BOOK XIX, XVII. 47-xix. 49 



indispensable tor dyeing woollens and leather ; the 

 most highly esteemed is the Italian, and especially 

 that grown in the neighbourhood of Rome, and 

 almost all tlic provinces tccm with it. It grows of 

 itself, biit a variety hke chickUng vetch, but with 

 prickly leaves and stalk, is also grown from seed. 

 This plant has a jointed stem. with five leaves 

 arranged in a circle round each joint. The seed 

 is red and finally turns black, and the root red." 

 Its medicinal properties we shall state in their xxiv. 91, 

 proper place. XVIII. But the plant called the 

 rootlet ^ has a juice that is only used for washing 

 woollens, contributlng in a remarkable degree to 

 their whiteness and softness. It can be grown 

 anywhere under cultivation, but an outstanding 

 self-sown variety occurs in Asia and Syria, on rocky 

 and rugged ground,though the most highly esteemed 

 grows beyond the Euphrates. Its stalk being slender 

 resembles fennel ; and it is miich sought after by 

 the natives to supply articles of food or perfumes, 

 according to the ingredients with which it is boiled 

 down. It has the leaf of an ohve. The Greek 

 name of this plant is ' Uttle sparrow '. It flowers soapwort. 

 in summer, and the blossom is pretty to look at but 

 has no scent. It is a thorny plant, with a stalk 

 covered with down. It has no seed, but a large 

 root, which is cut up for the purpose mentioned. 



XIX. It remains to return from these plants to the The 

 cuUivation of gardens «, a subject recommended to our ^ tuchm- 

 notice both by its own intrinsic nature and by the gardm. 

 fact that antiquity gave its highest admiration to the 

 garden of the Hesperids and of the kings Adonis and 

 Alcinous, and also to hanging gardcns, whether those 

 constructed by Semiramis or by Syrus King of 



451 



