Chap. 38.] EUPHORBIA. 107 



Some persons again, give this name to a plant^^ which grows 

 more inland, with a single stem, extremely diminutive leaves, 

 ' and numerous blossoms which open at the ripening of the 

 grape, and the odour of which is far from unpleasant. In addi- 

 tion to this name, this last plant is known as ''botrys " to some 

 persons, and " ambrosia" to others :^^ it grows in Cappadocia. 



CHAP. 37. NYMPHS A, HEEACLEON, EHOPALON, OS MADON ; TWO 



VARIETIES OF IT : FOUR REMEDIES. 



The plant called ** nymphaea," owes its name, they say, to a 

 Xymph who diedof jealousy conceived on account of Hercules, 

 for which reason it is also known as *' heracleon" by some. By 

 other persons, again, it is called ''rhopalon," from the resem- 

 blance of its root to a club.^^ ^Jf * « ^- and hence it is that 

 those who take it in drink become impotent for some twelve 

 days, and incapacitated for procreation. That of the first 

 quality is found in Orchomenia and at Marathon : the people of 

 Bceotia call it '* madon, " and use the seed for food. It grows 

 in spots covered with water ; the leaves^ of it are large, and 

 float upon the surface, while others are to be seen springing 

 from the roots below. The flower is very similar to a lily 

 in appearance, and after the plant has shed its blossom, the 

 place of the flower is occupied by a head like that of the 

 poppy. The stem is slender, and the plant is usually cut in 

 autumn. The root, of a swarthy hue, is dried in the sun; 

 garlic^ manifests a peculiar antipathy to it. 



There is another^^ nymphaea also, which grows in the river 

 Peneus, in Thessaly : the root of it is white, and the head 

 yellow, about the size of a rose. 



CHAP. 38. TWO VARIETIES OF EUPHORBIA: FOUR REMEDIES. 



THE CHAMEL^A. 



In the time, too, of our fathers. King Juba discovered^ a 



^' Identified with the Artemisia camphorata of Linnaeus, Camphorated 

 mugwort. 53 Qaite a different plant. See B. xxvii. c. 11. 



^^ Judging from the text of Dioscorides, a passage has been probably 

 lost here, to the effect that " it is taken in drink by persons troubled with 

 lascivious dreams." 



^5 Identified with the Nymphaea alba of Linnaeus, the "White-flowered 

 nymphaea. 



°^ " Adversatur el allium." A corrupt reading, in all probability. 



" The Nuphar lutea of Sibthorp ; the Yellow-flowered nymphiea, or 

 Nenuphar. ss ggg ^ y^ q i^ 



