BOOK XXI. Lxv. 105-Lxvin. 108 



is bitter, and in the root is an acrid juice. Aphace 

 too is bitter, and so is the plant called picris, which 

 also blossoms throughout the year. It is this bitter- 

 ness which has given the plant its name. 



LXVI. It is a remarkable characteristic too ofsgmiiand 

 the squill and of the crocus " that, whereas all other """""• 

 plants put forth leaves first and only afterwards 

 round into a stem, in these plants the stem is seen 

 first, and after the stem the leaves. In the crocus 

 however the blossom is pushed up by the stem ; in 

 the squill on the other hand the stem makes its 

 appearance first, and then the blossom sprouts out 

 of it. The plant blossoms, as I have said,** three 

 times a year, pointing to the three seasons for 

 pkiughing." 



LXVII. Some include among the class of bulbs Giadiobic 

 the root of the cypiros, that is, of the gladiolus. It ^phodei. 

 makes a pleasant food, one which, when boiled, also 

 renders bread more palatable, and also when kneaded 

 with it more weighty.** Not unhke it is the plant 

 which is called thesium, and is acrid to the 

 taste. 



LXVIII. The other plants of the same kind differ 

 in the leaf : asphodel has an oblong, narrow leaf ; the 

 squill one broad and flexible ; the gladiolus one that 

 its name suggests.^ Asphodel is used as food. 

 Both the seed and the bulb are roasted, but the 

 second in hot ashes ; salt and oil are added. It is 

 also pounded with figs, which Hesiod/ thinks is a 



• Gladiolus, i.e., " little sword." 



f Works and Days, 41 ; here however Hesiod mentions 

 asphodel as a common but wholesome food. Theophrastus, 

 whom Pliny copies, has TrXiLaT-qv ovrjmv «x"» which is much 

 nearer Hesiod's acri^oSeAaj fiey' oveiap. 



