BOOK XXV. XXXIV. yi-xxx-vi. 74 



XXXIV. It was a king of the Illyrians named nentian. 

 Gentius who discovered gentian, which, though it 

 grows everywhere, is most excellent when it grows 



in Illyria. The leaf is Hke that of the ash but of the 

 size of a lettuce leaf ; the stem is tender and of the 

 thickness of a thumb, hoUow and empty, with leaves 

 at intervals, sometimes three cubits in height, 

 and growing from a pHant root, which is darkish and 

 without smell. It grows abundantly " on watery 

 slopes near the foot of the Alps. The parts used 

 are the root and the juice. The nature of the root is 

 warming, but it should not be taken in drink by 

 women with child. 1 



XXXV. Lysimachus too discovered a plant, still Lysimachia. 

 nam.ed after him, the praises of which have been sung 



by Erasistratus. It has green leaves like those of 

 the willow, a purple flower, being bushy, with 

 small upright branches and a pungent smell. It 

 grows in watery districts. Its power is so great that, 

 if placed on the yoke when the beasts of burden are 

 quarrelsome, it checks their bad temper. 



XXXVI. Women too have been ambitious to Artemisia. 

 gain this distinction, among them Artemisia, the 



wife of Mausolus, who gave her name to a plant 

 which before was called parthenis. There are some 

 who think that the surname is derived from Ai-te- 

 mis Ilithyia, because the plant is specific for the 

 troubles of women. It is also bushy, resembling 

 wormwood, but with larger and fleshy leaves. Of the 

 plant itself there are two kinds : one higher ^ and 

 with broader leaves, the other soft and with more 



wrote altera valida contrasted with altera ienera. This is 

 perhaps what he ought to have written, but the steps by 

 which altera valida could become altior are conjectural. j 



