ENQUIRY INTO PLANTS, IX. ix, s-x. i 



surprising that part of the same ' root ' should purge 

 upwards and another part downwards, as is the case 

 with thapsia and iskhas which some call apios (spurge) 

 and with libanotis ; for 1 it is not strange that on the 

 other hand the same parts should purge both upwards 

 and downwards, as is the case with ' the driver.' 



2 Thapsia has a leaf like fennel, but broader, a 

 stalk like that of ferula, and a white root. 



3 Iskhas (or apios) has a leaf like rue and short, 

 three or four prostrate stems, and a root like that of 

 asphodel, except that it is composed of scales ; 4 it 

 loves mountain districts with a gravelly soil. It is 

 collected in spring. Now this account applies 

 only to the above-mentioned plants. 



Of hellebores, the white and the black: their uses and 

 distribution. 



X. 5 The white and the black hellebore appear to 

 have nothing in common except the name. But 

 accounts differ as to the appearance of the plants ; 

 some say that the two are alike and differ only in 

 colour, the root of the one being white, of the other 

 black; some however say that the leaf of the ' black' is 

 like that of bay, that of the white like that of the leek, 

 but that the roots are alike except for their respective 

 colours. Now those who say that the two plants are 

 alike describe the appearance 6 as follows : the stem 

 is like that of asphodel and very short ; the leaf has 

 broad divisions, and is extremely like that of ferula, 

 but is long ; it is closely attached to the root and 



4 c/. Diosc. 3. 134. 



6 Plin. 25. 47-61. See Index, c/. 9. 11. 5 n. 

 6 i.e. of the two plants regarded as one ; but the text of 

 the following description seems to be hopelessly confused. 



