ENQUIRY INTO PLANTS, VI. iv. 1-3 



speak of each of these classes separately, and also, in 

 the third place, of those which have leaves as well 

 as their spines, such as pheos 1 and caltrop. More- 

 over caper has the peculiarity of possessing not only 

 spines on its stems but also a spinous leaf. Of the 

 classes thus distinguished that with spinous leaves 

 is the largest, while that which is altogether spinous 

 is about the smallest. It is indeed, as was said, a 

 very small class, and it would not be easy to find 

 examples of such plants besides asparagus and 

 skorpios? 



3 Both of these flower after the autumnal equinox. 

 Skorpios produces its flower in the fleshy swelling 4 

 below the top 5 of the spinous twig ; at first it is white, 

 but afterwards it becomes purplish. Asparagus pro- 

 duces alongside of the spines a small knob, and from 

 this grows the flower, which is of small size. Skorpios 

 has a single root which runs deep ; asparagus roots 

 very deep and its roots are numerous and matted, 

 the upper part of them being in one piece, 6 and 

 from this the actual shoots spring. The stalk comes 

 up from the plant in spring and is edible ; after- 

 wards, as the season advances, it acquires its rough 

 and spinous character 7 ; the bloom appears not only 

 on this stalk, but on those of previous years, for the 

 stalk is not annual. Such is the character of 

 plants which are altogether spinous. 



8 Of those which have spinous leaves the largest 

 class, one may say, consists of those plants which 



4 ^TroiSovVTi conj. Seal.; eir<a8ovi>Ti U; effiroSovvTi MAM. 



8 rb &Kpov conj. Seal.; r6 &Kparoi> UMAld.; TTJS d/cav^r/s om. 

 Seal. 



6 i.e. tuberous. c/.Col. 11. 3. 43 ; Pall. 3. 24. 8 ; 4. 9. 11. 



7 f^aKavBovrat conj. Link. ap. Sch.; t^avdovrai UM ; et-av- 

 0e?Tai Aid. 8 Plin. 21. 94. 



23 



