BOOK XXI. XXXI. 57-xxxiv. 60 



brought there from distant regions to browse upon 

 the thvme. 



XXXII. Of conyza also two kinds are used in covyza. 

 chaplets, male" and female.'' They difFer in their 

 leaves. That of the female is thinner, more com- 

 pressed and narrower ; the male, which is more 

 branched, has a pantile-shaped leaf. Its blossom 



too is of a brijrhter colour; both blossom late, after 

 Arcturus.' The scent of the malc is heavier, of the 

 female, sharper ; for which reason the female is 

 more suited to counteract the bites of beasts.'' Tlie 

 leaves of the female have the smell of honey ; the 

 root of the male is called by some libanotis, about 

 which I have already spoken.' 



XXXIII. Chaplets are also made from the leaves 

 of the flower of Jupiter, sweet marjoram, day lily, 

 southernwood, helenium, water-mint, wild thyme, all 

 with woody stalks like those of the rose. The flower 

 of Jupiter is pleasing only for its colour, as it has 

 no scent ; it is the same with the flower called in 

 Greek phlox. Both the stalks however and the 

 leaves of the plants just mentioned are fragrant, 

 except those of wild thyme. Helenium is said to 

 have sprung up from the tears of Helen, and there- 

 fore is very popular in the island of Helene. It is a 

 shrub spreading over the ground with its nine-inch 

 sprigs, the leaf being hke wild thyme. 



XXXIV. Southernwood, which blossoms in sum- snHihem- 

 mer, has a flower of a pleasant but heavy scent and "'""'• 

 of a golden colour. Left alone / it grows of its own 



insects, not to the flower (or plant) being good for stings. 

 For the ancient view of sex in plants see p. 66. 



' See XX. § 172. 



' With the reading vagum : " it grows straggling, here and 

 there." 



203 



