks meate ¶ The Description DVckes meate is as it were a certaine greene mosse with very little round leaues of the bignesse of Lentils out of the midst whereof on the nether side grow downe very fine threds like haires which are to them in stead of roots it hath neither stalke floure nor fruit ¶ The Place It is found in pounds lakes city ditches and in other standing waters euery where ¶ The Time The time of Ducks meate is knowne to all ¶ The Names Duckes meate is called in Latine Lens lacustris Lens aquatilis and Lens palustris of the Apothecaries it is ãâã Aquae Lenticula in high-Dutch Meerlinsen in low-Dutch ãâã and more vsually Enden gruen that is to say Anatum herba Ducks herbe because Ducks doe feed thereon whereupon also in English it is called Ducks meate some terme it after the Greeke water Lentils and of others it is named Graines The Italians call it Lent ãâã in French Lentille d eaue in Spanish Lenteias de agua ¶ The Temperature Galen sheweth that it is cold and moist after a sort in the second degree ¶ The Vertues Dioscorides saith that it is a remedie against all manner of inflammations Saint Anthonies fire and hot Agues if they be either applied alone or else vsed with partched barley meale It also knitteth ruptures in young children Ducks meate mingled with fine wheaten floure and applied preuaileth much against hot swellings as Phlegmons Erisipelas and the paines of the ioynts The same doth helpe the fundament fallen downe in yong children CHAP. 302. Of Water Crow-foot 1 Ranunculus aquatilis Water Crow-foot ¶ The Description 1 WAter Crow-foot hath slender branches trailing far abroad whereupon grow leaues vnder the water most finely cut and iagged like those of Cammomill Those aboue the water are somwhat round indented about the edges in forme not vnlike the smal tender leaues of the mallow but lesser among which do grow the floures small and white of colour made of fine little leaues with some yellownesse in the middle like the floures of the Straw-berry and of a sweet smell after which there come round rough and prickly knaps like those of the field Crowfoot The roots be very small hairy strings â¡ There is sometimes to be found a varietie of this with the leaues lesse and diuided into three parts after the manner of an Iuy leafe and the floures are also much lesser but white of colour with a yellow bottome I question whether this be not the Ranunculus hederaceus Daleschampij pag. 1031. of the hist. Lugd. â¡ 2 There is another plant growing in the water of smal moment yet not amisse to be remembred called Hederula aquatica or water Iuie the which is very rare to finde neuerthelesse I found it once in a ditch by Bermondsey house neere to London and neuer elsewhere it hath small threddy strings in stead of roots and stalkes rising from the bottome of the water to the top wherunto are fastned small leaues swimming or floting vpon the water triangled or three cornered like to those of barren Iuie or rather noble Liuerwort barren of floures and seeds 2 Hederula aquatica Water Iuie â¡ 3 Stellaria aquatica Water Starwort 3 There is likewise another herbe of small reckoning that floteth vpon the water called Stellaria aquatica or water Star-wort which hath many small grassie stems like threds comming from the bottome of the water vnto the vpper face of the same whereupon do grow smal double floures of a greenish or herby colour â¡ I take this Stellaria to be nothing else but a water Chickeweed which growes almost in euery ditch with two long narrow leaues at each ioynt and halfe a dozen or more lying close together at the top of the water in fashion of a starre it may be seene in this shape in the end of
stayeth the termes and boyled in mutton broth it helps weake and aking backes They haue vsed to put it into ointments against burning with fire gunpouder and such like Hedera terrestris being bound in a bundle or chopt as herbes for the pot and eaten or drunke as thin broth stayeth the flux in women CHAP. 315. Of Juy ¶ The Kindes THere be two kindes of Iuy as Theophrastus witnesseth reckoned among the number of those plants which haue need to be propped vp for they stand not of themselues but are fastned to stone walls trees and such like and yet notwithstanding both of a wooddy substance and yet not to be placed among the trees shrubs or bushes because of the affinitie they haue with climbing herbes as also agreeing in forme and figure with many other plants that climbe and are indeed simply to be reckoned among the herbes that clamber vp But if any will cauill or charge me with my promise made in the beginning of this historie where we made our diuision namely to place each plant as neere as may be in kindred and neighbourhood this promise I haue fulfilled if the curious ãâã can be content to reade without rashnesse those ãâã following in order and not onely this climbing Iuy that lifteth her selfe to the tops of trees but also the other Iuy that creepeth vpon the ground Of the greater or the climing Iuy there are also many sorts but especially three the white the blacke and that which is called Hedera Helix or Hedera sterilis ¶ The Description 1 THe greater Iuy climbeth on trees old buildings and walls the stalkes thereof are wooddy and now and then so great as it seemes to become a tree from which it sendeth a multitude of little boughes or branches euery way whereby as it were with arms it creepeth and wandereth far about it also bringeth forth continually fine little roots by which it fastneth it selfe and cleaueth wonderfull hard vpon trees and vpon the smoothest stone walls the leanes are smooth shining especially on the vpper side cornered with sharpe pointed corners The floures are very small and mossie after which succeed bundles of black berries euery one hauing a small sharpe pointall There is another sort of great Iuy that bringeth forth white fruit which some call Acharnicam irriguam and also another lesser the which hath blacke berries This Pliny calleth Selinitium We also finde mentioned another sort hereof spred abroad with a fruit of a yellow Saffron colour called of diuers Dionysias as Dioscorides writeth others Bacchica of which the Poets vsed to make garlands as Pliny testisieth lib. 16. cap. 34. 2 Barren Iuy is not much vnlike vnto the common Iuy aforesaid sauing that his branches are both smaller and tenderer not lifting or bearing it selfe vpward but creeping along by the ground vnder moist and shadowie ditch bankes The leaues are most commonly three square cornered of a blackish greene colour which at the end of Sommer become brownish red vpon the lower side The whole plant beareth neither floures nor fruit but is altogether barren and fruitlesse â¡ 3 There is kept for nouelties sake in diuers gardens a Virginian by some though vnfitly termed a Vine being indeed an Iuy The stalkes of this grow to a great heighth if they be planted nigh any thing that may sustaine or beare them vp and they take first hold by certaine small tendrels vpon what body soeuer they grow whether stone boords bricke yea glasse and that so firmely that oftentimes they will bring pieces with them if you plucke them off The leaues are large consisting of foure fiue or more particular leaues each of them being long and deeply notched about the edges so that they somewhat resemble the leaues of the Chesnut tree the floures grow clustering together after the manner of Iuy but neuer with vs shew themselues open so that we cannot iustly say any thing of their colour or the fruit that succeeds them It puts forth his leaues in April and the stalkes with the rudiments of the floures are to be seene in August It may as I said be fitly called Hedera Virginiana ⡠¶ The Place Iuy groweth commonly about walls and trees the white Iuy groweth in Greece and the barren Iuy groweth vpon the ground in ditch bankes and shadowie woods 1 Hedera corymbosa Clymbing or berried Iuy 2 Hedera Helix Barren or creeping Iuy ¶ The Time Iuy flourisheth in Autumne the berries are ripe after the Winter Solstice ¶ The Names Iuy is called in Latine Hedera in Greeke ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã and ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã in high-Dutch ãâã in low-Dutch ãâã in Spanish Yedra in French Liarre The greater Iuy is called of Theophrastus ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã in Latine ãâã attollens or Hedera assurgens Gaza interpreteth it Hedera excelsa The later Herbarists would haue it to be Hedera arborea or tree Iuy because it groweth vpon trees and Hedera muralis which hangeth vpon walls Creeping or barren Iuy is called in Greeke ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã in English Ground-Iuy yet doth it much differ from Hedera ãâã or Ground-Iuy before described of some it is called Clauicula Hedera Helix and Hedera ãâã and is that herbe wherein the Bore delighteth according to Iohannes Khuenius ¶ The Temperature Iuy as Galen saith is compounded of contrarie faculties for it hath a certaine binding earthy and cold substance and also a substance somewhat biting which euen the very taste doth shew to be hot Neither is it without a third facultie as being of a certaine warme waterie substance and that is if it be greene for whilest it is in drying this watery substance being earthy cold and binding consumeth away and that which is hot and biting remaineth ¶ The Vertues The leaues of Iuy fresh and greene boyled in wine do heale old vlcers and perfectly cure those that haue a venomous and malicious quality ioyned with them and are a remedy likewise against burnings and scaldings Moreouer the leaues boyled with vineger are good for such as haue bad spleens but the floures or fruit are of more force being very finely beaten and tempered with vineger especially so vsed they are commended against burnings The iuyce drawne or snift vp into the nose doth effectually purge the head stayeth the running of the eares that hath beene of long continuance and healeth old vlcers both in the eares and also in the nosthrils but if it be too sharpe it is to be mixed with oyle of Roses or sallad oyle The gum that is found vpon the trunke or body of the old stocke of Iuy killeth nits and lice and taketh away haire it is of so hot a qualitie as that it doth obscurely burne it is as it were a certaine waterish liquor congealed of those gummie drops Thus farre Galen The very same almost hath Dioscorides but yet also somewhat more for ouer and besides hee saith that fiue of the berries beaten small and made hot in a Pomegranat rinde
Vine but tenderer and for the length and great spreading therof it is very fit to make shadows in arbors the leaues are smooth like Iuie but somewhat bigger and being broken are full of milke amongst which come forth great white and hollow floures like bells The seed is three cornered growing in small huskes couered with a thin skin The root is small white and long like the great Dogs grasse 2 Smilax ãâã minor is much like vnto the former in stalkes leaues floures seed and roots sauing that in all respects it is much smaller and creepeth vpon the ground The branches are small and smooth the little leaues tender and soft the floures like vnto little bells of a purple colour the seed three cornered like vnto the others 3 Convolvulus minimus spicae-folius Lauander leafed Binde-weed 4 Convolvulus argenteus ãâã Siluer leafed Binde-weed 3 This Bindweed Pena saith he neuer saw but in the brinks of quicke-sets and Oliuets in Prouence Sauoy and Narbone notwithstanding I found it growing in the corne fields about great Dunmow in Essex in such abundance that it doth much hurt vnto their corne This kind of Bindweed or Volubilis is like vnto the small Bindweed before mentioned but it hath a finer floure plaited or folded in the compasse of the bell very orderly especially before the Sun rise for after it opens it selfe the welts are not so much perceiued and it is of a darke purple colour the seed is not vnlike the rest cornered and flat growing out of slender branches which stand vpright and thicke together proceeding out of a wooddy white root The leaues are long and narrow resembling Linaria both in colour and hairinesse in taste drying and somewhat heating 5 Volubilis nigra Blacke Bindweed â¡ 4 The stalkes and branches of this are some cubite long slender weake and hairy so that they lie vpon the ground if they haue nothing to sustaine them vpon these without any order grow leaues shaped like those of luy or the marsh Mallow but lesse and couered ouer with a siluer-like downe or hairinesse and diuided somewhat deep on the edges sometimes also curled and otherwhiles onely snipt about The floure growes vpon long stalkes like as in other plants of this kinde and consists of one folding lease like as that of the last mentioned and it is either of a whitish purple or else absolute purple colour The root is small and creeping It growes in many places of Spaine and there floures in March and Aprill Clusius calls this Convoluulus Altheae folio and saith that the Portugals name it Verdezilla and commend it as a thing most effectuall to heale wounds Our Authour gaue the figure hereof how fitly let the Reader iudge by the name of Papauer cornutum luteum minus making it a horned Poppy as you may see in the former Edition Pag. 294. â¡ â 5 This kinde of Bindweed hath a ãâã root full of threddie strings from which rise vp immediatly diuers trailing branches wherupon grow leaues like the common field Bindweed or like those of Orach of a black green colour whereof it tooke his name the floures are smal and like those of Orach the seed is black three square like but lesse than that of Buck-wheat The whole plant is not onely a hurtfull weed but of an euill smell also and too frequently found amongst corne Dodonaeus calls this Convolvulum ãâã and Helxine Cissampelos Tabernamontanus Volubilis nigra and Lobel Helxine Cissampelos altera Atriplicis effigie ¶ The Place All these kindes of Bindweeds do grow very plentifully in most parts of England â¡ The third and fourth excepted ⡠¶ The Time They do floure from May to the end of August ¶ The Names The great Bindweed is called in Greeke ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã in Latine Smilax Laeuis of Galen and Paulus Aegineta ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã it is surnamed Laeuis or smooth because the stalkes and branches thereof haue no prickles at all Dolichus called also Smilax hortensis or Kidney beane doth differ from this and likewise Smilax the tree which the Latines call Taxus in English the Yew tree The later Herbarists do call this Bindweed Volubilis maior Campanella Funis arborum Convoluulus albus and Smilax laeuis maior in like manner Pliny in his 21. booke 5. chapt doth also name it Conuoluulus It is thought to be Ligustrum not the shrub priuet but that which Martial in his first booke of Epigrams speaketh of writing against Procillus The small Bindweed is called Convoluulus minor and Smilax laeuis minor Volubilis minor in high Dutch Windkraut in Low Dutch Wrange in French Liseron in Italian Vilucchio in Spanish Campanilla Yerua in English Withwinde Bindeweed and Hedge-bels ¶ The Nature These herbs are of an hot and dry temperature ¶ The Vertues The leaues of blacke Bindweed called Helxine Cissampelos stamped and strained and the iuice drunken doth loose and open the bellie exceedingly The leaues pound and laid to the grieued place dissolueth wasteth and consumeth hard lumps and swellings as Galen saith The rest of the Bindweeds are not fit for medicine but vnprofitable weeds and hurtfull vnto each thing that groweth next vnto them CHAP. 318. Of Blew Bindweed ¶ The Description 1 BLew Bindweed bringeth forth long tender and winding branches by which it climeth vpon things that stand neere vnto it and foldeth it selfe about them with many turnings and windings wrapping it selfe against the Sun contrary to all other things whatsoeuer that with their clasping tendrels do embrace things that stand neere vnto them whereupon doe grow broad cornered leaues very like vnto those of Iuie something rough and hairy of an ouerworne russet greene colour among which come forth most pleasant floures bell fashion somthing cornered as are those of the common Bindweed of a most shining azure colour tending to purple which being past there succeed round knobbed seed vessels wherein is contained long blackish seed of the bignesse of a Tare and like vnto those of the great hedge Bindweed The root is threddy and perisheth at the first approchof Winter 1 Convolvulus Caeruleus Blew Binde-weed â¡ 2 Convolvulus caeruleus folio rotundo Round leaued blew Bindweed â¡ 2 There are also kept in our gardens two other blew floured Bindweeds The one a large and great plant the other a lesser The great sends vp many large and long winding branches like those of the last described and a little hairie the leaues are large and roundish ending in a sharpe point the floures are as large as those of the great Bindweed and in shape like them but blew of colour with fiue broad purplish veines equally distant each from other and these floures commonly grow three neere together vpon three seuerall stalks some inch long fastened to another â¡ 3 Convolvulus caeruleus minor folio oblongo Small blew Bindweed 3 This small blew Bindweed sendeth forth diuers long slender creeping hairie branches lying flat vpon the ground vnlesse there be something for
toucheth the fruite groweth vpon slender footstalkes fashioned like vnto a Peare of the bignes of a great Quince 4 The Spanish Melon bringeth forth long trailing branches whereon are set broad leaues slightly indented about the edges not diuided at all as are all the rest of the Melons The fruite groweth neere vnto the stalke like vnto the common Pompion very long not crested or furrowed at all but spotted with very many such markes as are on the backeside of the Harts-tongue leafe The pulpe or meate is not so pleasing in taste as the other ¶ The Place They delight in hot regions notwithstanding I haue seen at the Queenes house at Saint Iames very many of the first sort ripe through the diligent and curious nourishing of them by a skilfull Gentleman the keeper of the said house called Mr. Fowle and in other places neere vnto the right Honorable the Lord of ãâã house of Bermondsey by London where from yeere to yeere there is very great plenty especially if the weather be any thing temperate ¶ The Time They are set or sowne in Aprill as I haue already shewne in the chapter of Cucumbers their fruite is ripe in the end of August and sometimes sooner ¶ The Names The Muske Melon is called in Latine Melo in Italian Mellone in Spanish Melon in French ãâã in High Dutch Melaun in low Dutch Meloenen in Greeke ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã which doth signifie an apple and therefore this kinde of Cucumber is more truely called ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã or ãâã by reason that Pepo hath the smell of an apple whereto the smell of this fruit is like hauing withall the smell as it were of Muske which for that ãâã are also named Melones ãâã or Muske Melons ¶ The Temperature The meate of the Muske Melon is very cold and moist ¶ The Vertues It is harder of digestion than is any of the rest of Cucumbers and if it remaine long in the stomacke is putrifieth and is occasion of pestilent feuers which thing also Aëtius witnesseth in the first booke of his Tetrabibles writing that the vse of Cucumeres or Cucumbers breedeth pestilent feauers for he also taketh Cucumis to be that which is commonly called a Melon which is vsually eaten of the Italians and Spaniards rather to represse the rage of ãâã than for any other Physicall vertue The seed is of like operation with that of the former Cucumber CHAP. 345. Of Melons or Pompions ¶ The Kindes THere be found diuers kindes of Pompions which differ either in bignesse ãâã ãâã it shall be therefore sufficient to describe some one or two of them and referre the rest vnto the view of the figures which most liuely do expresse their differences especially because this volume waxeth great the description of no moment and I hasten to an end ¶ The Description 1 TThe great Pompion bringeth forth thicke and rough prickly stalkes which with their clasping tendrells take hold vpon such things as are neere vnto them as poles ãâã pales and ledges which vnlesse they were neere vnto them would creepe along vpon the ground the leaues be wilde and great very rough and cut with certaine deepe gashes nicked also on the edges like a saw the floures be very great like vnto a bell cup of a yellow colour like gold hauing fiue corners standing out like teeth ãâã fruite is great thicke round set with thicke ribbes like edges sticking forth The pulpe or meate whereof which is next vnder the rinde is white and of a meane hardnesse the pith or substance in the middle is spungie and slimie the seed is great broad flat something white much greater than that of the Cucumber otherwise not differing at all in forme The colour of the barke or rinde is oftentimes of an obscure greene sometimes gray The rinde of the greene Pompion is harder and as it were of a woody substance the rinde of the gray is softer and tenderer 2 The second kinde of Melons or Pompions is like vnto the former in stalkes and leaues and also in clasping tendrels but the gashes of the leaues are not so deepe and the stalkes be tenderer the floures are in like manner yellow gaping and cornered at the top as be those of the ãâã but the fruite is somewhat rounder sometimes greater and many times lesser and oftentimes of a greene colour with an harder barke now and then softer and whiter The meat within is like the former the seeds haue also the same forme but they be somewhat lesser 1 Pepo maximus oblongus The great long Pompion 2 Pepo maximus rotundus The great round Pompion 3 Of this kinde there is also another Pompion like vnto the former in rough stalkes and in gashed and nicked leaues the floure is also great and yellow like those of the others the fruit is of a great bignesse whose barke is full of little bunnies or hillie welts as is the rinde of the Citron which is in like manner yellow when it is ripe 4 The fourth Pompion doth very much differ from the others in form the stalks leaues and floures are like those of the rest but the fruit is not long or round but altogether broad and in a manner flat like vnto a shield or buckler thicker in the middle thinner in the compasse and curled or ãâã in certaine places about the edges like the rugged or vneuen barke of the Pomecitron the which rinde is very soft thin and white the meat within is meetely hard and dureable The seed is greater than that of the common Cucumber in forme and colour all one â¡ Macocks Virginiani sive Pepo Virginianus The Virginian Macocke or Pompion â¡ This hath rough cornered straked trailing branches proceeding from the roor eight or nine foot long or longer and those againe diuided into other branches of a blackish greene colour trailing ãâã or running alongst the earth couering a great deale of ground sending forth broad ãâã rough leaues on great grosse long rough hairy foot-stalks like and fully as big as the leaues of the common Pompion with clasping tendrels and great broad shriueled yellow floures also like those of the common Pompion the fruit succeedeth growing a longst the stalkes commonly not neere the root but towards the vpper part or toppes of the branches somewhat round not extending in length but flat like a bowle but not so bigge as an ordinarie bowle beeing seldome foure inches broad and three inches long of a blackish greene colour when it is ripe The substance or eatable part is of a yellowish white colour containing in the middest a great deale of pulpe or soft matter wherein the seed lyeth in certaine rowes also like the common Pompion but smaller The root is made of many whitish branches creeping far abroad in the earth and perish at the first approch of Winter 3 Pepo maximus compressus The great flat bottommed Pompion 4 Pepo maximus clypeatus The great buckler Pompion 5 Pepo Indicus minor rotundus The small round
whereof most are very dangerous to be taken into the body and therefore they require a very exquisite moderation with a most exact and due manner of tempering not any of them are to be taken alone by themselues because they are of most violent force and therefore haue the greater need of correction The knowledge of these plants is as necessarie to the Physitian as of other herbes to the end they may shun the same as Scribonius Largus saith and not take them ignorantly or also if necessitie at any time require that they may vse them and that with some deliberation and speciall choice and with their proper correctiues For these dangerous Simples are likewise many times of themselues beneficiall and oftentimes profitable for some of them are not so dangerous but that they may in some sort and oftentimes in fit and due season profit and do good if temperature and moderation be vsed of which there be foure kindes as Dioscorides writeth one with broad leaues another that is downy the third very small and the fourth with a white floure the later herbarists haue obserued also many moe all these may be brought into two principall kindes so that one be a garden or ãâã one and the other wilde and of these some are common and others rare or forreigne Moreouer there is a difference both in the roots and in the leaues for one hath a bumped or knobby root another a long leafe as Speare-wort and first of the wilde or field Crowseet ãâã the Reader vnto the end of the stocke and kindred of the same for the temperature and vertues 1 Ranunculus pratensis etiamque hortensis Common Crow-foot 2 Ranunculus surrectis cauliculis Right Crow-foot 3 Ranunculus aruorum Crow foot of the fallowed field 4 Ranunculus Alpinus albus White mountaine Crow-foot ¶ The Description 1 THe common Crow-foot hath leaues diuided into many parts commonly three sometimes fiue cut here and there in the edges of a deepe greene colour in which stand diuers white spots the stalkes be round something hairie some of them bow downe toward the ground and put forth many little roots whereby it taketh hold of the ground as it traileth along some of them stand vpright a foot high or higher on the tops whereof grow small floures with fiue leaues apiece of a yellow glittering colour like gold in the middle part of these floures stand certaine small threds of like colour which being past the seeds follow made vp in a rough ball the roots are white and threddy 2 The second kinde of Crow-foot is like vnto the precedent sauing that his leaues are fatter thicker and greener and his small twiggy stalkes stand vpright otherwise it is like of which kind it chanced that walking in the field next to the Theatre by London in the company of a worshipfull merchant named Mr. Nicolas Lete I found one of this kinde there with double floures which before that time I had not seene ¶ The Place They grow of themselues in pastures and medowes almost euery where ¶ The Time They floure in May and many moneths after ¶ The Names Crow-foot is called of Lobel Ranunculus pratensis of Dodonaeus Ranunculus hortensis but vnproperly of Pliny Polyanthemum which he saith diuers name Batrachion in high-Dutch ãâã in low Dutch ãâã ãâã in English King Kob Gold cups Gold knobs Crowfoot and Butter-floures ¶ The Description 3 The third kinde of Crow-foot called in Latine Ranunculus aruorum because it growes commonly in fallow fields where corne hath beene lately sowne and may be called Corne Crow-foot hath for the most part an vpright stalke of a foot high which diuides it selfe into other branches whereon do grow fat thicke leaues very much cut or iagged resembling the leaues of Sampire but nothing so greene but rather of an ouerworne colour The floures grow at the top of the branches compact of fiue small leaues of a faint yellow colour after which come in place clusters of rough and sharpe pointed seeds The root is small and threddy 4 The fourth Crow-foot which is called Ranunculus Alpinus because those that haue first written thereof haue not found it elsewhere but vpon the Alpish mountains notwithstanding it groweth in England plentifully wilde especially in a wood called Hampsted Wood and is planted in gardens hath diuers great fat branches two cub its high set with large leaues like the common Crow-foot but greater of a deepe greene colour much like to those of the yellow Aconite called Aconitum luteum Ponticum The floures consist of fiue white leaues with small yellow chiues in the middle smelling like the floures of May or Haw-thorne but more pleasant The roots are greater than any of the stocke of Crow-feet ¶ The Place and Time Their place of growing is touched in their description their time of flouring and seeding answereth the other of their kindes ¶ The Names The white Crow-foot of the Alps and French mountaines is the fourth of Dioscorides his description for he describeth his fourth to haue a white floure more hath not bin said touching the names yet Tabern calls it Batrachium album in English white Crow-foot ¶ The Description 5 Among the wilde Crow-feet there is one that is syrnamed Illyricus which brings forth slender stalks round and of a meane length whereupon doe grow long narrow leaues cut into many long gashes somthing white and couered with a certaine downinesse the floures be of a pale yellow colour the root consisteth of many small bumpes as it were graines of corne or little long bulbes growing close together like those of Pilewort It is reported that it was first brought out of Illyria into Italy and from thence into the Low-Countries notwithstanding we haue it growing very common in England â¡ But only in gardens that I haue seene â¡ 6 The sixth kinde of Crow-foot called Ranunculus bulbosus or Onion rooted Crow-foot and round rooted Crow-foot hath a round knobby or onion-fashioned root like vnto a small Turnep and of the bignesse of a great Oliue from the which rises vp many leaues spred vpon the ground like those of the field Crow-foot but smaller and of an ouerworne greene colour amongst which rise vp slender stalkes of the height of a foot whereupon do grow floures of a feint yellow colour â¡ This growes wilde in most places and floures at the beginning of May. ⡠¶ The Place It is also reported to be found not only in Illyria and Sclauonia but also in the Island Sardinia standing in the Midland or Mediteranian sea ¶ The Names This Illyrian Crow foot is named in Greeke ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã that is Apium syluestre or wilde Smallage also Herba Sardoa it may be saith my Author that kinde of Crowfoot called ãâã risus and ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã and this is thought to be that Golotophillis of which Pliny maketh mention in his 24. booke 17. chap. which being drunke saith he with wine and myrrh causeth a man to see
in the Turkish tongue Torobolos Catamer ãâã in English the double red Ranunculus or Crow-foot The fourth is called Ranunculus Tripolitanus of the place from whence it was first brought into these parts of the Turks Tarobolos Catamer without that addition ãâã which is a proper word to all floures that are double ¶ The Temperature and Vertues Their temperature and vertues are referred to the other Crow-feet whereof they are thought to be kindes CHAP. 370. Of Speare-woort or Bane-woort ¶ The Description 1 SPeare-woort hath an hollow stalke full of knees or ioynts whereon do grow long leaues a little hairy not vnlike those of the willow of a shining green colour the floures are very large and grow at the tops of the stalks consisting of fiue leaues of a faire yellow colour verie like to the field gold cup or wilde Crow-foot after which come round knops or seed vessels wherein is the seed the root is contract of diuers bulbes or long clogs mixed with an infinite number of hairy threds 1 Ranunculus flammeus maior Great Speare-woort 2 Ranunculus flammeus minor The lesser Speare-woort 2 The common Spearewoort being that which we haue called the lesser hath leaues floures and stalks like the precedent but altogether lesser the roote consisteth of an infinite number of threddie strings 3 Ranunculus flammeus serratus Iagged Speare-woort 4 Ranunculus palustris rotundifolius Marish Crow-foot or Speare-worts 3 Iagged Speare-woort hath a thicke fat hollow stalke diuiding it selfe into diuers branches whereon are set somtimes by couples two long leaues sharp pointed cut about the edges like the teeth of a saw The floures grow at the top of the branches of a yellow colour in form like those of the field Crowfoot the root consisteth of a number of hairy strings 4 Marsh Crow-foot or Speare-woort whereof it is a kinde taken of the best approued authors to be the true Apium risus though diuers thinke that Pulsatilla is the same of some it is called Apium ãâã riseth forth of the mud or waterish mire from a threddie root to the height of a cubit sometimes higher The stalke diuideth it selfe into diuers branches whereupon doe grow leaues deeply cut round about like those of Doues-foot and not vnlike to the cut Mallow but somewhat greater and of a most bright shining green colour the floures grow at the top of the branches of a yellow colour like vnto the other water Crow-feet ¶ The Place They grow in moist and dankish places in brinkes or water courses and such like places almost euery where ¶ The Time They floure in May when other Crow-feet do ¶ The Names Speare-woort is called of the later Herbarists Flammula and Ranunculus Flammeus of Cordus Ranunculus ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã or broad leaued Crow-foot of others Ranunculus longifolius or long leafed Crow foot in Low Dutch ãâã in English Speare-Crowfoot Speare-woort and Banewoort because it is dangerous and deadly for sheep and that if they feed of the same it inflameth their liuers fretteth and blistereth their guts and intrails ¶ The Temperature of all the Crowfeet Speare-woort is like to the other Crow-feet in facultie it is hot in the mouth or biting it exulcerateth and raiseth blisters and being taken inwardly it killeth remedilesse Generally all the Crow-feet as Galen saith are of a very sharpe or biting qualitie insomuch as they raise blisters with paine and they are hot and drie in the fourth degree ¶ The Vertues of all the Crowfeet The leaues or roots of Crowfeet stamped and applied vnto any part of the body causeth the skin to swell and blister and raiseth vp wheales bladders causeth scars crusts and ouglie vlcers it is laid vpon cragged warts corrupt nailes and such like excrescences to cause them to fall away The leaues stamped and applied vnto any pestilentiall or plague sore or carbuncle staieth the spreading nature of the same and causeth the venomous or pestilentiall matter tobreath forth by opening the parts and passages in the skin It preuaileth much to draw a plague sore from the inward parts being of danger vnto other remote places further from the heart and other of the spirituall parts as hath beene declared in the description Many do vse to tie a little of the herbe stamped with salt vnto any of the fingers against the pain of the teeth which medicine seldome-faileth for it causeth greater paine in the finger than was in the tooth by the meanes whereof the greater paine taketh away the lesser Cunning beggers do vse to stampe the leaues and lay it vnto their legs and arms which causeth such ãâã vlcers as we daily see among such wicked vagabonds to moue the people the more to pittie The kinde of Crowfoot of Illyria being taken to be Apium risus of some yet others thinke Aconitum Batrachioides to be it This plant spoileth the sences and vnderstanding and draweth together the sinewes and muscles of the face in such strange manner that those who beholding such as died by the taking hereof haue supposed that they died laughing so forceably hath it drawne and contracted the nerues and sinewes that their faces haue been drawne awry as though they laughed whereas contrariwise they haue died with great torment â¡ CHAP. 371. Of diuers other Crowfeet â¡ 1 Ranunculus Creticus latifolius Broad leaued Candy Crowfoot â¡ 2 Ranunculus folio Plantaginis Plantaine leaued Crowfoot ¶ The Description â¡ 1 THe roots of this are somwhat like those of the Asian Ranunculus the leaues are verie large roundish of a light green colour cut about the edges here and there deeply diuided the stalke is thicke round and stiffe diuided into two or three branches at the setting on of which grow longish leaues a little nickt about the end the floures are of an indifferent bignesse and consist of fiue longish round pointed leaues standing a little each from other so ãâã the green points of the cups shew themselues between them there are yellow threds in the middle of these floures which commonly shew themselues in Februarie or March It is found only in some gardens and ãâã onely hath set it forth by the name we here giue you 2 This also that came from the Pyrenaean hills is made a Denizen in our gardens it hath a stalke some foot high set with neruous leaues like those of Plantaine but thinner and of the colour of Woad and they are something broad at their setting on and end in a sharpe point at the top of the stalke grow the floures each consisting of fiue round slender pure white leaues of a reasonable bignesse with yellowish threds and a little head in the middle the root is white and fibrous It floures about the beginning of May. Clusius also set forth this by the title of ãâã ãâã albo flore 3 The same Author hath also giuen vs the knowledge of diuers other plants of this kinde and this hee calls ãâã montanus 1. It hath many round leaues here and there
roots in shape like Creauises Hereunto agreeth the Emperors picture in all things sauing in the leaues which are not so large nor so much diuided but notched or toothed like the teeth of a saw 3 Napellus verus coeruleus Blew Helmet-floure or Monks-hood â¡ 4 Aconitum lycoctonum ex Cod. Caesareo â¡ 5 Besides these mentioned by our Author there are sundry other plants belonging to this pernitious Tribe whose historie I will briefely runne ouer The first of these is that which Clusius hath set forth by the name of Aconitum lycoctonum flo Delphinij Silesiacum it hath stalks some two or three cubits high smooth and hollow of a greenish purple colour and couered with a certaine mealinesse the leaues grow vpon long stalks being rough and fashioned like those of the yellow Wolfes bane but of a blacker colour the top of the stalke ends in a long spike of spurre-floures which before they be open resemble locusts or little Lyzards with their long and crooking tailes but opening they shew fiue leaues two on the sides two below and one aboue which ends in a crooked ãâã or horne all these leaues are wrinckled and purple on their outsides but smooth and of an elegant blew within After the floures are past succeed three square cods as in other Aconites wherein is contained an vnequall brownish wrinckled seed the root is thicke black and tuberous This growes naturally in some mountaines of Silesia and floures in Iuly and August ãâã â¡ 5 Aconitum lycoct hirsutum flo Delphinij Rough Larks-heele Wolfes-bane â¡ 6 Aconitum ãâã Violet coloured Monks hood â¡ 7 Aconitum purpureum ãâã Purple Monks-hood of Newburg â¡ 8 Aconitum maximum Iudenbergense Large floured Monks-hood 6 The leaues of this are somwhat like yet lesse than those of our common Monks-hood blackish on the vpper side and shining The stalke is some cubit and halfe high firme ãâã of ãâã smooth and shining diuided towards the top into some branches carrying ãâã ãâã like ãâã forme to those of the vulgar Monks-hood of a most elegant and deepe ãâã colour the seeds are like the former and roots round thicke and short with many fibres It growes vpon the ãâã ãâã Saltsburg where it floures in Iuly but brought into gardens it floures sooner than the rest of ãâã kinde to wit in May. Clusius calls this Aconitum ãâã 4. Tauricum 7 This hath leaues broader than those of our ordinarie Monks-hood yet like them the stalke is round straight and firme and of some three cubits height and oft times toward the top diuided into many branches which carry their floures spike-fashion of a purple colour absolutely like those of the common sort but that the thrummie matter in the middest of the floures is of ãâã duskier colour The root and rest of the parts are like those of the common kinde it growes naturally vpon the Styrian Alpes whereas it floures somewhat after the common kinde to wit in Iuly Clusius hath it by the name of Aconitum lycoctonum 5. ãâã â¡ 9 Aconitum maximum nutante coma Monkes-hood with the bending ãâã nodding head 8 The leaues of this are also diuided into fiue parts and snipt about the edges and doe very much resemble those of the smal ãâã described in the second place but that the leaues of that shine when as these do not the stalke is two cubits high not very thicke yet firme and straight of a greenish purple colour and at the top carries fiue or six floures the largest of all the ãâã hoods consisting of foure leaues as in the rest of this kind with a very large helmet ouer them being sometimes an inch long of an elegant blewish purple color the seed-vessels seeds and roots are like the rest of this kinde This growes on Iudenberg the highest hill of all Stiria and floures in August in gardens about the end of Iuly Clusius names it Aconitum Lycoct 9. Iudenbergense 9 This rises vp to the height of three cubits with a slender round stalke which is diuided into sundry branches and commonly hangs downe the head whence Clusius cals it Aconitum lycoctonum 8. ãâã nutante The floures are like those of the common Monks-hood but of somewhat a lighter purple colour The leaues are larger and long and much more cut in or diuided than any of the rest The roots seeds and other particles are not vnlike those of the rest of this kinde ⡠¶ The Place Diuers of these Wolfs-banes grow in some gardens except Aconitum lycoctonon taken forth of the Emperors booke ¶ The Time These plants do floure from May vnto the end of August ¶ The Names The first is Lycoctoni specics or a kinde of Wolfes-bane and is as hurtfull as any of the rest and called of Lobel Aconitum flore Delphinij or Larke-spur Wolses-bare Auicen speaketh hereof in his second booke and afterwards in his fourth booke Fen. 6. the first Treatise hauing his reasons why and wherefore he hath separated this from Canach adip that is to say the Wolses strangler or the Wolfes-bane The later and barbarous Herbarists call the third Wolfes bane in Latine Napellus of the figure and shape of the roots of Napus or Nauet or Nauew gentle it is likewise ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã a kinde of Wolfes-bane also it may be called Toxicum sor Toxicum is a deadly medicine wherewith the Hunters poyson their speares darts and arrowes that bring present death so named ãâã arrowes which the Barbarians call Toxcumata and Toxa ãâã setting downe the ãâã ãâã or accidents caused by Toxicum together with the remedies reckoneth vp almost the verie same that Auicen doth concerning Napellus notwithstanding Auicen writes of Napellus and Toxicum seuerally but not knowing what Toxicum is as he himselfe confesseth so that it is not to be maruelled that hauing written of Napellus he should afterward entreat againe of Toxicum ¶ The Nature and Vertues All these plants are hot and dry in the fourth degree and of a most venomous qualitie The force and facultie of Wolfes-bane is deadly to man and all kindes of beasts the same was tried of late in Antwerpe and is as yet fresh in memorie by an euident experiment but most lamentable for when the leaues hereof were by certaine ignorant persons serued vp in sallads all that did eate thereof were presently taken with most cruell symptomes and so died The symptomes that follow those that do eate of these deadly herbes are these their lips and tongues swell forthwith their eyes hang out their thighes are stiffe and their wits are taken from them as Auicen writeth in his fourth booke The force of this poyson is such that if the points of darts or arrowes be touched with the same it bringeth deadly hurt to those that are wounded therewith Against so deadly a poyson Auicen reckoneth vp certaine remedies which helpe after the poyson is vomited vp and among these he maketh mention of the Mouse as the copies euery where haue it nourished and fed vp with Napellus which
them all notwithstanding it approcheth neerest vnto the Cinkefoiles hauing stalkes a foot high whereupon grow leaues diuided into fiue parts and jagged round about the edges like the teeth of a saw hauing the pale yellow floures of Pentaphyllum or Tormentilla within which are little mossie or downy threddes of the colour of saffron but lesser than the common Auens 8 The eighth kinde of Cinkefoile according to the opinion of diuers learned men who haue had the view thereof and haue iudged it to be the true Leucas of Dioscorides agreeable to Dioscorides his description is all hoary whereupon it tooke the addition Incanum The stalkes are thicke wooddy and somewhat red wrinckled also and of a browne colour which rise vnequall from the root spreading themselues into many branches shadowing the place where it groweth beset with thicke and notched leaues like Scordium or water Germander which according to the iudgment of the learned is thought to be of no lesse force against poison than Pentaphyllon or Tormentilla being of an astringent and drying quality Hereupon it may be that some trying the force hereof haue yeelded it vp for Leucas Dioscoridis This rare plant I neuer found growing naturally but ãâã the hollownesse of the peakish mountaines and dry grauelly vallies â¡ 11 Quinquefolium syluaticum minus flo albo Small white floured wood Cinkefoile â¡ 12 Quinquefolium minus flo aureo Small golden floured Cinkefoile â¡ 9 This hath the like creeping purple branches as the last described the leaues are narrower more hairy and deeper cut in the floures are also of a ãâã golden colour in other respects they are alike â¡ 10 The wood Cinkefoile hath many leaues spred vpon the ground consisting of fiue parts among which rise vp other leaues set vpon very tall foot-stalkes and long in respect of those that did grow by the ground and somewhat snipt about the ends and not all alongst the edges The floures grow vpon slender stalkes consisting of fiue white leaues The root is thicke with diuers sibres comming from it â¡ 13 Pentaphyllum fragiferum Strawberry Cinkfoile 12 This from a blacke and fibrous root sends forth creeping branches set with leaues like the common Cinkfoile but lesse somewhat hoary and shining the stalks are some handfull high and on their tops carry large floures in respect of the smalnesse of the plant and these of a faire golden colour with saffron coloured threds in their middle the seedes grow after the manner of other Cinkfoiles this floures in Iune and it is Clusius his Quinquefolium 3. aureo flore â¡ 13 There is one of the mountain Cinkfoiles that hath diuers slender brittle stalks rising immediatly out of the ground whereupon are set by equall distances certain iagged leaues not vnlike to the smallest leaues of Auens the floures are white and grow at the top hauing in them threds yellow of colour and like to the other Cinkfoiles but altogether lesser The root is thicke tough and of a wooddie substance â¡ The seedes grow clustering together like little Strawberries whence Clusius calls it Quinquefolium fragiferum ⡠¶ The Place They grow in low and moist medowes vpon banks and by high waies sides the second is onely to be found in gardens The third groweth in the woods of Sauena and Narbon but not in England The fourth groweth in a marsh ground adioining to the land called Bourne ponds halfe a mile from Colchester from whence I brought some plants for my garden where they flourish and prosper well The fifth groweth vpon Beestone castle in Cheshire the sixth vpon bricke and stone wals about London especially vpon the bricke wall in Liuer-lane The place of the seuenth and eight is set forth in their descriptions ¶ The Time These plants do floure from the beginning of May to the end of Iune ¶ The Names Cinkfoile is called in Greeke ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã in Latine Quinquefolium the Apothecaries vse the Greek name Pentaphyllon and sometime the Latine name There be very many bastard names wherewith I will not trouble your eares in High Dutch ãâã ãâã in Low Dutch ãâã ãâã ãâã in Italian Cinquefoglio in French Quinte fueille in Spanish Cinco en rama in English Cinkfoile Fiue finger Grasse Fiue leaued grasse and Sinkfield ¶ The Temperature The roots of Cinkfoile especially of the first do vehemently drie and that in the third degree but without biting for they haue very little apparant heat or sharpnesse ¶ The Vertues The decoction of the roots of Cinkfoile drunke cureth the bloudy flixe and all other fluxes of the belly and stancheth all excessiue bleeding The iuice of the roots while they be yong and tender is giuen to be drunke against the diseases of the liuer and lungs and all poison The same drunke in Mead or honied water or wine wherein some pepper hath been mingled cureth the tertian or quartaine feuers and being drunken after the same manner for thirty daies together it helpeth the falling sicknesse The leaues vsed among herbes appropriate for the same purpose cureth ruptures and burstings of the rim and guts falling into the cods The iuice of the leaues drunken doth cure the Iaundice and ãâã the stomacke and liuer The decoction of the roots held in the mouth doth mitigate the paine of the teeth staieth putrifaction and all putrified vlcers of the mouth helpeth the inflammations of the almonds throat and the parts adioining it staieth the laske and helpeth the bloudy flix The root boiled in vineger is good against the shingles appeaseth the rage of fretting sores and cankerous vlcers It is reported that foure branches hereof cureth quartaine agues three tertians and one branch quotidians which things are most vaine and sriuolous as likewise many other such like which are not onely found in Dioscorides but also in other Authors which we willingly withstand Ortolpho Morolto a learned Physition commended the leaues being boiled with water and some Lignum vitae added therto against the falling sicknesse if the patient be caused to sweat vpon the taking thereof He likewise commendeth the extraction of the roots against the bloudy flix CHAP. 383. Of Setfoile or Tormentill Tormentilla Setfoile ¶ The Description THis herbe Tormentill or Setfoile is one of the Cinkfoiles it brings forth many stalks slender weake scarse able to lift it selfe vp but rather lieth downe vpon the ground the leaues be lesser than Cinkefoile but moe in number somtimes fiue but commonly seuen whereupon it tooke his name Setfoile which is seuen leaues and those somewhat snipt about the edges the floures grow on the toppes of slender stalkes of a yellow colour like those of the Cinkfoiles The root is blacke without reddish within thicke tuberous or knobbie ¶ The Place This plant loueth woods and shadowie places and is likewise found in pastures lying open to the Sun almost euery where ¶ The Names ãâã ãâã ãâã May vnto the end of ãâã ¶ The Names It is called of the later Herbarists Tormentilla some
much to say as Mouse prickle and ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã that is to say ãâã Asparagus or Stone Sperage it is also named in Latine Asparagus syluestris and Corruda ¶ The Temperature The roots of the garden Sperage and also of the wilde doe clense without manifest heate and drinesse ¶ The Vertues The first sprouts or naked tender shoots hereof be oftentimes sodden in flesh broth and eaten or boyled in faire water and seasoned with oyle vineger salt and pepper then are serued at mens tables for a sallad they are pleasant to the taste easily concocted and gently loose the belly They ãâã prouoke vrine are good for the kidnies and bladder but they yeeld vnto the body little nourishment and the same moist yet not faultie they are thought to increase seed and stir vp lust CHAP. 458. Of Horse-taile or Shaue-grasse ¶ The Description 1 GReat Horse-taile riseth vp with a round stalke hollow within like a Reed a cubit high compact as it were of many small pieces one put into the end of another sometimes of a reddish colour very rough and set at euery ioint with many stiffe rush-like leaues or rough bristles which maketh the whole plant to resemble the taile of a horse whereof it tooke his name on the top of the stalke do stand in stead of floures clustered and thicke Catkins ãâã vnlike to the first shoots of Sperage which is called Myacantha the root is ioynted and creepeth ãâã the ground 2 This small or naked Shaue-grasse wherewith Fletchers and Combe-makers do rub and polish their worke ãâã out of the ground like the first shoots of Asparagus iointed or kneed by certaine distances like the precedent but altogether without such bristly leaues yet exceeding rough and cutting the root groweth aslope in the earth like those of the Couch-grasse 1 Equisetum maius Great Horse-taile 2 Equisetum nudum Naked Horse-taile 3 Horse-taile which for the most part groweth among corne and where corne hath been hath a very slender root and single from which rise vp diuers iointed stalkes whereon doe grow verie long rough narrow iointed leaues like vnto the first described but thicker and rougher as is the rest of the plant 4 Water Horse-taile that growes by the brinks of riuers and running streams and often in the midst of the water hath a very long root according to the depth of the water grosse thicke and iointed with some threds anexed thereto from which riseth vp a great thick iointed stalke whereon do grow long rough rushy leaues pyramide or steeple fashion The whole plant is also tough hard and fit to shaue and rub wooden things as the other 5 This kinde of Horse-taile that growes in woods and shadowie places hath a small root and single from which riseth vp a rough chamfered stalke ioynted by certaine spaces hauing at each ioynt two bushes of rough bristly leaues set one against another like the other of his kinde 3 Equisetum segetale Corne Horse-taile 4 Equisetum palustre Water Horse-taile 5 Equisetum ãâã Wood Horse-taile 6 Cauda equina foemina Female Horse-taile 9 ãâã ãâã Italian rushie ãâã taile 6 The female Horse taile ãâã for the most part in waterish places and by the brinks of small rills and pirling brookes it hath a long root like that of Couch grasse from which rise vp diuers hollow stalkes set about at certaine distances with smal leaues in rundles like those of Woodroofe altogether barren of seed and floure whereof it was called by Lobel Polygonon foemina semine ãâã â¡ This is sometimes found with tenne or more seedes at each ioynt whence Bauhine hath called it ãâã palustre breuioribus folijs poly spermon â¡ â¡ 7 In some boggie places of this kingdome is found a rare and pretty Hippuris or Horse taile which growes vp with many little branches some two or three inches high putting forth at each ioynt many little leaues clustering close about the stalke and set after the ãâã of other Horse-tailes towards the tops of the branches the ioynts are very thicke the colour of the whole plant is gray a little inclining to green very brittle and as it were stony or grauelly like Coralline and will crash vnder your feet as if it were frozen and if you chew it you shall finde it all stonie or grauelly My friend Mr. Leonard Buckner was the first that found this plant and brought it to me he had it three miles beyond Oxford a little on this side Euansham-ferry in a bog vpon a common by the Beacon hill neere Cumner-wood in the end of August 1632. Mr. Bowles hath since found it growing vpon a bog not far from Chisselhurst in Kent I question whether this bee not the Hippuris lacustris quaedam folijs ãâã arenosis of Gesner but if Gesners be that which Bauhine in his ãâã pag. 24. sets forth by the name of Equisetum nudum minus variegatum then I iudge it not to be this of my description for Bauhines differs from this in that it is without leaues and ofttimes bigger the stalks of his are hollow these not so this may be called Hippuris Coralloides Horse-taile Coralline 8 Towards the later end of the yeare in diuers ditches as in Saint Iames his Parke in the ditches on the backe of Southwarke towards Saint Georges fields c. you may finde couered ouerwith water a kinde of stinking Horse-taile it growes sometimes a yard long with many ioints and branches and each ioint set with leaues as in the other Horse-tailes but they are somewhat iagged or diuided towards the tops I take this to be the Equisetum faetiduni sub aqua repens described in the fist place of Bauhinus his ãâã we may call it in English Stinking water Horse-taile â¡ 9 Clusius hath set forth a plant that he referreth vnto the stocke of Horse-tailes which he thus describeth it hath many twiggie or rushie stalks whereupon it was called Iuncaria and may bee Englished Rush-weed the leaues grow vpon the branches like those of Flax on the toppes of the stalks grow small chassie floures of a whitish colour The seed is small and blacke of colour The root is little and white the whole plant is sweetish in taste 10 Dodonaeus setteth forth another Horse-taile which he called climing Horse-taile or horstaile of Olympus There is saith he another plant like Horse-taile but greater and higher It riseth vp oftentimes with a stalke as big as a mans arme diuided into many branches out of which there grow long slender sprigs very full of ioints like to the first Horse-taile The floures stand about the ioints of a mossie substance small as are those of the Cornell tree in places whereof grow vp red fruit full of sowre iuice not vnlike to little Mulberries in which is the seed The root is hard and wooddie This growes now and then to a great height and sometimes lower Bellonius writeth in his Singularities that it hath been seene to be equall in height with the Plane ãâã
afterwards the whole flocke vntill such time as the Shepheard take it forth of her mouth as Plutarch writeth CHAP. 485. Of bastard Sea Hollies ¶ The Description THis Eryngium which Dodonaeus in his last edition calleth Eryngium planum and Pena more fitly and truely Eryngium Alpinum caeruleum hath stalkes a cubite and a halfe high hauing spaces ãâã euery ioint the lower leaues are greater and broader and notched about the edges but those aboue are lesser compassing or enuironing each ioint star-fashion beset with prickles which are soft and tender not much hurtful to the hands of such as touch them the knobs or heads are also prickley and in colour blew The root is bunchie or knottie like that of Helenium that is Elecampane blacke without and white within and like the Eringes in sweetnesse and taste 2 The second bastard Sea Holly whose picture is set forth in Dodonaeus his last Edition veric gallantly being also a kind of Thistle hath leaues like vnto the former Erynges but broader next the rootes than those which grow next the stalkes somewhat long greenish soft and not prickley but lightly creuised or notched about the edges greater than Quince leaues The stalks grow more than a cubit high on the tops whereof there hang downwards fiue or six knobs or heads in colour and floures like the other hauing three or foure whitish roots of a foot long 1 Eryngium caeruleum Blew Sea Holly 2 Eryngium spurium ãâã ãâã Bastard Sea Holly 3 Eryngium ãâã Clusij Dwarfe Sea Holly 4 Eryngium Montanum Mountaine Sea Holly â¡ 5 Eryngium pusillum planum Small smooth Sea Holly 4 The fourth kinde of bastard Sea Holly which ãâã calleth Eryngium ãâã ãâã and is the fourth according to ãâã his account is like to the Erynges not in ãâã but in taste this beareth a very small and slender stalke of a meane height whereupon doe grow three or foure leaues seldom fiue made of ãâã leaues set vpon a midd'e rib narrow long hard and of a darke greene ãâã dented on both edges of the leafe like a saw the ãâã is a cubit high iointed or kneed and diuiding it selfe into many branches on the tops whereof are round tufts or vmbels wherin are contained the floures and after they be vaded the seedes which are small somewhat long well smelling and sharpe in taste the ãâã is white and long not a finger thicke in taste sweet but afterwards somewhat ãâã and in sent and ãâã not vnpleasant when the root is dried ãâã may be crumbled in pieces and therefore quickly ãâã â¡ 5 This is a low plant presently from the root diuided into sundry branches slender round lying on the ground at each ioint grow leaues without any certain order broad toward their ends and narrower at their setting ãâã ãâã about their edges those next the root were some inch broad and two or more long of a yellowish greene colour the stalkes are parted into sundry branches and at each ioint haue little leaues and rough and greene heads with ãâã floures in them the roots creepe and are somewhat like those of Asparagus This neither Clusius nor Lobel found wilde but it grew in the garden of Iohn ãâã of Tourney a learned Apothecarie verie skilfull in the knowledge of plants whereupon they both called it Eryngium pusillum planum Moutoni ⡠¶ The Place These kindes of sea Holly are strangers in England we haue the first and second in our London gardens ¶ The Time They floure and flourish when the Thistles do ¶ The Names These plants be Eryngia spuria or bastard Sea Hollies and are lately obserued and therefore they haue no old names The first may bee called in Latine Eryngium Borussicum or Non spinosum Sea Hollie without prickles The second is called by Matthiolus Eryngium planum or flat Sea Holly others had rather name it Alpinum Eryngium or Sea Holly of the Alpes The third is rightly called Eryngium pumilum little Sea Huluer ãâã maketh the fourth to be Crithmum quartum or the fourth kinde of Sampier and others as Dodonaeus and Lobel haue made it a kinde of Sea Huluer ¶ The Temperature and Vertues Touching the faculties hereof we haue nothing to set downe seeeing they haue as yet no vse in medicine nor vsed to be eaten But yet that they be hot the very taste doth declare CHAP. 486. Of Star-Thistle ¶ The Description 1 THe Star-Thistle called Carduus stellatus hath many soft frizled leaues deepely cut or gasht altogether without prickles among which riseth vp a stalke diuiding it selfe into many other branches growing two foot high on the tops whereof are small knops or heads like the other Thistles armed round about with many sharpe prickles fashioned like a blasing star which at the beginning are of a purple colour but afterwards of a pale bleak or whitish colour the seed is small flat and round the root is long and browne without 1 Carduus stellatus The Star-Thistle 2 Carduus Solstitialis Saint Barnabies Thistle 2 Saint Barnabies Thistle is another kinde of Star-Thistle notwithstanding it hath prickles no where faue in the head onely and the prickles of it stand forth in manner of a star the stalks are two cubits high parted into diuers branches softer than are those of star-Thistle which stalks haue velmes or thin skins cleauing vnto them all in length by which they seeme to be foure-square the leaues are somewhat long set with deep gashes on the edges the floures are yellow and consist of threds the seed is little the root long and slender ¶ The Place The two first do grow vpon barren places neere vnto cities and townes almost euery where ¶ The Time They floure and flourish especially in Iuly and August ¶ The Names The first is called in Latine Stellaria as also Carduus Stellatus and likewise Carduus Calcitrapa but they are deceiued who take it to be Eryngium or Sea ãâã or any kinde thereof Matthiolus saith that it is called in Italian Calcatrippa in high Dutch Dallen distel in low Dutch Sterre distell in French ãâã in English Star-Thistle S. Barnabies Thistle is called in Latine ãâã spina because it floureth in the Sommer Solstice as Gesner saith or rather because after the Solstice the prickles thereof be sharpest of Guillandinus Eryngium but not properly and Stellaria ãâã Augerij who with good successe gaue it against the stone dropsies greene sicknesse and quotidian feuers It is called in English as aboue said Saint Barnabies Thistle ¶ The Temperature The Star-Thistle is of a hot nature ¶ The Vertues The seed is commended against the strangurie it is reported to driue forth the stone if it bee drunke with wine Baptista Sardus ãâã that the distilled water of this Thistle is a remedie for those that are infected with the French Pox and that the vse of this is good for the liuer that it taketh away the stoppings thereof That it clenseth the bloud from corrupt and putrified humours That it
second degree and hot in the first moreouer by how much it is bitter by so much it clenseth cutteth and remoueth stoppings but if it be ouermuch vsed it bringeth forth bloud by vrine Dioscorides writeth that bitter Vetch causeth head-ache and heauy dulnesse that it troubles the belly and driueth forth bloud by vrine notwithstanding being boyled it serueth to fatten Kine There is made of the seed a meale fit to be vsed in medicine after this maner the full and white graines are chosen out and being mixed together they are steeped in water and suffered to lie till they be plumpe and afterwards are parched till the skinne be broken then are they ground and searsed or shaken thorow a meale sieue and the meale reserued This looseth the belly prouoketh vrine maketh one well coloured being ouermuch eaten or drunke it draweth bloud by the stoole with gripings and also by vrine With honey it clenseth vlcers taketh away freckles sun-burnes blacke spots in the skinne and maketh the whole ãâã faire and cleane It stayeth running vlcers or hard swellings and gangrens or mortified sores it sosteneth the hardnesse of womens breasts it taketh away and breaketh eating vlcers carbuncles and sores of the head being tempered with wine and applied it healeth the bitings of dogs and also of venomous beasts With vineger it is good against the strangurie and mitigateth paine that commeth thereof It is good for them that are not nourished after their meat being parched and taken with hony in the quantitie of a nut The decoction of the same helpeth the itch in the whole body and taketh away kibes if they be washed or bathed therewith Cicer boyled in fountaine water with some ãâã doth asswage the swelling of the yard and priuie parts of man or woman if they be washed or bathed in the decoction thereof and the substance hereof may also be applied plaisterwise It is also vsed for bathing and washing of vlcers and running sores and is applied vnto the ãâã of the head with great profit CHAP. 515. Of the Vetch or Fetch ¶ The Description 1 THe Vetch hath slender and foure squared stalkes almost three foot long the leaues be long with clasping tendrels at the end made vp of many little leaues growing vpon one rib or middle stem euery one whereof is greater broader and thicker than that of the Lentil the floures are like to the floures of the garden beane but of a blacke purple colour the cods be broad small and in euery one are contained fiue or six graines not round but flat like those of the Lentil of colour blacke and of an vnpleasant taste â¡ 2 There is another of this kinde which hath a creeping and liuing root from which it ãâã deth forth crested stalkes some cubit and halfe high the leaues are winged commonly a dozen growing vpon one rib which ends in a winding tendrel each peculiar leafe is broader toward the bottome and sharper towards the top which ends not flat but somewhat round Out of the ãâã of the leaues towards the tops of the stalkes on short foot-stalkes grow two three or more pretty large pease-fashioned blewish purple floures which are succeeded by such cods as the former but somewhat lesser which when they grow ripe become blacke and fly open of themselues â¡ 1 Vicia Tare Vetch or Fetch 2 Vicia maxima ãâã Bush Vetch â¡ 3 Vicia syl flo albo White floured Vetch 4 Vicia sylue stris siue Cracca maior Strangle Tare Tine or wilde Fetch â¡ 5 ãâã siue Cracca minima Small wilde Tare 3 This also hath a lasting root which sendeth vp round crested branches a foot and somtimes a cubit high whereon grow such leaues as those of the former but more white and downie the floures which grow on short foot-stalkes out of the bosomes of the leaues towards the top of the stalks are of a whitish colour with veines of a dusky colour diuaricated ouer the vpper leafe the cods are like those of the common Fetch Clusius found this in some wilde places of Hungarie it floured in May ãâã he calls it Vicia syluestris albo flore â¡ 4 Strangle Tare called in some countries Tine and of others wilde Vetch is a ramping herbe like vnto the common Tare ãâã and clymbing among corne where it chanceth that it plucketh it downe to the ground and ouergroweth the same in such sort that it spoileth and killeth not only wheat but all other graine whatsoeuer the herbe is better known than desired therefore these few lines shall suffice for the description â¡ This groweth pretty long with many slender weake branches the leaues are much smaller than the former and end in clasping tendrels the floures are of a purple colour and commonly grow but one at a ioint and they are succeeded by flat sharpe pointed cods which containe some nine or ten seeds apiece 5 This also growes a good height with slenderer stalks than the former which is diuided into sundry branches the leaues grow foure or six vpon foot-stalkes ending also in clasping tendrels the floures grow vpon pretty long but very slender foot-stalkes sometimes two or three otherwhiles more very small and of a whitish colour inclining to blewnesse which are succeeded by little short flat cods containing commonly foure or fiue little seeds of a blackish colour this is the Arachus siue Cracca minima of Lobel but I question whether it be that which Bauhine in his Pinax hath made the same with it calling it Vicia segetum cum siliquis plurimis hirsutis for that which I haue described and which exactly agrees with this figure of Lobel and that description in the Aduers hath cods very smooth without any hairinesse at all This floures most part of Sommer and growes in most places both in corne fields and medowes ⡠¶ The Place The Tare is sowne in any ground or soile whatsoeuer ¶ The Time It floureth in May and perfecteth his seed toward September ¶ The Names It is called in Latine Vicia à vinciendo of binding or wrapping as Varro noteth because saith he it hath likewise clasping tendrels such as the vine hath by which it crawles vpward vpon the stalks of the weeds which are next vnto it of some Cracca and Arachus and also Aphaca it is called in high-Dutch ãâã in low-Dutch Uitsen in French Vesce in most shops it is falsely termed ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã and Fruum for Eruum doth much differ from Vicia it is called in English Vetch or Fetch The countrey men lay vp this Vetch with the seeds and whole plant that it may be a fodder for their cattell ¶ The Temperature and Vertues Notwithstanding I haue knowne saith Galen some who in time of famin haue fed hereof especially in the spring it being but greene yet is it hard of digestion and bindeth the belly Therefore seeing it is of this kinde of nature it is manifest that the nourishment which comes thereof hath in it no good iuyce at all
but ingendreth a thicke bloud and apt to become melancholy CHAP. 516. Of Chichlings Pease and Tare euerlasting ¶ The Description 1 THere is a Pulse growing in our high and thicke woods hauing a very thicke tough and wooddy root from which rise vp diuers long weake and feeble branches consisting of a tough middle rib edged on both sides with a thin skinny membrane smooth and of a grasse greene colour whereon do grow at certaine distances small flat stems vpon which stand two broad leaues ioyning together at the bottome from betwixt those leaues come forth tough clasping tendrels which take hold of such things as grow next vnto them from the bosome of the stem whereon the leaues do grow shooteth forth a naked smooth foot-stalke on which doe grow most beautifull floures like those of the Pease the middle part whereof is of a light red tending to a red Purple in graine the outward leaues are somewhat lighter inclining to a blush colour which being past there succeed long round cods wherein is contained seed of the bignesse of a Tare but rounder blackish without and yellowish within and of a bitter taste â¡ 5 Lathyrus maior latifolius Pease euerlasting â¡ 2 Lathyrus angustifolius flore albo White floured Chichelings â 2 Ofwhich kinde there is likewise another like vnto the precedent in each respect sauing that the leaues hereof are narrower and longer and therefore called of most which set forth the description Lathyrus angustifolia the floures of this are white and such also is the colour of the fruit the root is small and not lasting like that of the former â¡ 3 The stalks leaues and floures of this are like those of the precedent but the floures ãâã of a reddish purple colour the cods are lesser than those of the former and in them are contained lesser harder and rounder seeds of a darke or blackish colour This growes not wilde with vs but is sometimes sowne in gardens where it floures in Iune and Iuly 4 This Egyptian differs not in shape from the rest of his kinde but the floures are of an elegant blew on the inside but of an ash colour inclining to purple on the outside the cods grow vpon long foot-stalkes and are a little winged or welted and containe but two or three little cornered seeds spotted with blacke spots This floures in Iune and Iuly and the seed thereof was sent to Clusius from Constantinople hauing been brought thither out of Egypt â¡ 3 Lathyrus angustifol flo purp Purple floured Chichelings â¡ 4 Lathyrus Aegyptiacus Egyptian Chichelings 5 The stalkes of this are some two or three foot long winged weake and lying on the ground vnlesse they haue somewhat to support them Vpon these at certaine distances grow winged leaues with two little eares at their setting on to the stalke these leaues consist of six long and narrow greene leaues like those of the other plants of this kinde and these six leaues commonly stand vpright by couples one against another otherwhiles alternately the footstalke whereon these stand ends in clasping tendrels the floures are in shape like the former but the outer leafe is of a faire red or crimson colour and the inner ãâã white after the floures come the cods containing some foure or fiue pretty large flat seeds which swell out of the cods where they lie which in the spaces betweene each seed are deprest like that of Orobus This is only a garden plant with vs and floures in Iune and Iuly the seed is ripe in August I haue for this giuen you Lobels figure of his Lathyris angustiore gramineo folio which may serue if you but make the leaues and cods to agree with this description â¡ 6 The yellow wilde ãâã or Fetch hath diuers very small ramping stalkes tough and leaning this way and that way not able to stand of it selfe without the helpe of props or things that stand by it the leaues are very thin and sharpe pointed the floures grow alongst the leaues in fashion of the pease floures of a bright yellow colour the roots are very small long tough and in number infinite insomuch that it is impossible to root it forth being once gotten into the ground vnlesse the earth be digged vp with the roots and both cast into the riuer or burned Doubtlesse it is the most pernicious and hurtfull weed of all others vnto all manner of greene wholsome herbes or any wood whatsoeuer â¡ 5 Lathyrus annuus ãâã Orobi Party coloured Cicheling â¡ 6 ãâã syluestris ãâã ãâã Tare euerlasting ¶ The Place The first growes in shadowie woods and among bushes there groweth great store thereof in Swainscombe wood a mile and a halfe from Greenhithe in Kent as you go to a village thereby called Betsome and in diuers other places The sixth groweth in most grassie pastures borders of fields and among graine almost euerie where ¶ The Time The time answereth the other Pulses ¶ The Names The first is called Lathyrus to make a difference betweene it and Lathyris or Spurge of Matthiolus Clymenum of Cordus Eruum sativum of Tragus Pisum Graecorum in English Pease euerlasting great wilde Tare and Cichling â¡ The second is the Evum album sativum of Fuchsius Lathyrus or Cicercula of Dodonaeus Lathyrus angustiore ãâã folio of Lobel The third is the Aracus siue Cicera of Dodonaeus the Lathyrus slore purpurco of Camerarius The fourth by Clusius is called Cicercula Aegyptiaca by Camerarius Aracus Hispanicus siue Lathyrus Aegyptiacus The ãâã is not mentioned by any that I remember but Mr. Parkinson in his garden of floures and that by the name I giue you it The sixth is the Lathyrus syluestris slo luteis of Thalius Legumenterrae glandibus ãâã of ãâã Vicia of Tabernamontanus and it may be the Aracus ãâã luteo of the Aduers Howeuer I haue put ãâã figure of Aracus for it which well enough agrees with it I vse for some resemblance it hath to Aphaca to call it Aphacoides ⡠¶ The Temperature and Vertues The temperature and vertues are referred to the manured Tare or Vetch notwithstanding they are not vsed ãâã meate or medicine CHAP. 517. Of the oylie Pulse called Sesamum Sesamum siue Sisamum The Oylie Graine ¶ The Description â SEsamum hath a thicke and fat vpright stalke a cubit and a halfe high garnished with leaues much like the Peach or Almond but ãâã and cut in with somwhat deepe gashes on their sides amongst these leaues come forth large white or else red floures somewhat shaped like those of Foxgloues which turne into round long crested cods containing white flat oileous seed Theophrastus affirmeth that there is a kinde thereof which is white bearing only one root No kinde of beast will eate this plant while it is greene because of his bitternesse but being withered and dried the seed thereof becommeth sweet and the cattell will feed on the whole plant ¶ The Place It groweth both in Egypt and in India Sesama saith Pliny
Ferrum Equinum Horse-shoo 8 Horse-shoo hath many stalks slender and lying vpon the ground the leaues be thinne and lesser than those of Axseed the floures along the stalks are little after which come vp long ãâã something broad and a little bowing which haue vpon the one side deepe round and indented cuts like after a sort to an Horse-shoo the root is somewhat long ¶ The Place These plants do grow ãâã my garden the second kinde I found growing in Suffolke in the high-way on the right hand as you goe from Sudbury to Corner Church about an hundred paces from the end of the towne as also in sundry other places of the same countrey and in Essex about Dunmow and in the townes called Clare and Hennyngham â¡ Also it growes by Purfleet about the foot of the hill whereon the Wind-mill stands and in diuers parts of Kent â¡ Horse-shooe commeth vp in certaine vntilled and sunnie places of Italy and Languedocke it groweth likewise in my garden ¶ The Time These plants do floure in Iune and their seed is ripe in August ¶ The Names The Grecians name this whether it be a pulse or an infirmitie among corne ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã the ãâã of the forme of the seed Securidaca and Hedysarum in English Axseed Axwoort Ax-fitch and Hatchet Fitch it is vnknowne to the Apothecaries â¡ The second is the Faenugraecum Syluestre of Tragus and Dodonaeus the Glycyrhiza syluestris of Gesner and the Glaux vulgaris of Lobel â¡ Horse-shooe is commonly called in Italian Sferro de cauallo you may name it in Latine Ferrum equinum in English Horse-shooe ¶ The Temperature The seeds of these plants are hot and drie of complexion ¶ The Vertues Being drunke it is acceptable to the stomacke and remoueth stoppings out of the intrailes and of like vertue be the new leaues and tender crops of the whole plant Dioscorides sheweth that it is also good for the stomacke being taken in drink and is mixed with counterpo isons And it is thought to hinder conception if it be applied with honie before the act The seed of Axwoort openeth the stoppings of the liuer the obstruction of the spleen and of all the inward parts Horse-shooe is bitter and like in nature to Axseed CHAP. 519. Of Pease Earth-Nut ¶ The Description 1 THe Pease Earth nut commeth vp with slender and weake stalkes the leaues be thin and little growing vpon slender stems with clasping tendrels at the ends with which it imbraceth and taketh hold of such things as stand neere vnto it the floures on the tops of the stalkes are like to those of Pease but lesser of a red purple colour in smell not vnpleasant in their places come vp long cods in which are three or foure round seeds the roots be thicke long like after a sort to acorns but much greater blacke without gray within in taste like to the Chesse-nut out of which beneath doth hang a long slender string there grow out of the same also other strings hard to the setting on of the stalk vnto which creeping a slope do grow other kernelled roots whilst the plant doth thus multiplie it selfe â¡ 2 This with Thalius in his Sylua Harcynia set forth by the name of Astragalus syluaticus was by our Author ãâã for and confounded with the Terraeglandes and therefore I haue put it with it that the difference might the better appeare which is not a little to such as heedfully obserue it But our Author in this is to be pardoned seeing Dr. Turner a man more exquisite in the knowledge of plants and who had seene the true Terraeglandes in Germany mistooke this for it as may appeare by that little Tract of his of the names of plants in Latine and English set sorth Anno 1548 for there he saith I haue seene this herbe of late in Come parke more astringent than it of Germany and indeed this growes there and is much more astringent and wooddie than that of Germany and no wise fit to be eaten The root consists of many blacke tuberous particles here and there sending forth fibers from hence arise cornered stalks some foot high smal below somwhat larger aboue the leaues grow forth of the stalks consisting sometimes of two otherwhiles of 4. longish narrow leaues fastned to one sootstalk which at the setting on hath two little leaues or eares forth of the bosomes of these leaues grow stalks some two inches long each of which vsually carry a couple of Pease-fashioned floures of a purple colour which fading vsually become blew after these follow cods straight ãâã and blacke and in each of them are commonly contained nine or ten ãâã round seeds it floures most part of Summer and perfects the seed in Iuly and August â¡ 1 Terraglandes Pease Earth-nut â¡ 2 Astragalus syluaticus Wood Pease or Heath Pease ¶ The Place â 1 This groweth in ãâã fields both with the corne it selfe and also about the borders of fields among briers and brambles it is found in diuers places of Germany but not with vs that I can yet learne 2 This is found in the woods and pastures of England especially in Hampstead wood neere London it groweth in Richmond Heath and in Come parke likewise ¶ The Time Itfloureth in Iune and Iuly the nuts after haruest be digged vp and gathered ¶ The Names It is called in high Dutch ãâã in low Dutch ãâã ãâã and Muysen ãâã that is to say tailed Mise of the similitude or likenesse of domesticall mise which the blacke round and long nuts with a piece of the slender string hanging out behind do represent the later writers do call it in Latine Terrae glandes or Terrestres glandes and in Greeke ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã balani in English Pease Earth nut ¶ The Temperature and Vertues The Nuts of this Pease being boiled and eaten are hardlier digested than be either Turneps or Parsneps yet do they nourish no lesse than the Parsneps they are not so windie as they they doe more slowly passe through the belly by reason of their binding qualitie and being eaten raw they be yet harder of digestion and do hardlier and slowlier descend They be of temperature meanly hot and somewhat drie being withall not a little binding wherupon also they do not onely stay the fluxes of the belly but also all issues of bloud especially from the mother or bladder The root of Pease Earth-nut stoppeth the belly and the inordinate course of womens sicknesse CHAP. 520. Of Milke Vetch ¶ The Kindes THere be diuers sorts of herbes contained vnder the title of Astragalus whether I may ãâã breach of promise made in the beginning insert them among the ãâã pulses or ãâã plants it is doubtfull but seeing the matter is disputable I think it not amisse to suffer them thus to passe vntill some other shall finde a place more conuenient and agreeing vnto them in neighbourhood ¶ The Description 1 THe first kinde of Astragalus hath reddish stalks a cubit
couples one against another without any odde leafe at the end these leaues are of an indifferent largenesse and of a light greene colour the floures grow vpon long foot-stalks comming ãâã of the ãâã of the leaues many together hanging downe small yet shaped like those of other Pulses and of a purple colour after these follow cods almost like those of Fetches but ãâã ãâã when they be ripe and containing in them a longish white seed the root is hard and wooddy running ãâã wayes with many fibres and ãâã sundry yeares this varies somtimes with yellower ãâã leaues and white floures It floures in May and growes onely in some few gardens with vs. 2 The stalkes of this also are a foot or more high stiffe ãâã and ãâã on these do grow winged leaues six or eight on a rib after the manner of those of the last ãâã each of these leaues hath three veines running alongst it the floures in shape and manner of growing are like those of the former but of a most elegant purple colour which fading they become blew The floures are succeeded by such cods as the former wherein are contained longish small ãâã seed which ripe the cods fly open and twine themselues round as in most plants of this kinde the root is blacke hard tuberous and wooddy sending forth each yeare new shouts This floures in April and May and ripeneth the seed in Iune This was found by Clusius in diuers ãâã wooddie places of Hungarie he calls it Orobus Pannonicus 1. â¡ 3 Orobus montanus ãâã albo White mountaine Pease â¡ 4 Orobus montanus ãâã Narrow leafed mountaine Pease 3 This hath stalkes some cubit high stiffe straight and crested whereon by turnes are fastned winged leaues consisting of foure sufficiently large and sharpe pointed leaues whereto sometimes at the very end growes a fifth the veines in these run from the middle rib towards their edges their taste is first somewhat sourish afterwards bitterish The floures grow vpon short stalks comming forth of the bosomes of the leaues fiue or six together like those of the Fetch but of colour white with some little yellownesse on the two little leaues that turne vpwards The cods are like those of the last described and containe in them a brownish seed larger than in any of the other kindes This is an annuall plant and perishes as soone as it hath perfected the seed ãâã giues vs this by the name of Orobus Pannonicus 4. ãâã giues the same figure for his Arachus latifolius and Bauhine affirmes this to be the Galegamontana in the Hist. Lugd. pag. 1139. But these seeme to be of two seuerall plants for Dodonaeus affirmes his to haue a liuing root and such seemes also that in the Hist. Lugd. to be yet Clusius saith expressely that his is an annuall and floureth in Aprill and May and groweth in some wooddy mountainous places of the kingdom of ãâã 4 This fourth hath straight firme cornered stalkes some foot or more high whereupon grow leaues vsually foure on a foot-stalke standing two against two vpright being commonly almost three inches long at first of a sourish taste but afterwards bitter it hath no clauicles because the stalkes need no supporters the floures grow vpon long foot-stalkes spike-fashion like those of Pease but lesse and white of colour after these follow long blackish cods full of a blacke or else spotted seed the roots are about the length of ones little finger fashioned like those of the Asphodill or lesser female ãâã but lesser blacke without and white within Clusius found this on the mountainous places ãâã the baths of Baden and in the like places in Hungarie he calls it Orobus Pannonicus 3. ¶ The Temperature and Vertues These are not knowne nor vsed in physicke yet if the third be the Galega montana of the Historia Lugd. then it is there said to be effectuall against poyson the wormes the falling sicknesse and the Plague â¡ â¡ CHAP. 527. Of some other Pulses â¡ 1 ãâã ãâã Ervilia Birds Pease â¡ 2 Ervum ãâã Crimson grasse Fetch ¶ The Description â¡ 1 THe first of these hath cornered broad stalks like those of euerlasting Pease and they are weake and commonly lie vpon the ground vnlesse they haue something to support them the lower leaues are broad and commonly welt the stalke at their setting on and at the end of the first leafe do vsually grow out after an vnusuall manner two three or more other prety large leaues more long than broad and the middle rib of the first leafe runnes out beyond the setting on of the highest of the out-growing leaues and then it ends in two or three clasping tendrels Those leaues that grow the lowest vpon the stalkes haue commonly the fewest comming out of them The floures are like those of other Pulses of colour white the cods are some inch and halfe long containing some halfe dozen darke yellow or blackish small Pease these cods grow one at a ioynt on short foot-stalkes comming forth of the bosomes of the leaues and are welted on their broader side which stands towards the maine stalke This growes with vs only in gardens Dodonaeus Pena and Lobel call it Ochrus syluestris siue Ervilia 2 The stalkes of this grow vp sometimes a cubit high being very slender diuided into branches and set vnorderly with many grasse-like long narrow leaues on the tops of the stalkes and branches vpon pretty long foot-stalkes grow pretty pease-fashioned floures of a faire and pleasant crimson colour which fallen there follow cods long small and round wherein are nine ten or more round hard blacke shining graines the root is small with diuers fibres but whether it die when the seed is perfected or no as yet I haue not obserued This growes wilde in many places with vs as in the pasture and medow grounds about Pancridge Church Lobel and Dodon call this Ervum sylucstre and they both partly iudge it to be the first Catanance of Dioscorides and by that name it is vsually called It floures in Iune and Iuly and the seed is ripe in August 3 This also though it be not frequently found is no stranger with vs for I haue found it in the corne fields about Dartsord in Kent and some other places It hath long slender ioynted creeping stalkes diuided into sundry branches whereon stand pretty greene three cornered leaues two at a ioynt in shape and bignesse like those of the lesser Binde-weed Out of the bosomes of these leaues at each ioynt comes a clasping tendrel and commonly together with it a foot-stalke some inch or more long bearing a pretty little pease-fashioned yellow floure which is succeeded by a short flattish cod containing six or seuen little seeds This floures in Iune Iuly and August and so ripens the seed It is by Lobel and others thought to be the Aphace of Dioscorides Galen and Pliny and the Pitine of Theophrastus by Anguillara â¡ 3 Aphaca Small yellow Fetch I finde mention in Stowes
sommer it sheddeth his old leaues when new are come by meanes whereof it is neuer void of leaues it floureth early in the spring and the fruit is ripe in Autumne Cassia fistula Pudding Pipe tree ¶ The Names This tree was vnknowne to the old writers or so little accounted of as that they haue made no mention of it at all the Arabians were the first that esteemed of it by reason they knew the vse of the pulpe which is found in the Pipes and after them the later Grecians as Actuarius other of his time by whom it was named ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã that is to say in Latine Casia nigra The fruit thereof saith Actuarius in his fist booke is like a long pipe hauing within it a thicke humour or moisture which is not congealed all alike thorow the pipe but is separated and diuided with many partitions being thin wooddy skins The Apothecaries call it Casia ãâã and with a double ss Cassia ãâã it is called in English after the Apothecaries word Cassia fistula and may also be Englished Pudding Pipe because the cod or Pipe is like a pudding but the old Cassia fistula or ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã in Greeke is that sweet and odoriferous barke that is rolled together after the manner of a long and roundpipe now named of the Apothecaries Cassia lignea which is a kinde of Cinamon ¶ The Temperature The pulpe of this pipe which is chiefely in request is moist in the later end of the first degree and little more than temperatly hot The Vertues The pulpe of Casia ãâã extracted with violet water is a most sweet and pleasant medicine and may be giuen without danger to all weak people of what age and sex soeuer they be yea it may be ministred to women with childe for it gently purgeth cholcricke humours and slimie flegme if it be taken in the weight of an ounce Cassia is good for such as be vexed with hot agues pleurisies iaundice or any other inflammation of the liuer being taken as afore is shewed Cassia is good for the reines and kidneies driueth forth grauell and the stone especially if it bee mingled with the decoction of Parsley and Fennell roots and drunke It purgeth and purifieth the bloud making it more cleane than before breaking therewith the actimonie and sharpnesse of the mixture of bloud and choler together It dissolueth all phlegmons and inflammations of the brest lungs and the rough artery called Trachea arteria easing those parts exceeding well Cassia abateth the vehemencie of thirst in agues or any hot disease whatsoeuer especially if it be taken with the iuice of Intybum Cichoreum or Solanum depured according to Art it abateth also the intemperate heat of the reines if it be receiued with diureticke simples or with the ãâã on of Licorice onely and will not suffer the stone to grow in such persons as do receiue and vse this medicine The best Cassia for your vse is to be taken out of the most ful most heauy fairest cods or canes and those which do shine without and are full of soft pulpe within that pulpe which is newly taken forth is better than that which is kept in boxes by what Art soeuer Cassia being outwardly applied taketh away the roughnesse of the skin and being laid vpon hot swellings it bringeth them to suppuration Many singular compounded medicines are made with this Cassia which here to recite belongs not to my purpose or history CHAP. 84. Of the Lentiske or Masticke tree ¶ The Description ãâã The Masticke tree ¶ The Description THe Mastick tree groweth commonly like a shrub without any great body rising vp with many springs and shoots like the Hasell and oftentimes it is of the height and bignesse of a meane tree the boughes thereof are tough and flexible the barke is of a yellowish red colour pliable likewise and hard to be broken there stand vpon one rib for the most part 8 leaues set vpon a middle rib much like to the ãâã of Licorice but harder of a deepe greene colour and oftentimes somewhat red in the brims as also hauing diuers vains running along of a red colour and somthing strong of smel ãâã ãâã be mossie and grow in clusters vpon long ãâã after them come vp the berries of the ãâã of Vetches greene at the first afterwards of a purple colour and last of all black fat ãâã ãâã with a hard black stone within the ãâã ãâã of is white of which also is made ãâã as ãâã witnesseth it bringeth forth likewise cods besides the fruit which may be rather ãâã an excrescence than a cod writhed like a ãâã in which lieth at the first a liquour and ãâã when this waxeth stale little liuing things like vnto gnats as in the Turpentine hornes and in the folded leaues of the Elm tree There commeth forth of the Mastick tree a Rosin but dry called Masticke ¶ The Place The Masticke tree groweth in many regions as in Syria Candy Italy Languedocke and in most Prouinces of Spaine but the chiefest is in Chios an Island in Greece in which it is diligently and specially looked vnto and that for the Masticke sake which is there gathered from the husbanded Masticke trees by the inhabitants euery yeare most carefully and is sent from thence into all parts of the world ¶ The Time The floures be in their pride in the spring time and the berries in Autumne the Mastick must be gathered about the time when the Grapes be ¶ The Names This tree is named in Greeke ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã in Latine Lentiscus in Italian Lentisque in Spanish ãâã and ãâã in English Masticke tree and of some Lentiske tree The Rosin is called in Greeke ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã and ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã in Latine Lentiscina Resina and likewise ãâã in shops ãâã in Italian ãâã in high and low Dutch and French also Mastic in Spanish ãâã ãâã and ãâã in English Masticke Clusius writeth that the Spaniards call the oile that is pressed out of the berries ãâã ãâã Mata ¶ The Temperature The leaues barke and gum of the Masticke tree are of a meane and temperate heate and are drie in the second degree and somewhat astringent ¶ The Vertues The leaues and barke of the Masticke tree stoppe the laske the bloudy flixe the spitting of bloud the pissing of bloud and all other fluxes of bloud ãâã are also good against the falling sickenesse the falling downe of the mother and comming forth of the fundament The gum Masticke hath the same vertue if it be relented in wine and giuen to be drunke Masticke chewed in the mouth is good for the stomacke staieth vomiting increaseth ãâã comforteth the braines staieth the falling downe of the rheumes and watery humors and maketh a sweet breath The same infused in Rose water is excellent to wash the mouth withall to fasten loosete eth and to comfort the iawes The same spred vpon a piece of leather or veluet and
giue vnto the patient a little milk and Saffron or milk and mithridate to drinke to expell to the extreme parts that venome which may lie hid and as yet not seene CHAP. 102 Of the Wilding or Crab tree ¶ The Kindes LIke as there be diuers manured Apples so are there sundry wilde Apples or Crabs whereof to write apart were to small purpose and therefore one description shall ãâã for the rest Malus syluestris The wilding or Crab tree ¶ The generall Description THere be diuers wilde Apple trees not husbanded that is to say not ãâã the fruit whereof is harsh and binding for by ãâã both Apples and Peares become more milde and pleasant The crab or wilding ãâã growes oftentimes to a reasonable greatnesse equall with the Apple tree the wood is hard firme and sollid the barke rough the branches or boughes many the floures and fruit like those of the apple tree some red others white some greater others lesser the difference is known to all therefore it shall suffice what hath been said for their seuerall distinctions we haue in our London gardens a dwarfe kinde of sweet Apple called Chamaemalus the dwarfe apple tree or Paradise apple which beareth apples very timely without grafting â¡ Our Author here also out of Tabernamontanus gaue foure figures whereof I onely retaine the best with their seueral titles 1 Malus syluestris rubens The great wilding or red Crab tree 2 Malus syluestris alba The white wilding or Crab tree 3 Malus syluestris ãâã The smaller Crab tree 4 Malus duracina syluestris The choking leane Crab-tree ⡠¶ The Place The Crab tree groweth wilde in woods and hedge rowes almost euery where ¶ The Time The time answereth those of the garden ¶ The Names Their titles doth set forth their names in Latine and English ¶ The Temperature Of the temperature of wilde apples hath beene sufficiently spoken in the former Chapter ¶ The Vertues The iuice of wilde Apples or crabs taketh away the heate of burnings scaldings and all inflammations and being laid on in short time after it is scalded it keepeth it from blistering The iuice of crabs or Veriuice is astringent or binding and hath withall an abstersiue or clensing qualitie beeing mixed with hard yeest of Ale or Beere and applied in manner of a cold ointment that is spread vpon a cloth first wet in the Veriuice and wrung out and then laid to taketh away the heat of Saint Anthonies fire all inflammations what soeuer healeth scab'd legs burnings and scaldings wheresoeuer it be CHAP. 103. Of the Citron Limon Orange and Assyrian Apple trees ¶ The Kindes THe Citron tree is of kindred with the Limon tree the Orange is of the same house or stocke and the Assyrian Apple tree claimeth a place as neerest in kinred and neighbourhood where-ore I intend to comprehend them all in this one chapter ¶ The Description 1 Malus medica The Pome Citron tree 2 Malus Limonia The Limon tree 2 The Limon tree is like vnto the Pome Citron tree in growth thorny branches and ãâã of a pleasant sweet smell like those of the Bay-tree the floures hercof are ãâã than those of the Citron tree and of a most sweet smell the fruit is long and thicke lesser than the ãâã Citron the rinde is yellow somewhat bitter in taste and sweet of smell the pulpe is white more in quantitie than that of the Citron respecting the bignes in the middle part whereof is ãâã more soft spungic pulpe and fuller of soure juice the seeds are like those of the Pome Citron 3 The Orenge tree groweth vp to the height of a small Peare tree hauing many ãâã boughes or branches like those of the Citron tree the leaues are also like those of the Bay-tree â¡ but that they differ in this that at the lower end next the stalke there is a lesser lease made almost after the vulgar figure of an heart whereon the bigger leafe doth stand or is fastned ãâã they are of a sweet ãâã the floures are white of a most pleasant sweet smell also the fruit is round like a ball euery circumstance belonging to the forme is very well knowne to all the taste is soure sometimes sweet and often of a taste betweene both the seeds are like those of the Limon 3 Malus ãâã The Orange tree 4 Malus Assyria The Assyrian Apple tree 4 The Assyrian Apple tree is like vnto the Orange tree the branches are like the leaues are greater the floures are like those of the Citron tree the fruit is round three times as big as the Orange the barke or peeling is thicke rough and of a pale yellow colour wherein appeare often as it were small clifts or crackes the pulpe or inner substance is full of iuice in taste sharpe as that of the Limon but not so pleasant the seeds are like those of the Citron ¶ The Place The Citron Limon and Orange trees do grow especially on the sea coasts of Italy and on the Islands of the Adriaticke Turrhence and also Aegaean Seas likewise on the maine land neer vnto meeres and great lakes there is also great store of them in Spaine but in places especially ioining to the sea or not farre off they are also found in certaine prouinces of France which lie vpon the midland sea They were first brought out of Media as not onely ãâã writeth but also the Poet Virgil affirmeth in the second book of his Georgickes writing of the Citron tree after this maner Media fert tristes succos ãâã ãâã Felicis mali quo non praesentius vllum Pocula si ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã Miscueruntque herbas non innoxiaverba Auxilium venit ac membris agit atra venena Ipsaingens arbos faciesque simillima Lauro Et si non alium late iactaret odorem Laurus erit folia haud vllis labentia ventis Flos apprime tenax Animas olentia ãâã Orafouent illo senibus medicantur anhelis The Countrey Media beareth iuyces sad And dulling tastes of happy Citron fruit Than which no helpe more present can be had If any time stepmothers worse than brute haue poyson'd pots and mingled berbs of sute With hurtfull charmes this Citron fruit doth chase Blacke venome from the body in euery place The tree it selfe in growth is large and big And very like in shew to th'Laurell tree And would be thought a Laurell leafe and twig But that the smell it casts doth disagree The floure it holds as fast as floure may be Therewith the Medes a remedie do finde For stinking breaths and mouthes a cure most kinde And helpe old men which hardly fetch their winde ¶ The Time These trees be alwaies greene and do as Pliny saith beare fruit at all times of the yere some falling off others waxing ripe and others newly comming forth ¶ The Names The first is called in Greeke ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã in Latine Malus Medica and Malus Citria in English Citron tree and Pomecitron tree The
fruit is named in Greeke ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã in Latine Malum Medicum and Malum Citrium and Citromalum Aemilyanus in Athenaeus sheweth that Iuba King of Mauritania hath made mention of the Citron who saith that this Apple is named among them Malum Hespericum Galen denieth it to be called any longer Malum Medicum but Citrium and saith that they who call it Medicum do it to the end that no man should vnderstand what they say the Apothecaries call these apples Citrones in high-Dutch Citrin opffell Citrinaten in low-Dutch Citroenen in Italian Citroni and Cedri in Spanish Cidras in French Citrons in English Citron Apple and Citron The second kinde of Citron is called in Latine Limonium Malum in shops Limones in French Limons in low-Dutch Limonen in English Limon and Lemon The third is named in Latine Malnm anarantium or Anerantium and of some Aurantium of others Aurengium of the yellow colour of gold some would haue them called Arantia of Arantium a towne in Achaia or Arania of a countrey bearing that name in Persia it is termed in Italian Arancio in high-Dutch Pomeranken in low-Dutch Araengie Appelen in French Pommes d'Orenges in Spanish Naransas in English Orenges The fourth is named of diuers Pomum Assyrium or the Citron of Assyria and may be Englished Adams Apple after the Italian name and among the vulgar sort of Italians Lomie of whom it ãâã also called Pomum Adami or Adams Apple and that came by the opinion of the common rude people who thinke it to be the same Apple which Adam did eate of in Paradise when he transgressed Gods commandment whereupon also the prints of the biting appeare therein as they say but others say that this is not the Apple but that which the Arabians do call Musa or Mosa whereof Auicen cap. 395. maketh mention for diuers of the Iewes take this for that through which by eating Adam offended as Andrew Theuet sheweth ¶ The Temperature and Vertues All these fruits consist of vnlike parts and much differing in facultie The rindes are sweet of smell bitter hot and dry The white pulpe is cold and containeth in it a grosse iuice especially the Citron The inner substance or pap is soure as of the Citrons and Limons cold and dry with thinnesse of parts The seed because it is bitter is hot and dry The rinde of the Pomecitron is good against all poysons for which cause it is put into treacles and such like confections It is good to be eaten against a stinking breath for it maketh the breath sweet and being so taken it comforteth the cold stomacke exceedingly The white sound and hard pulpe is now and then eaten but very hardly concocted and ingendreth a grosse cold and phlegmaticke iuyce but being condite with sugar it is both ãâã in taste and easie to be digested more nourishing and lesse apt to obstruction and binding or stopping Galen reporteth that the inner iuice of the Pomecitron was not wont to be eaten but it is now vsed for sauce and being often vsed it represseth choler which is in the stomacke and procures appetite it is excellent good also to be giuen in vehement and burning feuers and against all pestilent and venomous or infectious diseases it comforteth the heart cooleth the inward parts cutteth diuideth and maketh thin grosse tough and slimy humors Of this foresaid sharpe iuice there is a syrrup ptepared which is called in shops Syrupus de ãâã Citri very good against the foresaid infirmities Such a sirrup is also prepared of the sharpe iuice of Limons of the same quality and operation so that in stead of the one the other will serue very well A dozen of Orenges cut in slices and put into a gallon of water adding thereto an ounce of Mercurie sublimate and boiled to the consumption of the halfe cureth the itch and manginesse of the body Men in old time as ãâã writeth in his fourth booke did not eate Citrons but were contented with the smell and to lay them amongst cloathes to preserue them from Moths As often as need required they vsed them against deadly poysons for which thing they were especially commended euen by Virgils verses which we haue before alledged Athenaeus lib. 3. hath extant a story of some that for certaine notorious offences were condemned to be destroyed of Serpents who were preserued and kept in health and safetie by the eating of Citrons The distilled water of the whole Limons rinde and all drawne out by a glasse Still takes away tetters and blemishes of the skin and maketh the face faire and smooth The same being drunke prouoketh vrine dissolueth the stone breaketh and expelleth it The rinde of Orenges is much like in facultie to that of the Citrons and Limons yet it is so much the more hot as it is more biting and bitter The inner substance or soure pap which is full of iuice is of like facultie or not much inferiour to the facultie of the pap of Citrons or Limons but the sweet pap doth not much coole or drie but doth temperatly heate and moisten being pleasant to the taste it also nourisheth more than doth the soure pap but the same nourishment is thin and little and that which is of a middle tast hauing the smacke of wine is after a middle sort more cold than sweet and lesser cold than soure the sweet and odoriferous floures of orenges be vsed of the perfumers in their sweet smelling ointments Two ounces of the iuice of Limons mixed with the like quantitie of the spirit of wine or the best Aqua vitae but the spirit of wine rectified is much better and drunk at the first approch of the fit of an ague taketh away the shaking presently the medicine seldome faileth at the second time of the taking thereof perfectly to cure the same but neuer at the third time prouided that the ãâã be couered warme in a bed and caused to sweat There is also distilled out of them in a glasse still a water of a maruellous sweet smell which being inwardly taken in the weight of an ounce and a halfe moueth sweat and healeth the ague The seed of all these doth kill wormes in the belly and driueth them forth it doth also mightily resist poyson and is good for the stinging of scorpious if it be inwardly taken Those which be called Adams Apples are thought to be like in faculties to the soure iuyce especially of the Limons but yet they be not so effectuall CHAP. 104. Of the Cornell tree ¶ The Description THe tame Cornell tree groweth somtime of the height and bignesse of a smal tree with a great number of springs it is couered with a rugged barke the wood or timber is very hard and dry without any great quantity of sap therein the leaues are like vnto the Dog berry leaues crumpled rugged and of an ouerworne colour the floures grow in small bunches before any leaues do appeare of colour yellow and of no
the veines of the hemorrhoids and looseneth the belly being applied to the fundament Figs stamped with the pouder of Fenugreeke and vineger and applied plaisterwise doe ease the intollerable paine of the hot gout especially the gout of the feet The milke thereof put into the wound proceeding of the biting of a mad dog or any other venomous beast preserueth the parts adioyning taketh away the paine presently and cureth the hurt The greene and ripe Figs are good for those that be troubled with the stone of the kidneyes for they make the conduits slipperie and open them and do also somewhat clense whereupon after the eating of the same it hapneth that much grauell and sand is conueyed forth Dry or barrell Figs called in Latine Caricae are a remedie for the belly the cough and for old infirmities of the chest and lungs they scoure the kidnies and clense forth the sand they mitigate the paine of the bladder and cause women with child to haue the easier deliuerance if they feed thereof for certaine dayes together before their time Dioscorides saith that the white liquor of the Fig tree and iuice of the leaues do curdle milke as rennet doth and dissolue the milke that is cluttered in the stomacke as doth vineger It bringeth downe the menses if it be applied with the yolke of an egge or with yellow wax CHAP. 134. Of the prickly Indian Fig tree Ficus Indica The Indian Fig tree Fructus The fruit ¶ The Description THis strange and admirable plant called Ficus Indica seemes to be no other thing than a multiplication of leaues that is a tree made of leaues without body or boughes for the leafe set in the ground doth in short space take root and bringeth out of it selfe other leaues from which do grow others one after another till such time as they come to the height of a tree hauing also in the meane season boughes as it were comming from those leaues sometimes more otherwhiles sewer as Nature list to bestow adding leafe vnto leafe whereby it occupieth a great piece of ground these leaues are long and broad as thicke as a mans thumbe of a deepe greene colour set full of long slender sharpe and whitish prickles on the tops of which leaues come forth long ãâã not vnlike to those of the manured Pomegrenat tree of a yellow colour after which commeth the fruit like vnto the common Fig narrow below and bigger aboue of a greene colour and stuffed full of a red pulpe and iuice staining the hands of them that touch it as do the Mulberries with a bloudy or sanguine colour the top of which Figs are inuironed with certaine scaly leaues like a crowne wherein are also contained small graines that are the seeds the which being sowne do bring forth plants round bodied like vnto the trunke of other trees with leaues placed thereon like the other which being set in the ground bring forth trees of leaues as we haue shewed â¡ Vpon this plant in some parts of the West Indies grow certain excrescences which in continuance of time turn into Insects and these out-growings are that high prized Cochenele wherwith they dye colours in graine ⡠¶ The Place This plant groweth in all the tract of the East and West Indies and also in the countrey ãâã now called Virginia from whence it hath beene brought into Italy Spaine England and other countries in Italy it sometimes beareth fruit but more often in Spaine and neuer as yet in England although I haue bestowed great pains and cost in keeping it from the iniury of our cold ãâã It groweth also at S. Crux and other places of Barbary and also in an Island of the Mediterranean sea called Zante about a day and nights sailing with a meane winde from Petrasse a port in Morea where my seruant William Marshall before remembred did see not only great store of those trees made of leaues but also diuers other round bodied plants of a woody substance from whence he brought me diuers plants thereof in tubs of earth very fresh and greene which flourished in my garden at the impression hereof ¶ The Time These plants do grow greene and fresh both Winter and Sommer by the relation of my foresaid seruant notwithstanding they must be very carefully kept in these countries from the extremitie of Winter ¶ The Names This is thought to be the plant called of Pliny ãâã whereof he hath written lib. 21. ca. 17. in this manner About Opuns is the herbe Opuntia to mans taste sweet and it is to be maruelled that the root should be made of the leaues and that it should so grow Opuns is a city neere vnto Phocis in Greece as Pausanias Strabo and Pliny testifie but it is commonly called in Latine Ficus Indica of the Indians Tune and Tunas and also Anapallus as testifieth Bellonius in ãâã Indian Fig tree There is a certaine other described for the Indian Fig tree by Theophrastus lib. 4. which Pliny lib. 12. cap. 5. doth eloquently expresse almost in the same words but ãâã into Latine whereof we intend to speake in the next chapter ¶ The Temperature and Vertues We haue no certaine instruction from the Antients of the temperature of faculty of this plant or of the fruit thereof neither haue we any thing whereof to write of our owne knowledge more than that we haue heard reported of such as haue eaten liberally of the fruit hereof that it changed their vrine to the colour of bloud who at the first sight thereof stood in great doubt of their life thinking it had been bloud whereas it proued afterwards by experience to be nothing but the tincture or colour the vrine had taken from the iuice of the fruit and that without all hurt or griefe at all It is reported of some that the iuice of the fruit is excellent good against vlcers of long continuance â¡ Cochenele is giuen alone and mixed with other things in maligne diseases as pestilent feuers and the like but with what successe I know not â¡ CHAP. 135. Of the arched Indian Fig tree ¶ The Description THis rare and admirable tree is very great straight and couered with a yellowish bark tending to tawny the boughes and branches are many very long tough and flexible growing very long in short space as do the twigs of Oziars and those so long and weake that the ends thereof hang downe and touch the ground where they take root and grow in such sort that those twigs become great trees and these being growne vp vnto the like greatnesse doe cast their branches or twiggy tendrels vnto the earth where they likewise take hold and root by meanes wherof it commeth to passe that of one tree is made a great wood or desart of trees which the Indians do vse for couerture against the extreme heate of the Sun wherewith they are grieuously vexed some likewise vse them for pleasure cutting downe by a direct line a long walke or as it
were a vault through the thickest part from which also they cut certaine loope-holes or windowes in some places to the end to receiue thereby the fresh coole aire that entreth thereat as also for light that they may see their cattell that feed thereby to auoid any danger that might happen vnto them either by the enemie or wilde beasts from which vault or close walke doth rebound such an admirable echo or answering voice if one of them speake vnto another aloud that it doth resound or answer againe foure or fiue times according to the height of the voice to which it doth answer and that so plainly that it cannot be knowne from the voice it selfe the first or mother of this wood or desart of trees is hard to be knowne from the children but by the greatnesse of the body which three men can scarsely ãâã about vpon the branches whereof grow leaues hard and wrinckled in shape like those of the Quince tree greene aboue and of a whitish hoary colour vnderneath whereupon the Elephants delight to feed among which leaues ãâã forth the fruit of the bignes of a mans thumbe in shape like a small Fig but of a sanguine or bloudy colour and of a sweet tast but not so pleasant as the Figs of Spaine notwithstanding they are good to be eaten and withall very ãâã Arbor ex Goa siue Indica The arched Indian Fig tree ¶ The Place This wondrous tree groweth in diuers places of the East Indies especially neere vnto Goa and also in Malaca it is a stranger ãâã most parts of the world ¶ The Time This tree keepeth his leaues green ãâã and Sommer ¶ The Names This tree is called of those that haue trauelled Ficus Indica the Indian Fig and Arbor Goa of the place where it groweth in greatest plenty we may call it in English the arched Fig tree â¡ Such as desire to see more of this Fig tree may haue recourse to Clusius his Exoticks lib. I. cap. I. where he shewes it was mentioned by diuers antient Writers as Q. Curtius lib. 9. Plin. lib. 12. ca. 5. Strabo lib. 5. and ãâã Hist. Plant. lib. 4. cap. 5. by the name of Ficus Indica ⡠¶ The Temperature and Vertues We haue nothing to write of the temperature or vertues of this tree of our owne knowledge neither haue wee receiued from others more than that the fruit hereof is generally eaten and that without any hurt at all but rather good and also nourishing CHAP. 136. Of Adams Apple tree or the West-Indian Plantaine ¶ The Description WHether this plant may be reckoned for a tree properly or for an herby Plant it is disputable considering the soft and herby substance whereof it is made that is to say when it hath attained to the height of six or seuen cubits and of the bignesse of a mans thigh notwithstanding it may be cut downe with one stroke of a sword or two or three cuts with a knife euen with as much ease as the root of a Radish or Carrot of the like bignesse from a thicke fat threddy root rise immediately diuers great leaues of the length of three cubits and a halfe sometimes more according to the soile where it groweth and of a cubit and more broad of bignes sufficient to wrap a childe in of two yeares old in shape like those of Mandrake of an ouerworn green colour hauing a broad rib running thorow the middle thereof which leaues whether by reason of the extreme hot scorching Sun or of their owne nature in September are so dry and withered that there is nothing thereof left or to be seene but onely the middle rib From the middest of these leaues riseth vp a thicke trunke whereon doth grow the like leaues which the people do cut off as also those next the ground by meanes whereof it riseth vp to the height of a tree which otherwise would remaine a low and base plant This manner of cutting they vse from time to time vntill it come to a certaine height aboue the reach of the Elephant which greedily seeketh after the fruit In the middest of the top among the leaues commeth sorth a soft and fungous stumpe whereon do grow diuers apples in forme like a small Cucumber and of the same bignesse couered with a thin rinde like that of the Fig of a yellow colour when they be ripe the pulpe or substance of the meate is like that of the Pompion without either seeds stones or kernels in tast not greatly perceiued at the first but presently after it pleaseth and entiseth a man to eat liberally thereof by a certaine entising sweetnes it yeelds in which fruit if it be cut according to the length saith myne Author oblique transuerse or any other way whatsoeuer may be seen the shape and forme of a crosse with a man fastned thereto My selfe haue seene the fruit and cut it in pieces which was brought me from Aleppo in pickle the crosse I might perceiue as the forme of a spred-Egle in the root of Ferne but the man I leaue to be sought for by those that haue better eyes and iudgment than my selfe Musa Serapionis Adams Apple tree Musae Fructus Adams Apple â¡ Aprill 10. 1633. my much honored friend Dr. Argent now President of the Colledge of Physitions of London gaue me a plant he receiued from the Bermuda's the length of the stalke was some two foot the thicknesse thereof some seuen inches about being crested and full of a soft pith so that one might easily with a knife cut it asunder It was crooked a little or indented so that each two or three inches space it put forth a knot of some halfe inch thicknesse and some inch in length which incompassed it more than halfe about and vpon each of these ioints or knots in two rankes one aboue another grew the fruit some twenty nineteene eighteene c. more or lesse at each knot for the branch I had contained nine knots or diuisions and vpon the lowest knot grew twenty and vpon the vppermost fifteene The fruit which I receiued was not ripe but greene each of them was about the bignesse of a large Beane the length of them some fiue inches and the bredth some inch and halfe they all hang their heads downewards haue rough or vneuen ends and are fiue cornered and if you turne the vpper side downward they somewhat resemble a boat as you may see by one of them exprest by it selfe the huske is as thicke as a Beanes and will easily shell off it the pulpe is white and soft the stalke whereby it is fastned to the knot is verie short and almost as thicke as ones little finger This stalke with the fruit thereon I hanged vp in my shop were it became ripeabout the beginning of May and lasted vntil Iune the pulp or meat was very soft and tender and it did eate somewhat like a Muske-Melon I haue giuen you the figure of the whole branch with the fruit thereon
with wine it keepeth proud flesh from growing in wounds The boughes and leaues do euidently binde but especially the hose that is to say the sheath ãâã case of the floures and therefore it is good to vse these so oft as there is need of binding The leaues and branches of the Date tree do heale greene wounds and vlcers refresh and coole hot inflammations Galen in his booke of Medicines according to the kindes mentioneth a composition called Diapalma which is to be stirred with the bough of a Date tree in stead of a spature or a thing to stirre with for no other cause than that it may receiue thereby some kinde of astriction or binding force CHAP. 138. Of the wilde Date trees ¶ The Description 1 THeophrastus maketh this plant to be a kinde of Date tree but low and of small growth seldome attaining aboue the height of a cubit on the top whereof shoot forth for the most part long leaues like those of the Date tree but lesser and shorter from the sides whereof breakes forth a bush of threddy strings among which riseth vp small branches garnished with clusters of white floures in which before they be opened are to be seene vnperfect shapes of leaues closely compassed about with an innumerable sort of thin skinny hulls which rude shapes with the floures are serued vp and eaten at the second course among other iunkets with a little salt and pepper being pleasant to the taste â¡ The stalke is about the thicknes of ones 1 Palmites siue Chamaerriphes The little wilde Datc tree 2 Palmapinus siue Palma conifera The wilde Date tree bearing ãâã â¡ Fructus Palmapini The fruit of the Cone-Date little finger here and there set with a few crooked pricks the leaues within some handfull or two of the stalke are cut vp and made into little besomes which are sold in many glasse shops here in London â¡ 2 The wilde Date tree that brings forth cones or key-clogs is of most trauellers into the Indies thought to be barren of Dates except sometimes it yeeldeth forth some small berries like vnto Dates but dry and nothing worth This tree groweth to the height and bignesse of a low tree the trunke or body whereof is soft of a fungous or pithy substance vnfit for building as is the manured Date tree the branch it selfe was brought vnto vs from the Indies dry void of leaues wherefore we must describe the leaues by report of the bringer The branches saith my Author are couered ouer with long flaggie leaues hanging downe of a great length like those of the Date tree the branches are also couered with a scaly or scabbed barke verie rough one scale or plate lying ouer another as tiles vpon a house thc fruit growes at the end of the branches not vnlike a great Pine Apple cone couered ouer with a skinne like the Indian Nut wherein is contained a shel within which shell lieth hid an acorn or long ãâã of an inch long and sometimes longer ãâã hard to be broken in taste like the ãâã which the sauage people do grate and stampe to pouder to make them bread ¶ The Place Theophrastus saith the first growes in Candy but much more plentifully in Cilicia and are now found in certaine places of Italy by the sea side and also in diuers parts of Spaine The other hath been found by trauellers into the West Indies from whence haue bin brought the naked branches with the fruit ¶ The Time The time answereth that of the manured Date tree ¶ The Names The little Date tree or wilde Date tree is named of Theophrastus ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã in Naples Cephaglione in Latine commonly Palmites That which is found in the midst of the yong springs and is vsed to be eaten in banquets is called in Greeke ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã in Latine Palmae cerebrum the brain of the Date tree ¶ The Temperature and Vertues Galen supposeth that the brain of the Date tree consisteth of sundry parts that is to say of a certaine waterie and warme substance and of an earthy and cold therefore it is moist and cold with a certaine astriction or binding qualitie Being taken as a meat it ingendreth raw humors and winde and therefore it is good to be ãâã with pepper and salt CHAP. 139. Of the drunken Date tree Areca siue Faufel The drunken Date tree ¶ The Description THe drunken Date tree which Carolus Clusius calleth Faufel is an Indian tree of a great bignes the timber whereof is very soft and spongious exceeding smooth and plaine vnto a great height not possible to be climbed vp and therefore the Indians for their easier ascending vp at some distances do tie round about the tree certaine wyths or ropes made of the barkes of trees as may be perceiued by the figure whereby very easily they go vp and downe to gather the fruit at their pleasure The top of the tree is diuided into sundry branches in substance like to the great cane whereupon do grow faire flaggie leaues like those of the Palme or Date tree whereof doubtlesse this is a wilde kinde from the bottome of which branches commeth forth fruit in long bunches like traces of Onions couered with a soft pulpe like vnto the Wall-nut rough and ãâã full of haire of a yellowish colour and like the dried Date when it is ripe within which huske is contained fruit like vnto the Nutmeg but greater very hard and striped ouer with red and white veines or sinues ¶ The Place Time and Names This Date tree which the Arabians call Faufel that is by interpretation Auellana Indica the Indian Nut or Filberd Auicen and Scrapio call Filfel and Fufel It groweth in the East Indies in diuers and sundry places as in Malauar where vulgarly it is called Pac and of the Nobles and Gentlemen Areca which name is vsed amongst the Portugals which dwell in those Indies in Guzarate and Decan it is called Cupare in Zeilan Poaz in Malaca ãâã in Cochin ãâã in English the drunken Date tree which name we haue coined from his qualitie because the fruit maketh those drunke that eate thereof ¶ The Temperature It is cold and dry in the second degree ¶ The Vertues The fruit of Areca before it be ripe is reckoned amongst the stupefactiue or a stonishing medicines for whosoeuer eateth thereof waxeth drunke because it doth exceedingly amase and astonish the senses When the Indians are vexed with some intolerable ache or paine or must of necessitie endure some great torment or torture then do they take of this fruit whereby the rigor of that pain which otherwise they should feele is very much mitigated The iuice of the fruit of Areca doth strengthen the gums fasten the teeth comfort the stomack stay vomiting and loosenesse of the belly it doth also purge the body from congealed or clotted bloud gathered within the same CHAP. 140. Of the Indian Nut tree ¶ The Description 1 THe Grecians haue not known
beene sufficiently spoken of in the description and in their seuerall titles ¶ The Temperature and Vertues â¡ The Sanguis Draconis which is thought to proceed from this tree hath an astringent faculty and is with good successe vsed in the ouermuch flowing of the courses in fluxes Dysenteries spitting of bloud fastening loose teeth and such other affects which require astriction Smiths also vse it to varnish ouer their workes to giue them a sanguine colour and keep them from rust â¡ CHAP. 142. Of the Sassafras or Ague tree ¶ The Description THe Sassafras tree grows very great much like vnto the Pine tree the trunke or body is straight smooth and void of boughes of a great height it is couered with a two fold grosse rinde the vppermost of the colour of ashes that next the wood of a tawnie colour on the top come forth many goodly branches like those of the Palme tree whereon doe grow greene leaues somewhat like those of the Fig tree of a sweet smell when they be greene but much sweeter when they be dry declining to the smell of Fenell with much sweetnesse in taste they are greene Winter and Sommer neither bearing fruit nor floures but is altogether barren as it is said the roots are grosse conformable to the greatnesse of the tree of a tawnie colour dispersing themselues far abroad vnder the vpper crust of the earth by meanes whereof they are often cast downe with meane blasts of winde â¡ The wood of the tree is very strong hard and brittle it hath not so strong a pleasant smell as ãâã of the root neither is it in such vse The leaues are of two sorts some long and smooth and not snipt about the edges other-some and those chiefely on the ends of the branches are deeply gashed in as it were diuided into three seuerall parts I haue giuen the figure of a branch taken from a little tree which grew in the Garden of Master Wilmote at Bow who died some few yeares agoe ⡠¶ The Place This tree groweth in the most parts of the West Indies especially about the cape of Florida Wingandico and Virginia otherwise named Norembega ¶ The Time It flourisheth and keepeth greene Winter and Sommer Svssafras The Sassafras tree ¶ The Names The Spaniards and French men haue named this tree Sassafras the Indians in their tongue ãâã for want of an English name we are contented to call it the Ague tree of his vertue in healing the Ague ¶ The Temperature The boughes and branches hereof are hot ct dry in the second degree the rinde is hotter ãâã that it entreth into the third degree of heate and drinesse as is manifestly perceiued in the decoction ¶ The Vertues The best of all the tree is the root and that worketh the best effect the which hath the rinde cleauing very fast to the inner part and is of colour tawnie and much more sweet of smell than all the tree and his branches The rinde tasteth of a more sweet smell than the tree and the water being sod with the root is of greater and better effects than any other part of the tree and is of a more sweet smell and therefore the Spaniards vse it for that it worketh better and greater effects It is a tree that groweth neere vnto the sea and in temperate places that haue not much drouth nor moisture There be mountaines growing full of them and they cast forth a most sweet smell so that at the beginning when they saw them first they thought they had been trees of Cinnamon in part they were not deceiued for that the rinde of this tree hath as sweet a smell as Cinamon hath and ãâã imitate it in colour and sharpnesse of taste and pleasantnesse of smell and so the water that is ãâã of it is of a most sweet smell and taste as the Cinamon is and procureth the same ãâã and ãâã as Cinamon doth The wood hereof cut in smal pieces and boiled in water to the colour of Claret wine and drunk for certaine daies together helpeth the dropsie remoueth oppilation or stopping of the liuer cureth quotidian and tertian agues and long feuers The root of Sassafras hath power to comfort the liuer and to free from oppilations to comfort the weake and feeble stomacke to cause good appetite to consume windinesse the ãâã cause of cruditie and indigestion stay vomiting and make sweet a stinking breath It prouoketh vrine remoueth the impediments that doe cause barrennesse and maketh women apt to conceiue CHAP. 143. Of the Storax tree ¶ The Description THe Storax tree groweth to the height and bignesse of the Quince tree the trunke or bodie is couered with a barke or rinde like vnto the Birch tree the branches are small and limmer whereon do grow leaues like those of the Quince tree greenish aboue and whitish vnderneath among which come forth white floures like those of the Orange tree of an vnpleasant smell after commeth the fruit or berries standing vpon long and slender footstalks couered ouer with a little woollinesse of the bignesse of a bladder nut and of the same colour wherein is contained small Styrax arbor The Storax tree seed whereunto also cleaue certaine ãâã teares bearing the name of the tree and which issue from the trunk or body when it is wounded ¶ The Place This tree groweth in diuers places of France Italy and Spaine where it bringeth forth little or no gum at all it groweth in Iudaea Pamphylia Syria Pisidia Sidon and many other places of Iurie or Palestine as also in diuers Islands in the Mediterranean sea namely Cyprus Candy Zant and other places where it bringeth forth his gummy liquour in full perfection of sweetnesse and also in great plenty where it is gathered and put into great Canes or Reeds whereof as some deeme it took the name Calamita others deeme oft he leaues of Reeds wherein they wrap it hereof I haue two small trees in my garden the which I raised of seed ¶ The Time It floureth in May and the fruit is ripe in September ¶ The Names This tree as may be gathered by some was called Styrax by reason of that gum or liquour which droppeth out of the same being like vnto the hollow pipes of Ise that hang at the eaues of houses in Winter called Styria or of the Canes or the leaues of Reeds spoken of before in Latine Storax Calamitae in English Storax which is kept in Canes or the leaues of Reeds there floweth from some of these trees a ãâã gummie liquor which neuer groweth naturally hard but remaineth alwaies thinne which is called liquid Styrax or Storax ¶ The Temperature The gum of this tree is of an heating mollifying and concocting qualitie ¶ The Vertues It helpeth the cough the falling downe of rheumes and humours into the chest and hoarsnesse of the voice it also helpeth the noise and sounding of the eares preuaileth against Strumas or the Kings euill nodes on the nerues and hard
second degree agreeing with Nardus in temperature or as others report with Mace it prouoketh vrine mightily warmeth and comforteth the stomacke and helpeth digestion It preuaileth against the pin and web in the eyes the inflamed and waterie eyes and all other infirmities of the same It is laid among cloathes as well to keepe them from moths and other vermine as also to giue vnto them a sweet smell CHAP. 150. Of the Cloue tree Caryophylli veri Clusij The true forme of the Cloue tree ¶ The Description THe Cloue tree groweth great in forme like vnto the Bay tree the trunke or bodie whereof is couered with a russet barke the branches are many long and very brittle whereupon do grow leaues like those of the Bay tree but somewhat narrower amongst which come the floures white at the first after of a greenish colour waxing of a darke red colour in the end which floures are the very cloues when they grow hard after when they be dried in the Sunne they become of that dusky black colour which we dayly see wherein they continue For those that wee haue in estimation are beaten downe to the ground before they be ripe and are suffered there to lie vpon the ground vntill they bee dried throughly where there is neither grasse weeds nor any other herbes growing to hinder the same by reason the tree draweth vnto it selfe for his nourishment all the moisture of the earth a great circuit round about so that nothing can there grow for want of moisture and therfore the more conuenient for the drying of the Cloues Contrariwise that grosse kinde of Cloues which hath beene supposed to be the male are nothing else than fruit of the same tree tarrying there vntill it fall downe of it selfe vnto the ground where by reason of his long lying and meeting with some raine in the mean season it loseth the quick taste that the others haue Some haue called these Fusti whereof we may English them Fusses Some affirme that the floures hereof surpasse all other floures in sweetnesse when they are greene and hold the opinion that the hardned floures are not the Cloues themselues as wee haue written but thinke them rather to be the seat or huske wherein the floures doe grow the greater number hold the former opinion And further that the trees are increased without labour graffing planting or other industrie but by the falling of the fruit which beare fruit within eight yeares after they be risen vp and so continue bearing for an hundred yeares together as the inhabitants of that countrey do affirme ¶ The Place The Cloue tree groweth in some few places of the Molucca Islands as in Zeilan Iaua the greater and the lesse and in diuers other places ¶ The Time The Cloues are gathered from the fifteenth of September vnto the end of Februarie not with hands as we gather Apples Cherries and such like fruit but by beating the tree as Wall-nuts are gotten as we haue written in the description ¶ The Names The fruit hereof was vnknowne to the antient Grecians of the later writers called ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã in Latine also Caryophyllus and Clavus in French Clou de Gyrofle the Mauritanians Charhumfel in Italian Carofano in high-Dutch Nagel in Spanish Clauo de especia of the Indians Calasur in the Molucca's Changue of the Pandets Arumfel and Charumfel in English Cloue tree Cloues ¶ The Temperature Cloues are hot and dry in the third degree ¶ The Vertues Cloues strengthen the stomacke liuer and heart helpe digestion and prouoke vrine The Portugall women that dwell in the East Indies draw from the Cloues when they bee yet greene a certaine liquor by distillation of a most fragrant smell which comforteth the heart and is of all cordials the most effectuall Cloues stop the belly the oile or water thereof dropped into the eyes sharpens the sight and clenseth away the cloud or web in the same The weight of foure drams of the pouder of Cloues taken in milke procureth the act of generation There is extracted from the Cloues a certaine oile or rather thicke butter of a yellow colour which being chafed in the hands smelleth like the Cloues themselues wherewith the Indians do cure their wounds and other hurts as we do with Balsam The vse of Cloues not onely in meat and medicine but also in sweet pouder and such like is sufficiently knowne therefore this shall suffice CHAP. 151. Of the Nutmeg tree 1 Nux Muscata rotunda siue foemina The round or female Nutmeg 2 Nux Myristica oblonga fiue ãâã The longish or male Nutmeg Nux Moschatacum sua Maci. The Nutmeg with his Mace about him ¶ The Description 1 THe tree that beareth the Nutmeg and the Mace is in forme like to the Peare tree but the leaues of it are like those of the Bay or Orenge tree alwaies greene on the vpper side and more whitish vnderneath among which come forth the Nut and Mace as it were the floures The Nut appeareth first compassed about with the Mace as it were in the middle of a single rose which in processe of time doth wrap and inclose the Nut round on euery side after commeth a huske like that of the Wall-nut but of an harder substance which incloseth the Nut with his Mace as the Wall-nut husk doth couer the Nut which in time of ripenesse doth cleaue of it selfe as the Wall-nut huske doth and sheweth his Mace which then is of a perfect crimson colour and maketh a most goodly shew especially when the tree is well laden with fruit after the Nut becommeth dry the Mace likewise gapeth and forsaketh the Nut euen as the first huske or couerture and leaues it bare and naked as we all do know at which time it getteth to it selfe a kinde of darke yellow colour and loseth that braue crimson dye which it had at the first â¡ 2 The tree which carrieth the male Nutmeg according to Clusius thus differs from the last described the leaues are like those of the former in shape but much bigger being sometimes a foot long and three or foure inches broad their common length is seuen or eight inches and bredth two and a halfe they are of a whitish colour vnderneath and greene and shining aboue The Nuts also grow at the very ends of the branches sometimes two or three together and not onely one as in the common kinde The Nut it selfe is also larger and longer the Mace that incompasses it is of a more elegant colour but not so strong as that of the former I can scarse beleeue our Authors assertion in the foregoing description that the Nut appeareth first compassed about with the Mace as it were in the middest of a single Rose c. But I rather thinke they all come forth together the Nutmeg Mace the greene outward huske and all iust as we see Wall-nuts do and onely open themselues when they come to full maturitie In the third figure you may see
wherein he most shewed his weakenesse for that hee doth confound it with the Manihot or true Yuicca which all affirme to haue a leafe like that of hemp parted into seuen or more diuisions and also in that he puts it to the Arachidna of Theophrastus when as he denies it both floure and fruit yet within some few yeares after our Author had set forth this Worke it floured in his garden This some yeares puts forth a pretty stiffe round stalke some three cubits high diuided into diuers vnequall branches carrying many pretty large floures shaped somewhat like those of Fritillaria but that they are narrower at their bottomes the leaues of the floure are six the colour on the inside white but on the out side of an ouerworne reddish colour from the stalke to the middest of the leafe so that it is a floure of no great beautie yet to be esteemed for the raritie I saw it once floure in the garden of Mr. Wilmot at Bow but neuer since though it hath been kept for many yeares in sundry other gardens as with Mr. Parkinson and Mr. Tuggy This was first written of by our Author and since by Lobel and Mr. Parkinson who keepe the same name as also Bauhine who to distinguish it from the other calls it Yucca folijs Aloes ⡠¶ The Place This plant groweth in all the tract of the Indies from the Magellane straights vnto the cape of Florida and in most of the Islands of the Canibals and others adioyning from whence I had that plant brought me that groweth in my garden by a seruant of a learned and skilfull Apothecary of Excester named Mr. Tho. Edwards ¶ The Time It keepeth greene both Winter and Sommer in my garden without any couerture at all notwithstanding the iniurie of our cold clymat ¶ The Names It is reported vnto me by Trauellers that the Indians do call it in some parts Manihot but generally Yucca and Iucca it is thought to be the plant called of Theophrastus Arachidna and of Pliny Aracidna ¶ The Temperature This plant is hot and dry in the first degree which is meant by the feces or drosse when the poisonous iuice is pressed or strained forth and is also dry in the middle of the second degree CHAP. 156. Of the fruit Anacardium and Caious or ãâã ¶ The Description THe antient writers haue been very briefe in the historie of Anacardium the Grecians haue touched it by the name of ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã taking the name from the likenesse it hath of an heart both in shape and colour called of the Portugals that inhabit the East Indies Faua de Malaqua the bean of Malaca for being greene and as it hangeth on the tree it resembleth a Beane sauing that it is much bigger but when they be dry they are of a shining blackish colour containing between the outward rinde and the kernell which is like an Almond a certaine oile of a sharpe causticke or burning qualitie called Mel Acardinum although the kernell is vsed in meates and sauces as we do Oliues and such like to procure appetite Anacardium The Beane of Malaca Caious The kidney Beane of Malaca The other fruit groweth vpon a tree of the bignesse of a Peare tree the leaues are much like to those of the Oliue tree but thicker and fatter of a feint greene colour the floures are white consisting of many small leaues much like the floures of the Cherry tree but much doubled without smell after commeth the fruit according to Clusius of the forme and magnitude of a goose egge full of iuice in the end whereof is a nut in shape like an Hares kidney hauing two rindes between which is contained a most hot and sharp oile like that of Anacardium whereof it is a kind The Beane or kernell it selfe is no lesse pleasant and wholsome in eating than the Pistacia or Fisticke nut whereof the Indians do eate with great delight affirming that it prouoketh Venerie wherein is their chiefest felicitie The fruit is contained in long cods like those of Beans but greater neere vnto which cods commeth forth an excrescence like vnto an apple very yellow of a good smell spongious within and full of iuice without any seeds stones or graines at all somewhat sweet in taste at the one end narrower than the other Peare fashion or like a little bottle which hath bin reputed of some for the fruit but not rightly for it is rather an excrescence as is the oke Apple ¶ The Place The first growes in most parts of the East Indies especially in Cananor Calecute Cambaya and Decan The later in Brasile ¶ The Time These trees floure and flourish Winter and Sommer ¶ The Names Their names haue been touched in their descriptions The first is called Anacardium of the likenesse it hath with an heart of the Arabians Balador of the Indians Bibo The second is called Caious and is thus written Caiöüs and Caius of some Caiocus ¶ The Temperature and Vertues The oile of the fruit is hot and dry in the fourth degree it hath also a causticke or corrosiue qualitie it taketh away warts breaketh apostumes preuaileth against leprie alopecia and ãâã the paine of the teeth being put into the hollownesse thereof The people of Malauar do vse the said oile mingled with chalke to marke their cloathes or any other thing they desire to be coloured or marked as we do vse chalke okar and red marking stones but their colour will not be taken forth againe by any manner of art whatsoeuer They also giue the kernell steeped in whay to them that be asthmaticke or short winded and when the fruit is yet green they sticke the same so steeped against the wormes The Indians for their pleasure will giue the fruit vpon a thorne or some other sharpe thing and hold it in the flame of a candle or any other flame which there will burne with such crackings lightnings and withall yeeld so many strange colours that it is great pleasure to the beholders which haue not seene the like before CHAP. 157. Of Indian Morrice Bells and diuers other Indian Fruits 1 ãâã Theueti Indian Morrice Bels. 2 Fructus Higuero Indian Morosco bels ¶ The Description THis fruit groweth vpon a great tree of the bignesse of a Peare tree full of branches garnished with many leaues which are alwaies greene three or foure fingers long and in bredth two when the branches are cut off there issueth a milky iuice not ãâã to the fruit in his venomous qualitie The trunke or body is couered with a grayish barke the timber is white and soft not fit to make fire of much lesse for any othervse for being cut and put to the fire to burne it yeeldeth sorth such a loathsome and horrible stinke that neither man nor beast are able to endure it wherefore the Indians haue no vse thereof but onely of the fruit which in shape is like the Greeke letter ãâã of the bignesse of a Chestnut
that qualitie that if a stake be driuen into it that part of the stake which is within the ground will be a firme and hard stone and all that which is aboue the ground retaineth his former substance and nature Also my selfe being at Rougby about such time as our fantasticke people did with great concourse and multitudes repaire and run headlong vnto the sacred Wells of Newnam ãâã in the edge of Warwickshire as vnto the water of life which could cure all diseases I went from thence vnto these Wells where I found growing ouer the same a faire Ash tree whose boughes did hang ouer the spring of water whereof some that were seare and rotten and some that of purpose were broken off fell into the water and were all turned into stones Of these boughes or parts of the tree I brought into London which when I had broken in pieces therein might be seene that the pith and all the rest was turned into stones yea many buds and flourings of the tree falling into the said water were also turned into hard stones still retaining the same shape and fashion that they were of before they were in the water I doubt not but if this water were proued about the hardning of some Confections Physicall for the preseruation of them or other special ends it would offer greater occasion of admiration for the health and benefit of mankinde than it doth about such things as already haue been experimented tending to very little purpose CHAP. 171. Of the Goose tree Barnacle tree or the tree bearing Geese Britannicae Conchae anatiferae The breed of Barnacles ¶ The Description HAuing trauelled from the Grasses growing in the bottome of the fenny waters the Woods and mountaines euen vnto Libanus it selfe and also the sea and bowels of the same wee are arriued at the end of our Historie thinking it not impertinent to the conclusion of the same to end with one of the maruells of this land we may say of the world The historie whereof to set forth according to the worthinesse and raritie thereof would not only require a large and peculiar volume but also a deeper search into the bowels of nature than my intended purposewil ãâã me to wade into my sufficiencie also considered leauing the historie thereof rough hewen vnto some excellent men learned in the secrets of nature to be both fined and refined in the mean space take it as it falleth out the naked and bare truth though vnpolished There are found in the North parts of Scotland and the Islands adiacent called Orchades certain trees whereon do grow certaine shells of a white colour tending to russet ãâã are contained little liuing creatures which shells in time of maturitie do open and out of them grow those little liuing things which falling into the water do become fowles which we call ãâã in the North of England brant Geese and in Lancashire tree Geese but the other that do ãâã ãâã the land perish and come to nothing Thus much by the writings of others and also from the mouths ãâã people of those parts which may very well accord with truth But what our eyes haue seene and hands haue touched we shall declare There is a small Island in Lancashire called the Pile of Foulders wherein are found the broken pieces of old and bruised ships some whereof haue been cast thither by shipwracke and also the trunks and bodies with the branches of old and rotten trees cast vp there likewise whereon is found a certaine spume or froth that in time breedeth vnto certaine shels in shape like those of the Muskle but sharper pointed and of a whitish colour wherein is contained a thing in forme like a lace of silke finely wouen as it were together of a whitish colour one end whereof is fastned vnto the inside of the shell euen as the fish of Oisters and Muskles are the other end is made fast vnto the belly of a rude masse or Iumpe which in time commeth to the shape and ãâã of a Bird when it is perfectly formed the shell gapeth open and the first thing that appeareth is the foresaid lace or string next come the legs of the bird hanging out and as it groweth greater it openeth the shell by degrees til at length it is all come forth and hangeth onely by the bill in short space after it commeth to full maturitie and falleth into the sea where it gathereth feathers and groweth to a fowle bigger than a Mallard and lesser than a Goose hauing blacke legs and bill or beake and feathers blacke and white spotted in such manner as is our Mag-Pie called in some places a Pie-Annet which the people of Lancashire call by no other name than a tree Goose which place aforesaid and all those parts adioyning do so much abound ãâã that one of the best is bought for three pence For the truth hereof if any doubt may it please them to repaire vnto me and I shall satisfie them by the testimonie of good witnesses Moreouer it should seeme that there is another sort hereof the historie of which is true and of mine owne knowledge for trauelling vpon the shore of our English coast betweene Douer and Rumney I found the trunke of an old rotten tree which with some helpe that I procured by Fishermens wiues that were there attending their husbands returne from the sea we drew out of the water vpon dry land vpon this rotten tree I found growing many thousands of long crimson bladders in shape like vnto puddings newly filled before they be sodden which were very cleere and shining at the nether end whereof did grow a shell fish fashioned somewhat like a small Muskle but much whiter resembling a shell fish that groweth vpon the rockes about Garnsey and Garsey called a Lympit many of these shells I brought with me to London which after I had opened I found in them liuing things without forme or shape in others which were neerer come to ripenes I found liuing things that were very naked in shape like a Bird in others the Birds couered with soft downe the shell halfe open and the Bird ready to fall our which no doubt were the Fowles called Barnakles I dare not absolutely auouch euery circumstance of the first part of this history concerning the tree that beareth those buds aforesaid but will leaue it to a further consideration howbeit that which I haue seene with mine eyes and handled with mine hands I dare confidently auouch and boldly put downe for veritie Now if any will obiect that this tree which I saw might be one of those before mentioned which either by the waues of the sea or some violent wind had been ouerturned as many other trees are or that any trees falling into those seas about the Orchades will of themselues beare the like fowles by reason of those seas and waters these being so probable coniectures and likely to be true I may not without preiudice gainesay or indeauour to ãâã â¡ The
which I heedfully obserued and carefully opening out some of the fairest leaues which as also the whole plant besides were carelesly dried I found the leaues grew vsually some dozen or more on a foot-stalke iust as many on one side as on the other they were couered ouer with a little downines which standing out on their edges made them look as if they had bin snipt about the edges which they were not also I found at euery ioint two little hooked prickles not two little leaues or appendices at the setting on of the foot-stalks but three or foure little leaues as the rudiment of a yong branch comming forth at the bosom of each foot-stalk the longest branch as far as I remember was not aboue a span long I then drew as perfect a figure as I could of the perfectest branch therof drawing as ãâã as I could the leaues to their ful bignesse the which I here present you withall There are two figures formerly extant the one this of ãâã which I here giue you and the other in the 18. booke 144 chap. of the Hist. Lug which is out of A Costa and this seems to be so far different from that of Clusius that Bauhine in his Pinax saith ãâã notis suis in Acostam diuer sam plane figuram proposuit herbam minosam nominans but he did not wel consider it for if he had he might haue found these so much different thus far to agree they both make the branches prickly weak the leaues many on one rib one opposite to another without an odde one at the end but Clusius figures the leaues so close together that they seem but one leafe and Acosta makes them too far a sunder and both of them make them too sharp pointed Clus. made his be taken from a dried plant and Acosta I iudg made his by the Idaea thereof which he had in his memorie and after this manner if my iudgement faile me not are most of the figures in him exprest but of this enough if not too much CHAP. 8. Of the Staffe tree and euer-greene Priuet 1 Celastrus Theophrasti The staffe tree 2 Phillyrea 1. Clus. Clusius his 1. Mocke-Priuet ¶ The Description 1 THe history and figure of this tree are set forth in Clusius his Curae poster and there it is asserted to be the ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã or ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã of Theophrastus for by diuers places in Theophrastus there collected it is euident that his Celastus was euer greene grew vpon very high and cold mountaines yet might be transplanted into plaine and milder places that it floured exceeding late and could not perfect the fruit by reason of the nigh approch of winter and that it was fit for no other vse but to make staues on for old men Now this tree growes but to a small height hauing a firme and hard body diuiding it selfe at the top into sundry branches which being yonge are couered with a greene barke but waxing old with a brownish one it hath many leaues growing alwaies one against another and thicke together of a deepe shining greene aboue and lighter vnderneath keeping their verdure both Winter and Sommer they are of the bignesse of those of ãâã not snipt about the edges but onely a little nickt when they are yet yong at the top of the tenderest branches among the leaues vpon footstalkes of some inch long grow fiue or six little floures consisting commonly of fiue little leaues of a yellowish greene colour and these shew themselues in the end of Autumne or the beginning of Winter and also in the beginning of the Spring but if the Sommer be cold and moist it shewes the buds of the sloures in October the fruit growes on a short stalke and is a berry of the bignesse of the Myrtle sirst green then red of the colour of that of Asparagus and lastly blacke when it is withered the stone within the berry is little and as it were three cornered conteining a kernell couered with a yellow filme Where this growes wilde I know not but it was first taken notice of in the publike Garden at the Vniuersitie of Leyden from whence it was brought into some few gardens of this Kingdome 2 The first Phyllyria of Clusius may fitly be refer'd to the rest of the same tribe and name described formerly in the 59. chapter of the the third booke It growes somewhat taller than the Scarlet Oke and hath branches of the thicknesse of ones thumbe or somewhat more and those couered with a greene barke marked with whitish spots the leaues somewhat resemble those of the Scarlet Oke but greater greener thicker somewhat prickley about the edges of an astringent taste but not vngratefull The floure thereof Clusius did not see the fruit is a little blacke berry hanging downe out from the bosome of the leaues and conteining a kernell or stone therein It growes wilde in many wilde places of Portugale where they call it Azebo The temperature and vertues are refer'd to those set downe in the formerly mentioned chapter CHAP. 9. Of Mocke-Willow Speiraea Theophrasti Clus. Mocke-Willow ¶ The Description THis Willow leaued shrub which Clusius coniectures may be refer'd to the Speiraea mentioned by Theophrastus lib. 1. cap. 23. histplant I haue named in English Mocke-Willow how fitly I know not but if any will impose a fitter name I shall be well pleased therewith but to the thing it selfe It is a shrub saith Clusius some two cubits high hauing slender branches or twigs couered ouer with a reddish barke whereon grow many leaues without order long narrow like those of the Willow snipt about the edges of a light green aboue and of a blewish greene vnderneath of a drying taste conjoyned with some bitternes The tops of the branches for some fingers length carry thicke spikes of small floures clustering together and consisting of fiue leaues apiece out of whose middle come forth many little threds of a whitish red or flesh colour together with the floure hauing no ãâã smell but such as is in the floure of the Oliue tree these floures fading there succeed small fiue cornered heads which comming to full maturitie containe a small and yellowish dusty seed it floures in Iuly and ripens the seed in the end of August Clusius had this plant from Fredericke ãâã Physition to the Duke of Briga and that from Briga in Silesia and he as I said refers it to the ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã of Theophrastus which he reckons amongst the shrubs that carry spike fashioned floures This is not vsed in medicine nor the Temperature and faculties thereof as yet knowne CHAP. 10. Of the Strawberry-Bay Adrachne Theophrasti The Strawberry-Bay ¶ The Description THe figure and history of this were sent by Honorius Bellus out of Candy to ãâã from whom I haue it It is that which Theophrastus calls Adrachne or as most of the printed bookes haue it Andrachne but the former seemes the righter and is the better
Now let me say somewhat briefely of the temperature and qualities The Temperature and Vertues It is iudged to be hot and dry in the second degree it hath a drying attenuating dissoluing and clensing facultie as also to moue sweat and resist contagion and putrefaction The decoction of the barke or wood of Guajacum made either alone or with other ingredients as shall be thought most fit for the temper and age of the Patient is of singular vse in the cure of the French Poxes and it is the most antient and powerfull antidote that is yet known against that disease I forbeare to specifie any particular medicine made thereof because they are wel enough knowne to all to whom this knowledge belongs and they are aboundantly set downe by all those that haue treated of that disease It also conduceth to the cure of the dropsie Asthma Epilepsie the diseases of the bladder and reines paines of the ioints flatulences crudities and lastly all chronicall diseases proceeding from cold and moist causes for it oftentimes workes singular effects whereas other medicines little preuaile It doth also open the obstructions of the liuer and spleene warmes and comforts the stomacke and all the intrals and helps to free them of ãâã grosse viscous matter which may be apt to breed diseases in them CHAP. 20. Of the Guayaua or Orange-Bay ¶ The Description SImon de Touar sent Clusius a branch of the tree which the Spaniards call Guayauas from which he drew this figure and thus describes it This branch saith Clusius whose vpper part together with the fruit I caused to be drawne was some foot long foure square alternately set with leaues growing by couples being foure inches long and one and a halfe or two broad of the forme of Bay leaues very firme hauing a swelling rib running alongst the lower side with veins running obliquely from thence to the sides of an ash or grayish colour beneath but smooth aboue with the veines lesse appearing which broken though old yet retained the smell of Bay leaues and also after some sort the taste the fruit was smooth yet shriueled because peraduenture it was vnripe of the bignesse of a small apple longish blackish on the out side like a ripe plum but within full of a reddish pulpe of an acide taste and in the middle were many whitish seeds of the bignesse of Miller ãâã those that are in Figs. Guayavae arboris ramus The Orange-Bay The fruit is vsually eaten the rinde being first taken off it is pleasing to the palate wholesome and easie of concoction being greene it is good in fluxes of the belly for it powerfully bindes and ouer or throughly ripe it looseth the belly but betweene both that it is neither too greene nor ouer-ripe if rosted it is good both for sound and sicke for so handled it is wholesommer and of a more pleasing taste that also is the better which is gathered from domesticke and husbanded trees The Indians profitably bathe their swolne legges in the decoction of the leaues and by the same they free the spleene from obstruction The fruit seemes to be cold wherefore they giue it rosted to such as are in feuers It growes commonly in all the VVest Indies Thus much Monardus CHA. 21. Of the Corall tree ¶ The Description THe same last mentioned Simon de Touar a learned and prime Physition of Ciuill sent Clusius three or foure branches of this tree from whence he framed this history and figure He writ saith Clus. that this tree grew in his garden sprung vp of seeds sent from America which had the name of Corall imposed on them by reason the floures were like Corall but he did not set downe there shape writing onely this in his letter That he had two little shrubs which had borne floures and that the greater of them bore also cods full of large beanes but in the extreme Winter which they had the yeere before he lost not onely that tree and others sprung vp of Indian seed but also many other plants Now seeing that this tree carries coddes I coniecture the floures were in forme not vnlike to those of Pease or of the tree called Arbor Iudae but of another colour to wit red like Corall especially seeing that in the catalogue of his garden which hee sent me the yeere before he had writ thus Arbor Indica dicta Coral ob eius florem similem Corallo c. that is An Indian tree called Corrall by reason of the floure like to Corrall whose leaues are very like those of the Arbor Iudae but this hath thornes which that wants And verily the branches which he sent for he writ he sent the branches with the leaues but the tree brought ãâã some twice or thrice as bigge had leaues not much vnlike those of Arbor Iudae but fastened to a shorter footstalke and growing one against another with a single one at the end of the branch which was here and there set with sharpe and crooked prickles but whether these branches are onely the stalkes of the leaues or perfect branches I doubt because all that hee sent had three leaues apiece I could easily persuade my selfe that they were onely leaues seeing the vpper part ended in one leafe and the lower end of one among the rest yet shewed the place where it seemed it grew to the bough But I affirme nothing seeing there was none whereof I could inquire by Coral arboris ramus A branch of the Corall tree reason of his death who sent them m e which hapned shortly after yet I haue made the forme of the leaues with the manner as I coniectured they grow to be delineated in the figure which I here giue you ãâã Matthiolus in his last edition of his Commentaries vpon Dioscorides would haue ãâã this by the Icon of his first Acacia which is prickly and hath leaues resembling those of ãâã ãâã I know not but if he would haue expressed this tree the painter did not well play his part After that Clusius had set forth thus much of this tree in his Hist. ãâã ãâã the learned Dr. Castaneda a Physition also of Ciuill certified me saith he that the floures of this tree grow thicke together at the tops of ãâã branches ten twelue or more hanging vpon short foot ãâã growing out of the same place whose figure he also sent but so rudely drawne that I could not thereby haue come to any knowledge of the floures but that ãâã therewith sent me two dried floures by which I partly gathered their form Now these flours were very narrow 2. inches long or more consisting of three leaues the vppermost of which much exceeded the 2. narrow ones on the sides both in length and breadth and it was doubled but before the floure was opened it better resembled a horne or cod than a floure and the lower end of it stood in a short green cup in the middest of the floure vnder the vpper leafe that was folded but open at
in stalkes ãâã or floures the fruit hereof is for the most part fashioned like a bottle or flagon wherein especially consisteth the difference 1 Cucurbita anguina Snakes Gourd 2 Cucurbita lagenaria Bottle Gourds ¶ The Place The Gourds are cherished in the gardens of these cold regions rather for pleasure than for profit in the hot countries where they come to ripenesse there are sometimes eaten but with small delight especially they are kept for the rindes wherein they put Turpentine Oyle Hony and also serue them for pales to fetch water in and many other the like vses ¶ The Time They are planted in a bed of horse-dung in April euen as we haue taught in the planting of cucumbers they flourish in Iune and Iuly the fruit is ripe in the end of August ¶ The Names The Gourd is called in Greeke ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã in Latine Cucurbita edulis ãâã ãâã of Pliny Cucurbita Cameraria because it climeth vp and is a couering for arbours and walking places and banqueting houses in gardens he calleth the other which climeth not vp but lyeth crawling on the ground Cucurbita ãâã in Italian Zucca in Spanish ãâã in French Courge in high Dutch ãâã in low-Dutch ãâã in English Gourds ¶ The Temperature The meate or inner pulpe of the Gourd is of temperature cold and moist and that in the second degree ¶ The Vertues The iuyce being dropped into the eares with oyle of roses is good for the paine thereof proceeding of a hot cause The pulpe or meate mitigateth all hot swellings if it be laid thereon in manner of a pultis and being vsed in this manner it taketh away the head-ache and the inflammation of the eyes The same Author affirmeth that a long Gourd or else a Cucumber being laid in the cradle or bed by the young infant whilest it is asleepe and sicke of an ague it shall be very quickely made whole The pulpe also is eaten sodden but because it hath in it a waterish and thinne iuyce it yeeldeth small nourishment to the body and the same cold and moist but it easily passeth thorow especially being sodden which by reason of the slipperinesse and moistnesse also of his substance mollifieth the belly But being baked in an ouen or fried in a pan it loseth the most part of his naturall moisture and therefore it more slowly descendeth and doth not mollifie the belly so soone The seed allayeth the sharpnesse of vrine and bringeth downe the same CHAP. 348. Of the wilde Gourd 1 Cucurbita lagenaria syluestris Wilde Bottle Gourd 2 Cucurbita syluestris fungiformis Mushrome wilde Gourd ¶ The Description 1 THere is besides the former ones a certaine wilde Gourd this is like the garden Gourd in clymbing stalkes clasping tendrels and soft leaues and as it were downy all and ãâã one of which things being farre lesse this also clymbeth vpon Arbours and banquetting houses the fruit doth represent the great bellied Gourd and those that be like vnto bottles in forme but in bignesse it is very farre inferiour for it is small and scarse so great as an ãâã Quince and may be held within the compasse of a mans hand the outward rinde at the first is greene afterwards it is as hard as wood and of the colour thereof the inner pulpe is moist and very full of iuyce in which lieth the seed The whole is as bitter as Coloquintida which hath made so many errors one especially in taking the fruit Coloquintida for the wilde Gourd 2 The second wilde Gourd hath likewise many trailing branches and clasping tendrels wherwith it taketh hold of such things as be neere vnto it the leaues be broad deepely cut into diuers sections like those of the Vine soft and very downy whereby it is especially knowne to be one of the Gourds the floures are very white as are also those of the Gourds The fruit succeedeth growing to a round forme flat on the top like the head of a Mushrome whereof it tooke his syrname ¶ The Place They grow of themselues wilde in hot regions they neuer come to perfection of ripenesse in these cold countries ¶ The Time The time answereth those of the garden ¶ The Names The wilde Gourd is called in Greeke ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã in Latine Cucurbita syluestris or wilde Gourd Pliny lib. 20. cap. 3. affirmeth that the wilde Gourd is named of the Grecians ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã which is hollow an inch thicke not growing but among stones the iuyce whereof being taken is very good for the stomacke But the wilde Gourd is not that which is so described for it is aboue an inch thicke neither is it hollow but full of iuyce and by reason of the extreme bitternesse offensiue to the stomacke Some also there be that take this for Coloquintida but they are far deceiued for Colocynthis is the wilde ãâã Cucumber whereof we haue treated in the chapter of ãâã ¶ The Temperature The wilde Gourd is as hot and dry as Coloquintida that is to say in the second degree ¶ The Vertues The wilde Gourd is extreme bitter for which cause it openeth and scoureth the stopped passages of the body it also purgeth downwards as do wilde Melons Moreouer the wine which hath continued all night in this Gourd likewise purgeth the belly mightily and bringeth forth cholericke and flegmaticke humors CHAP. 349. Of Potato's Sisarum Peruvianum ãâã Batata Hispanorum Potatus or Potato's ¶ The Description THis Plant which is called of some Sisarum Peruvianum or Skyrrets of Peru is generally of vs called Potatus or Potatoes It hath long rough flexible branches trailing vpon the ground like vnto Pompions whereupon are set greene three cornered leaues very like vnto those of the wilde Cucumber There is not any that haue written of this planthaue said any thing of the floures therefore I refer their description vnto those that shall hereafter haue further knowledge of the same Yet haue I had in my garden diuers roots that haue flourished vnto the first approch of Winter and haue growne vnto a great length of branches but they brought not forth any floures at all whether because the Winter caused them to perish before their time of flouring or that they be of nature barren of floures I am not certaine The roots are many thicke and knobbie like vnto the roots of Peionies or rather of the white Asphodill ioyned together at the top into one head in maner of the Skyrrit which being diuided into diuers parts and planted do make a great increase especially if the greatest roots be cut into diuers goblets and planted in good and fertile ground ¶ The Place The Potatoes grow in India Barbarie Spaine and other hot regions of which I planted diuers roots that I bought at the Exchange in London in my garden where they flourished vntil Winter at which time they perished and rotted ¶ The Time It flourisheth vnto the end of September at the first approch of great frosts the
leaues together with the roots and stalkes do perish ¶ The Names Clusius calleth it Battata Camotes Amotes and Ignames in English Potatoes Potatus and Potades ¶ The Temperature The leaues of Potatoes are hot and dry as may euidently appeare by the taste The roots are of a temperate ãâã ¶ The Vertues The Potato roots are among the Spaniards Italians Indians and many other nations common and ordinarie meate which no doubt are of mighty and nourishing parts and do strengthen and comfort nature whose nutriment is as it were a meane betweene flesh and fruit but somwhat windie but being tosted in the embers they lose much of their windinesse especially being eaten sopped in wine Of these roots may be made conserues no lesse toothsome wholesome and dainty than of the flesh of Quinces and likewise those comfortable and delicate meats called in shops ãâã Placentulae and diuers other such like These Roots may serue as a ground or foundation whereon the cunning Confectioner or Sugar-Baker may worke and frame many comfortable delicate Conserues and restoratiue sweete meates They are vsed to be eaten rosted in the ashes Some when they be so rosted infuse them and sop them in Wine and others to giue them the greater grace in eating doe boyle them with prunes and so eate them And likewise others dresse them being first rosted with Oyle Vineger and salt euerie man according to his owne taste and liking Notwithstanding howsoeuer they bee dressed they comfort nourish and strengthen the body procuring bodily lust and that with greedinesse CHAP. 350. Of Potatoes of Virginia ¶ The Description VIrginia Potato hath many hollow flexible branches trailing vpon the ground three square vneuen knotted or kneed in sundry places at certaine distances from the which knots commeth forth one great leafe made of diuers leaues some smaller and others greater set together vpon a fat middle rib by couples of a swart greene colour tending to rednesse the whole leafe resembling those of the Winter-Cresses but much larger in taste at the first like grasse but afterward sharpe and nipping the tongue From the bosome of which leaues come forth long round slender foot-stalkes whereon do grow very faire pleasant floures made of one entire ãâã leafe which is folded or plaited in such strange sort that it seemeth to be a sloure made of ãâã sundry small leaues which cannot easily be perceiued except the same be pulled open The whole floure is of a light purple colour striped downe the middle of euery fold or welt with a light shew of yellownesse as if purple and yellow were mixed together in the middle of the floure ãâã forth a thicke flat pointall yellow as gold with a small sharpe greene pricke or point in the middest thereof The fruit succeedeth the floures round as a ball of the bignesse of a little Bullesse or wilde plum greene at the first and blacke when it is ripe wherein is contained small white seed lesser than those of Mustard The root is thicke fat and tuberous not much differing either in shape colour or taste from the common Potatoes sauing that the roots hereof are not so ãâã nor long some of them are as round as a ball some ouall or egge-fashion some longer and others shorter the which knobby roots are fastened vnto the stalkes with an infinite number of threddie strings Battata Virginiana siue Virginianorum Pappus Virginian Potatoes ¶ The Place It groweth natnrally in America where it was first discouered as reports C. Clusius since which time I haue receiued roots hereof from Virginia otherwise called Norembega which grow and prosper in my garden as in their owne natiue countrey ¶ The Time The leaues thrust forth of the ground in the beginning of May the floures bud forth in August The fruit is ripe in September ¶ The Names The Indians do call this plant Pappus meaning the roots by which name also the common Potatoes are called in those Indian countries We haue the name proper vnto it mentioned in the title Because it hath not onely the shape and proportion of Potatoes but also the pleasant taste and vertues of the same we may call it in English Potatoes of America or Virginia â¡ Clusius questions whether it be not the Arachidna of Theophrastus Bauhine hath referred it to the Nightshades and calleth it Solanum tuberosum ãâã and largely figures and describes it in his Prodromus pag. 89. ⡠¶ The Temperature and Vertues The temperature and vertues be referred vnto the common Potatoes being likewise a food as also a meate for pleasure equall in goodnesse and wholesomenesse vnto the same being either rosted in the embers or boyled and eaten with oyle vineger and pepper or dressed any other way by the hand of some cunning in cookerie â¡ Bauhine saith That he heard that the vse of these toots was forbidden in Bourgondy where they call them Indian Artichokes for that they were persuaded the too frequent vse of them caused the leprosie â¡ CHAP. 351. Of the Garden Mallow called Hollihocke ¶ The Kindes THere be diuers sorts or kindes of Mallowes some of the garden there be also some of the Marish or sea shore others of the field and both wilde And first of the Garden Mallow or Hollihocke 1 Malua hortensis Single Garden Hollihocke 2 Malua rosea simplex peregrina Iagged strange Hollihoeke ¶ The Description 1 THe tame or garden Mallow bringeth forth broad round leaues of a whitish greene colour rough and greater than those of the wilde Mallow The stalke is straight of the height of foure or six cubits whereon do grow vpon slender foot-stalks single floures not much vnlike to the wilde Mallow but greater consisting only of fiue leaues sometimes white or red now and then of a deepe purple colour varying diuersly as Nature list to play with it in their places groweth vp a round knop like a little cake compact or made vp of a multitude of flat seeds like little cheeses The root is long white tough easily bowed and groweth deepe in the ground 3 Malua purpurea multiplex Double purple Hollihocke 2 The second being a strange kinde of Hollihocke hath likewise broad leaues rough and hoarie or of an ouerworne russet colour cut into diuers sections euen to the middle ribbe like those of Palma Christi The floures are very single but of a perfect red colour wherein consisteth the greatest difference â¡ And this may be called Malua rosea simplex peregrina folio Ficus Iagged strange Hollihocke â¡ 3 The double Hollihocke with purple floures hath great broad leaues confusedly indented about the edges and likewise toothed like a saw The stalke groweth to the height of foure or fiue cubits The floures are double and of a bright purple colour 4 The Garden Hollihocke with double floures of the colour of scarlet groweth to the height of fiue or six cubits hauing many broad leaues cut about the edges The stalke and root is like the precedent â¡ This may be called Multea