PLANTS MENTIONED IN CLASSICAL WORKS. 237 
Ses, Syn. plant. wcon., 173; to F. nipponica, Franchet, in 
Sires. tcon. jap. ined., VIL. 
But the name pi li in the Li sao does not seem to refer to a 
Fieus, for the minute flowers of a fig are enclosed in the 
_ fleshy receptacle, and cannot therefore drop off as the text 
of the 17 sao implies. ; 
_W.D, [675] says that pi li is an herb resembling celery or 
smallage, and that it is also one of the names for Ficus pumila 
in Formosa. 
E., 142, family PE ¥%, with figure probably of Ficus pumila. 
Yap., 947, Ficus nipponica, Fr. & S., has this Chinese name. 
» 944, Ficus carica, L., Se té RB, also in China. 
» 945, £icus erecta, Thbg., K {il RR. 
» 951, Ficus stipulata, Thbg., A> aed pA. 
» 952, Ficus Wightiana, Wall., #3 #H- 
416.—In the French translation of the Li sao [p. 47] we 
read :—J’ai cueilli l’herbe magique pour faire un sortilége 
avec les tiges de la plante yai. 
; The magic herb in the Chinese text is # 36 Miung mao ; 
: the commentary says a fragrant herb. [Comp. the Rh ya, 72]. 
: The Shuo wen identifies it with #% shun, which is Hibiscus 
syriacus [v. infra, 542). : 
It is not clear what M. p’Hurvey means by the plant yai. 
_ Such a name is neither in the Chinese text nor in the 
Commentaries, The text has 5 HE ting tuan, and the 
_ Commentary explains, as I understand it, that t‘ing means a 
: small bamboo splinter, and ¢‘van in the country of Ch‘u has 
: the meaning to divine by means of knotting herbs (or the | 
ss knotted herb) and bamboo splinters. [Comp. US 
— AMT 2E Towan. A fragrant plant mentioned in the 
Li sao [55]. eee 
The Shuo wen explains the character by 3f Hf (ground 
: Mustard), also name of a fragrant plant. According to the — 
