I860.] CHAPTERS ON BRITISH BOTANY. 205 



in the soutliern parts of Europe. See Theo. i. 8, 15^ iii. 16, etc. 

 Bil. 112. Belionius observed it on Mount Ida. (Bel. in Clusius, 

 43.) 



Arctium. A. Lappa [airapivr] altera). The term Aparine 

 is a very well known illustration, not of the mutability of species, 

 but of the mutability or protean character of names, not merely 

 of specific, but also of generic names. It has been applied to 

 species of the genus Rubia, Galium, Asperula, Lycopsis, Aspe- 

 rugo, etc. It now fills a humbler situation. Sprengel, without 

 hesitation, enters Aparine as a synonym of Arctimn Lappa, and 

 quotes Theophrastus, vii. 14. Stackhouse enters " 7, 8, Theoph.'^ 

 2i!ii&c Aparine, and describes the plant as having "a climbing stem," 

 caulis scandens. The latter does not refer to Arctium as being 

 synonymous with Aparine. 



Aria. Pyrus Aria ? Billerbeck, p. 132, writes concerning 

 this shrub or tree, " Aria (Theo. Hist. iv. 8) has a close resem- 

 blance to the Laiirel. Its wood is hard and dense, like that of 

 the Oak (v. 5) ; very durable ; yields the best charcoal. On 

 Mount Athos, Sibthorp.'" Clusius writes, '^ In rocky places (in 

 Pannonia), Aria (Theo.), as some think, is frequent. Its leaves 

 are like those of the Hazel or Alder, only very hoary (white) on 

 the underside. Its fruit is scarcely edible [minima edulem), and 

 grateful to no animals except birds." (Clus. p. 9.) 



It is not certain that P. Aria of modern botanists is the Aria 

 of Theophrastus. {Vide Theo. iii. 6, 16, v. 1, 4, 5, 6, 10.) 



Aristolochia. If Theophrastus had any definite species of 

 this genus in his mind^s eye, it has not been identified, neither 

 by ancient nor modern botanists. See Bauh. 307 b, and Tragus, 

 178, 179. 



Sprengel says that A. cretica may be the species in Hist. 

 Plantarum. Billerbeck intimates that A. Clematitis is not un- 

 common as a spontaneous production of several European coun- 

 tries. (Bil. 225; Theo. ix. 13, 15; Stack. 11.) 



Arum, apov (Theo. i. 9). This, according to Stackhouse and 

 Billerbeck, is A. Dracunculus. 



Asparagus. A. officinalis (Linn.). There is no hesitation 

 about the identity and nomenclature of this plant, which appears 

 in sandy soils on seashores, meadows, etc., in many countries of 

 Europe, and appears to have been a popular esculent in very 

 early times. Belionius (in Clus. clxxix.) observed it in Crete. 



