166 PLINY'S NATURAL HISTOEY. [Book XIX. 



spontaneously ; by the Greeks it is known as " staphy linos/' 6 

 Another kind 7 of parsnip is grown either from the root trans- 

 planted, or else from seed, at the beginning of spring or in the 

 autumn ; Hyginus says that this may be done in February, 

 August, September, and October, the ground being dug to a 

 very considerable depth for the purpose. The parsnip begins 

 to be fit for eating at the end of a year, but it is still better at 

 the end of two : it is reckoned more agreeable eating in autumn, 

 and more particularly if cooked in the saacepan ; even then, 

 however, it preserves its strong pungent flavour, which it is 

 found quite impossible to get rid of. 



The hibiscum 8 differs from the parsnip in being more slender : 

 it is rejected as a food, but is found useful for its medicinal 

 properties. There is a fourth kind, 9 also, which bears a similar 

 degree of resemblance to the parsnip; by our people it is 

 called the " gallica," while the Greeks, who have distinguished 

 four varieties of it, give it the name of " daucus." We shall 

 have further occasion 10 to mention it among the medicinal 

 plants. 



CHAP. 28. THE SKETIBET. 



The skirret, 11 too, has had its reputation established by the 

 Emperor Tiberius, who demanded a supply of it every year 

 from Germany. It is at Gelduba, 12 a fortress situate on the 

 banks of the Ehenus, that the finest are grown ; from which 

 it would appear that they thrive best in a cold climate. 

 There is a string running through the whole length of the 

 skirret, and which is drawn out after it is boiled ; but still, 

 for all this, a considerable proportion of its natural pungency 



6 There is some doubt as to the identity of this plant, but Fee, after 

 examining the question, comes to the conclusion that it is the Daucus 

 Carota, or else Mauritanicus of Linnaeus, the common carrot, or that of 

 Mauritania. Sprengel takes it to be either this last or the Daucus guttatus, 

 a plant commonly found in Greece. 



7 The Pastinaca satira of Linnaeus, or common parsnip. 



The marsh -mallow, probably, the Althaea officinalis of Linnaeus. 



9 The carrot. The Daucus Carota of Linnaeus. 



10 In B. xxv. c. 64. 



11 " Siser." The Sium sisarum of Linnaeus. See also B. xx. c. 17. 

 It is said to have been originally a native of China. 



12 It is supposed that this is the same with Gelb, near Neuss, in Ger- 

 many, mentioned hy Tacitus, Hist. B. iv. cc. 26. 32. 



